The Dr. Basil Nicholson Collection
Part 4 (1770-1873)

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Item Picture Date DESCRIPTION
271 image 1770 George III. BMC 893. Weight 9.94g. Brilliant mint state, almost certainly the finest specimen in existence. Spinks' comment about it when they sold it was "We cannot recall having seen such a magnificent specimen". Rare in this state. Purchased from Spink Numismatic Circular, March 1992, item 1083, £250.
272 image 1770 George III. BMC 894. Weight 15.17g. Silver Proof. Reverse upright, i.e. struck en medaille. Practically as struck except for an unfortunate test scratch behind the bust and to the right of Britannia. A stunning coin. Extremely rare. As far as it is possible to know, no other specimen has appeared on the market in the last 35 years or more. Purchased from Spink Coin Auction 95, 25-11-1992, Lot 307, £1,173.
273 image 1770 George III. BMC 895. Weight 8.52g. Copper Proof. Reverse upright, i.e. struck en medaille. Extremely Fine, toned, a most attractive example. Purchased from Dolphin Coins, List 2, 19-12-1991, £350.
274 image 1771 George III. BMC 896. Weight 9.19g. Some toning in the margins, Practically Mint State with almost full brilliance. Rare in this grade. Purchased from Glendinings, 11-12-1991, Lot 562, £123.
275 image 1771 George III. BMC 896 (variant). Weight 10.05g. Large 31.5mm flan, but normal weight. Edge knock at 12 o'clock, Fine/Good Fine. Unusual.

Ex Peter W. Lawrence, 28-11-1997, collection purchased by Colin Cooke, 1996.
276 image 1771 George III. BMC 897. Weight 9.92g. Reverse No Stop. Near Very Fine, rare.

Ex Peter W. Lawrence, 28-11-1997, collection purchased by Colin Cooke, 1996.
277 image 1771 George III. BMC -- . Weight 9.49g. No Stop after GEORGIVS. A bold Good Fine/Fine. Hitherto unrecorded. Presumably at least very rare.

Ex Peter W. Lawrence, 28-11-1997, collection purchased by Colin Cooke, 1996.
278 image 1771 George III. BMC 898. Weight 10.04g. Good Extremely Fine, practically as struck, with lustre on both sides. Rare in this grade. Purchased from Colin Cooke, 10-5-1983, £64.
279 image 1772 George III. BMC 899. Weight 9.57g. Reverse A. No ball below spear blade. Good Extremely Fine, practically as struck, with lustre on both sides. Rare in this grade. Purchased from Spink Numismatic Circular, March 1998, item 1182, £95.
280 image 1772 George III. BMC 900. Weight 9.38g. GEORIVS spelling error. Clashed dies evidence showing an exergue line above George's head. Good Extremely Fine, practically as struck, with almost full lustre on both sides. Extremely Rare in this grade, certainly one of the very finest known specimens. Purchased from Spink Numismatic Circular, April 1985, item 2334, £200.
281 image 1772 George III. BMC 901. Weight 9.53g. Reverse A. Ball below spear blade. Brilliant mint state, certainly one of the very finest examples in existence. We cannot recall having seen such a magnificent specimen. Extremely rare in this state. Purchased from Spink Numismatic Circular, March 1992, item 1040, £250.
282 image 1772 George III. BMC 901. Weight 10.46g. Reverse A. Ball below spear blade. Good Very Fine or better. Purchased from Aston Coins, 12-4-1980, £23.
283 image 1772 George III. BMC 902. Weight 10.16g. Reverse B. Extremely Fine, practically as struck, with lustre on both sides. Rare in this grade. Purchased from Colin Cooke, 19-11-1993, £95.
284 image 1772 George III. BMC 903. Weight 9.79g. Reverse B. No Stop after BRITANNIA. Very Fine/Good Very Fine, rare.

