The Roy Ince Collection of British Coins

Charles I (1625-1649), Pontefract, Shilling, 1648, type I, thicker lettering, large c r, rev. castle gateway with sword to right, 4.99g/12h (Hird 274, same dies; SCBI Brooker 1231; N 2646; S 3148). On an octagonal flan; trace of vertical crease, good fine, rare £2,000-£2,600

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Roy Ince Collection of British Coins.

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Collection

E. Danson Collection, DNW Auction 68, 12 December 2005, lot 202

Pontefract Castle was taken for the king at the beginning of June 1648, in the hope that it would act as a base for a royalist revival with the aid of an army that was being raised in Scotland at that time by the Duke of Hamilton. On his way south, the Duke relieved Carlisle and joined forces with Sir Marmaduke Langdale. Shortly after, however, his army was defeated at Preston, and based on the events in the north, any revival began to look increasingly unlikely. The fall of Colchester to the Roundheads only exacerbated the situation. Despite this gloomy outlook, Pontefract Castle held out throughout the autumn and winter of 1648-9, resisting the best efforts of Cromwellian generals Rainsborough and Lambert who had taken Colchester earlier in the summer. The castle finally fell at the end of March 1649. Despite being one of the largest in England, it was then systematically demolished within a matter of weeks.