1561 Milled Sixpence of Elizabeth I.
Obverse: ELIZABETH•D•G•ANG•FRA•ET•HIB•
REGINA / Crowned
bust left, with ornately decorated bodice. Large Tudor rose behind her
head.
Reverse: POSVI DEVM•AD IVTORE M•MEVM / Royal coat of arms with date 1561 above.
Mint mark: six-pointed
star, both sides.
2.95 gm., 25 mm.
North #2024;
Spink #2593;
Borden-Brown 21 (O2/R2).
From:
Forum Ancient Coins, 2025.
Provenance:
Forum Ancient Coins, 2025
“PRS Great Emperors and Queens
Collection”
Noonans (DNW),
Auction 148, lot 500 (2018)
Walter
Wilkinson (1925-2020)
CollectionE. H. Woodiwiss (
Victoria St,
London), 1952
I
Eloye Mestrelle, a
French moneyer, introduced machine-made (“milled”) coinage into
England. In 1560 he received a contract to
help with the recoinage that was underway, and following the Pyx of October 1561 which introduced four new
denominations (6d, 3d, 1½ d, ¾ d), he began making large numbers of coins on
his screw press.
His early coins are noted for their
very fine workmanship and beauty.
In 1563 the plague arrived in
London, and the
mint was closed until the following year. In 1568
his brother & business partner was arrested for counterfeiting and was eventually executed. Mestrelle himself must have been implicated too, as he received a pardon in 1569. A new
mint administration determined Mestrelle and
his coin press was slow and inefficient compared to striking coins by hand (22 sixpence flans
per hour vs 280 by hammermen). So he was deprived of
his job at the
mint. 6 years later he was arrested for counterfeiting, and also executed.
This sixpence is among the earliest coins that Mestrelle made.