Ex Peter W. Lawrence, 28-11-1997, collection purchased by Colin Cooke, 1996.
285 image 1773 George III. BMC 904. Weight 10.08g. Extremely Fine, practically as struck, with good lustre on both sides. Rare in this grade. Purchased from Colin Cooke, 19-11-1993, £100.
286 image 1773 George III. BMC -- . Weight 9.43g. No Stop after GEORGIVS, a slightly roughened patch after this word does not appear to conceal a stop. Both the other two stops are very clear. Extremely Fine with traces of lustre. Purchased circa 1991, £125.
287 image 1773 George III. BMC 905 (variant ?). Weight 8.82g. (Compare with coin 290 listed below.) No Stop after REX. Also, the second G of GEORGIVS appears to be struck over an I. As the weight is just outside the weight range given in BMC, this coin may be a high class contemporary forgery. The style is good, apart from the datal figures. Very Fine/Good Fine.

Ex Peter W. Lawrence, 28-11-1997, collection purchased by Colin Cooke, 1996.
288 image 1773 George III. BMC 906. Weight 10.10g. No Stop on Reverse. Good Fine, rare.

Ex Peter W. Lawrence, 28-11-1997, collection purchased by Colin Cooke, 1996.
289 image 1773 George III. BMC -- . Weight 10.25g. First 7 of the date is struck over a 1. Under high magnification, it also appears that the 3 is over a 7. This is probably a correction deemed necessary aftere placing the initial 1 too far to the right. Extremely Fine, practically as struck, with good lustre on both sides. Extremely rare in this grade. Hitherto unrecorded. Purchased from Colin Cooke, 10-5-1983, £170.
290 image 1773 George III. BMC 905. Weight 10.30g. No Stop after REX. (Compare with coin 287 listed above.) Extremely Fine, practically as struck, with good lustre on both sides. Extremely rare in this grade. Purchased from Spink Numismatic Circular, March 1993, item 1134, £125.
291 image 1774 George III. BMC 907. Weight 10.06g. Weak Stop after REX. Extremely Fine, practically as struck, with good lustre on both sides. Extremely rare in this grade. Purchased from Colin Cooke, 28-3-1988, £99.
292 image 1774 George III. BMC 907 (but a different die from the other BMC 907 in the Nicholson cabinet (291)). Weight 10.13g. Near Extremely Fine.

