Lot 1921

Description

Birmingham, The Birmingham Overseas, Workhouse copper sixpence, 1813, West view of the Workhouse Building/Arms of Birmingham (Davis 28). Attractive brown patina, the blank with many casting faults otherwise extremely fine and extremely rare, only seven known, and very few now available to collectors of this massive copper coin the largest ever issued in Great Britain, weighing 5 and one half ounces.

Ex Glendinings sale 2/3/1994 (lot 597). (The Overseers of the Poor thought with the relatively low price of copper and high price of silver prevailing, it would be more economical to produce these large coins, however their excessive weight created an insurmountable obstacle to their continued use and the number of the issue was extremely small.