Ex Peter W. Lawrence, 28-11-1997, collection purchased by Colin Cooke, 1996, £40.
293 image 1775 George III. BMC 908. Weight 9.44g. Practically Mint State with full, blazing lustre, very lightly toning. A quite outstanding example, which is extremely rare in such a high grade. Purchased from Colin Cooke, 10-5-1983, £102.
294 image 1799 George III. BMC 1248. Weight 13.17g. 5 Gun ports, incuse. Blazing Mint State withslight toning areas on the obverse. A stunning coin, very difficult to find in this absolutely top grade. Purchased from Colin Cooke, 10-2-1995, £110.
295 image 1799 George III. BMC 1249. Weight 13.22g. 6 (or 7 ?) gun-ports in relief. Dr Nicholson notes: "Great interest has been aroused by the ship at the LHS of the reverse of these currency halfpennies. This has become a rather absurd obsession. It should be stressed that the whole ship including its gigantic flag is no more than 2.5mm in length, so that the detail and number of the gun-ports is a trifle academic. Indeed, I measured the ship itself from bows to stern in one instance as 1.48mm. The gun-ports are approximately 0.1mm in diameter. They are counted by including any points that are roughly in a line. Thus BMC 1250 (297 below) is described as having '9 relief gun-ports'. So it does, provided that one reckons in three and possibly a fourth that are floating in the air underneath the bowsprit and behind the stern. But of course, the skill required to create them was outstanding." Good Extremely Fine with lustre on both sides. Rare in this grade, certainly rarer than Peck indicates. Purchased from Colin Cooke, 12-5-1983, £38.
296 image 1799 George III. BMC -- . Weight 12.78g. 7 gun-ports in relief. The 7 gunports are quite clear, as such unrecorded (given the caveat of Dr Nicholson's comments in coin 295 above). Practically Mint State with full, blazing lustre, very lightly toning. A quite outstanding example, which is extremely rare in such a high grade. Purchased from Colin Cooke, 16-5-1990, £38.
297 image 1799 George III. BMC 1248. Weight 12.76g. 5 gun-ports (but a different die from the other BMC 1248 in this cabinet). (Originally purchased as 9 gun-ports !) Practically Mint State with very good lustre on both sides. Purchased 12-5-1983, £55.
298 image 1799 George III. BMC 1251. Weight 12.36g. Plain hull. Much scarcer than Peck suggests. Extremely Fine, hint of lustre. Purchased 12-5-1983, £10.
299 image 1799 George III. BMC 1253. Weight 13.03g. Copper Proof. 5 gun-ports. The Glendinings catalogue states : "We are reasonably certain this is a Proof. The texture of the field and the absence of wavy unevenness, together with the sharpness of detail suggest one, although both the A and first N of BRITANNIA are weak. Those examples known to Peck (three, all in his own collection) were all from different dies. On this specimen, there is a thin flaw extending from the mouth giving the appearance of a tongue poked out; this flaw may not have gone unnoticed and it is not implausible that this die was subsequently either discarded or repolished." Almost FDC, very rare. Purchased from Glendining Auction 30-4-1986, Lot 352 (part).
300 image 1806 George III. BMC 1376. Weight 9.43g. Reverse with no line under SOHO. Reverse no berries. Practically Mint State with almost full lustre. Purchased from Colin Cooke, 12-5-1983, £38.
301 image 1806 George III. BMC 1377. Weight 9.54g Reverse with line under SOHO. Reverse with 3 olive berries. Rather badly carbon-marked. Otherwise Extremely Fine. Purchased from Lickey Coins 8-6-1982, £7.
302 image 1807 George III. BMC 1378. Weight 9.25g. Extremely Fine with some lustre, a little marked and stained. Purchased from Colin Cooke, 12-5-1983, £21.
303 image 1806 George III. BMC 1362. Weight 9.58g. Gilt Copper Proof. Late Soho. Practically FDC. Scarce. Purchased from Colin Cooke, 5-11-1984, £80.
304 image 1806 George III. BMC 1365. Weight 9.35g. Bronzed Proof. Late Soho. A few minor carbon spots. Almost FDC. Rare. Purchased from Colin Cooke, 16-5-1990, £85.
305 image 1806 George III. BMC 1371. Weight 10.04g. Copper Proof. Late Soho. Ship with long pennant at mainmast. A few minor surface marks, Almost FDC. Rare. Purchased from Spink Numismatic Circular, June 1993, item 3633, £85.
306 image 1807 George III. BMC 1383. Weight 10.05g. Restrike Bronzed Proof by Taylor. Note that no genuine, original Soho Proof is known for 1807. Note the re-cut letters and filed rims. Practically FDC, rare. (1807 Proofs are much rarer than 1806 Proofs.) Purchased from Colin Cooke, 11-5-1992, £85.
307 image 1788 George III. BMC 921. Weight 17.68g. Pattern by L. Pingo. The reasons for this pattern being a Halfpenny (and not a Penny) are clearly set out by Peck in his book. Practically FDC with considerable mint lustre on both sides. One of the finest known examples of this extremely rare coin. Purchased from Spink Numismatic Circular, June 1995, item 3564, £650.
308 image 1796 George III. BMC 924. Weight 5.11g. Copper Pattern, probably by L. Pingo. Fully discussed by Peck on page 237, to which the reader must refer to understand more about this coin, this enigmatic piece stands separately from all the other patterns and proofs of this period. With a new portrait, facing left instead of right, a "first" for the legend DEI GRATIA being produced at the Mint for almost 100 years, a miserably thin flan (note the weight), this coin might have been mistaken for a contemporary counterfeit. It is indeed an extremely rare pattern and Dr Nicholson comments on its rarity : "A specimen (not this one) was sold in Spink Auction 95, Lot 330, wherein it was stated: "C. W. Peck records a specimen in the British Museum. Spink sold the Peck (ex Rev. E Rogers) piece in the early 1970's and this would appear to be the third recorded example. " If this account can be accepted, -- which is by no means certain, -- this specimen would appear to be the Peck-Rogers piece described above. Weakly struck on the monarch's head and corresponding part of the reverse, Choice Extremely Fine or better, retaining traces of mint lustre on both sides. Extremely rare with very few known examples.

Ex Dr T. Aitken (Canada), who acquired it from Baldwins for £320. Dr Aitken's collection was purchased by Colin Cooke, 1996. Dr Nicholson purchased it from Colin Cooke, 5-6-1996, £360.
309 image 1790 George III. BMC 952. Weight 15.50g. Pattern by J. P. Droz in Brown-Gilt Copper. Edge guilloche. Some edge bumps, Good Very Fine or better, very scarce. Purchased from Spink Coin Auction 129, 17-11-1998, Lot 186, where it was incorrectly described as BMC 947. Note: Dr Nicholson had three examples of BMC 952.
310 image 1790 George III. BMC 952. Weight 15.98g. Pattern by J. P. Droz in Brown-Gilt Copper. Edge guilloche. A few minor hairlines, Practically FDC, very rare. Purchased from Spink Numismatic Circular, May 1997, item 2388, £200.
311 image 1790 George III. BMC 953. Weight 16.30g. Pattern by J. P. Droz in Bronzed Copper. Edge guilloche. A few trivial surface marks, Almost FDC, extremely rare (Peck recorded his own piece as the sole location outside the British Museum). Purchased from Colin Cooke, 10-2-1995, £155.
312 image 1790 George III. BMC 955. Weight 16.02g. Pattern by J. P. Droz in Brown-Gilt Copper. Edge RENDER TO CESAR etc. A few trivial surface marks, Almost FDC, extremely rare. Purchased from Colin Cooke, 10-2-1995, £160.
313 image 1795 George III. BMC 1041. Weight 13.83g. Pattern in Bronzed Copper by Kuchler. Early Soho. Plain edge. About FDC, rare. Purchased from Spink Numismatic Circular, May 1997, item 2403, £280.
314 image 1797 George III. BMC 1152. Weight 14.03g. Pattern in Gilt Copper. Early Soho. Grained edge. Some scuffs to the mirrors, otherwise Brilliant Almost FDC. Very rare.

Ex Spink Coin Auction 6, 11-10-1979, Lot 759, £170. Purchased Glendinings, 30-4-1986, Lot 340.
315 image 1797 George III. BMC 1154. Weight 14.07g. Pattern in Copper. Early Soho. Good Very Fine or a little better. Very rare. Purchased from Spink, 2-4-1979
316 image 1797 George III. BMC -- . Suggest BMC 1156A, as it is the same type as BMC 1156 and BMC 1157. Weight 14.09g. Pattern in Bronzed Copper. Early Soho. Ship with 3 stays. 2 Berries. About FDC, at least extremely rare. Unrecorded.

Ex H. Selig, Spink Coin Auction 131, 2-3-1999, Lot 1375, £220.
317 image 1799 George III. BMC 1233. Weight 12.25g. Pattern in Gilt Copper. Early Soho. Grained edge. A few trivial surface marks, About FDC, very rare. Purchased from Bonhams Auction 30-5-1995, Lot 356, £156.
318 image 1799 George III. BMC 1234. Weight 12.20g. Pattern in Bronzed Copper. Early Soho. A few trivial surface marks, About FDC, very rare. Purchased from Bonhams Auction 30-5-1995, Lot 357, £134.
319 image 1799 George III. BMC 1235. Weight 12.05g. Pattern in Copper. Early Soho. A few trivial surface marks, Superb Practically FDC, very rare. A magnificent specimen. Purchased from Bonhams Auction 30-5-1995, Lot 358, £123.
320 image 1788 George III. BMC 978. Weight 18.90g. Trial Uniface Reverse die. Obverse blank. 35mm diameter. Thick flan in copper. Dr Nicholson notes: "This exactly matches the description in BMC, page 256, of Peck's own specimen, and as it appears to be unique there seems no reason to doubt that this is ex-Peck. The British Museum uniface listed with it used the same die but was struck on quite a different flan. It is almost certainly the coin listed in Spink Numismatic Circular, February 1990, item 415, which, however, states: 'similar to BMC 978 but struck on a large thick flan, 18.90gm. Unrecorded on this size of flan.' The full account in BMC records it clearly." Extremely Fine with some lustre in the legend. Almost certainly the Spink Numismatic Circular, Feb 1990, item 415. Almost certainly

Ex Peck (this piece listed in BMC). Purchased from Colin Cooke, 29-10-1990, £350.
321 image 1788 George III. BMC 964. Weight 16.42g. Pattern in Silver-plated Copper. Late Soho striking from DH11 dies, from re-polished DH1. Marginally heavier than the other two similar pieces in this collection (322 and 323). Edge RENDER TO CESAR etc. Without tests on rim as described in Spink Numismatic Circular, December 1989, item 7037. Light scuffing to mirrors, Good Extremely Fine, extremely rare. Purchased from Colin Cooke, 8-1-1991, £210.
322 image 1788 George III. BMC 966. Weight 16.08g. Pattern by J. P. Droz in Brown-Gilt Copper. Edge RENDER TO CESAR etc. A few trivial surface marks, Almost FDC, extremely rare. Purchased from Colin Cooke, 21-4-1982, £120.
323 image 1788 George III. BMC 968 (or a badly worn example of the Brown-Gilt, BMC 966). Weight 15.94g. Pattern by J. P. Droz in Copper (or worn Brown-Gilt Copper). Edge RENDER TO CESAR etc. Near Very Fine, a "budget" pattern coin. Purchased from Aston Coins, 22-3-1979, £14.
324 image 1790 George III. BMC 971. Weight 16.29g. Pattern by J. P. Droz in Bronzed Copper. Edge RENDER TO CESAR etc. Obverse from die of DH5 with faint flaws under GEO and III and under the bust. Reverse from slightly rusted and re-polished DH6. Late Soho. A few minor surface marks, Good Extremely Fine, very rare. Purchased from Colin Cooke, 21-4-1982, £115.
325 image 1799 George III. BMC 1237. Weight 14.51g. Pattern in Copper. Late Soho. Large Crown. Edge grained. FDC, rare.

Ex Dr T. Aitken (Canada), collection purchased by Colin Cooke 1996. Dr Aitken had acquired the coin from Spink. Purchased from Colin Cooke, 5-6-1996, £200.
326 image 1790 George III. BMC 952. Weight 16.07g. Pattern by J. P. Droz in Brown-Gilt Copper. Edge guilloche. A few trivial surface marks, Almost FDC, extremely rare. Purchased from Colin Cooke, 17-8-1985, £110.
327 image 1790 George III. BMC -- . Weight 4.25g. Restrike Pattern in Aluminium by Taylor. Nude Britannia and "normal" Britannia. A double reverse striking. Unrecorded in this metal. Dies are as BMC 1021A - 1023 but in a metal not recorded by Peck. 27 restrike Halfpennies by Taylor are recorded by Peck in Aluminium, all but nine being in the British Museum only. Practically FDC, excessively rare. Purchased from Spink Numismatic Circular, October 1994, item 6650, £500.
328 image 1795 George III. BMC 1055. Weight 13.34g. Restrike Pattern struck in Brass. About FDC, lightly toning. Extremely rare. Purchased from Colin Cooke, 19-4-1988, £210.
329 image 1797 George III. BMC --. Weight 13.34g. Pattern in Copper. Similar to BMC 1173 but in unbronzed copper. Practically FDC, extremely rare, unrecorded in this finish. Purchased from Colin Cooke, 13-7-1985, £145.
330 image 1805 George III. BMC 1308. Weight 11.65g. Pattern in Silver by Taylor (though Dr Nicholson questions the silver as it should surely weigh more than this if it was in Silver. He suggests it might only be Silver-plated copper, as are some others in the Soho series). Light trivial scuffing to mirrors, Almost FDCe, extremely rare. A stunning coin, most pleasing to the eye. Purchased from Glendinings, 28-1-1998, Lot 230, with premiums, VAT and commission £595.
331 image 1825 George IV. BMC 1431. Order in Council for this coinage was dated 14th November 1825 but not made current by proclamation until January 30th 1826. As a result, halfpennies dated 1825 are very much rarer than those of 1826. Mint State with full mint lustre. A superb coin, extremely rare today in this condition. Purchased from Spink Numismatic Circular, September 1989, item 4847, £152.
332 image 1826 George IV. BMC 1433. Reverse A. Two incuse lines down the arms of the saltire. Practically mint state with almost full mint lustre. Scarce in this condition. Purchased from Colin Cooke, 12-5-1983, £38.
333 image 1826 George IV. BMC 1434. Bronzed Proof. Reverse upright. FDC. Scarce. Purchased from Spink Coin Auction 20, 31-3-1982, £80.
334 image 1826 George IV. BMC -- . Copper Proof. Reverse B. One raised line down the arms of the saltire. Practically as struck, quite different in colour and character from the previous Bronzed Proof and the Bronzed Proof of Reverse B (coin 336 in this collection). Not recorded by Peck in Copper finish. Purchased from Glendinings, 24-4-1991, £145.
335 image 1826 George IV. BMC 1436. Reverse B. One raised line down the arms of the saltire. Extremely Fine, lustrous undertones. Purchased from Colin Cooke, 12-5-1983, £21.
336 image 1826 George IV. BMC 1437. Bronzed Proof. Reverse B. One raised line down the arms of the saltire. A couple of old carbon spots, otherwise About FDC. Scarce. Purchased Seaby Coin and Medal Bulletin, November 1983, £70.
337 image 1827 George IV. BMC 1438. Good Extremely Fine with good lustre on the obverse and some lustre on the reverse. Scarce in this grade. Purchased from Colin Cooke, 12-5-1983, £34.
338 image 1831 William IV. BMC 1461. Near Extremely Fine, a darker tone. Purchased from Colin Cooke, 12-5-1983, £13.
339 image 1831 William IV. BMC 1462. Bronzed Proof. Reverse upright. One very tiny blemish in the obverse field, and a tiny edge bruise by BR on the reverse, otherwise FDC, very rare.

Ex E. M. H. Norweb, Spink Coin Auction 59, 17-6-1987, Lot 1672, £145.
340 image 1831 William IV. BMC 1463. Bronzed Proof. Reverse inverted. Practically FDC. Very scarce. Purchased Spink Coin Auction 20, 31-3-1982, Lot 453, £120.
341 image 1834 William IV. BMC 1464. Good Extremely Fine/Extremely Fine with good lustre on the obverse and traces of lustre on the reverse. Purchased Seaby Coin and Medal Bulletin, November 1983, £55.
342 image 1837 William IV. BMC 1465. Date and parts (but not all) of the legend on the obverse are double-struck, or double-entered on the die. An interesting piece. Practically Mint State with good lustre on both sides. Rare in this condition. Purchased from Colin Cooke, 12-5-1983, £36.

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