Half angel coin weight

Martin Depear is experienced enough to know that this recent finds is a coin weight. However, he asked me to provide a full ID and a valuation.

On one side is a depiction of St. Michael and below a crown on the other side VS above VID. The VS stands for 5 shillings and VID for 6 pence, so this weight was made to check if gold half angels were up to the correct standard.

When James I came to the throne in 1603 a gold half angel had a face value of five shillings. However, in 1612 the face value of all gold coins was raised by 10%, so the half angel was then worth five shillings and sixpence. Therefore, the James I weight found by Martin dates from 1612 or later.

Valuation

The weight is a bit rough looking but all the main detail is still reasonably clear. It’s not as common as some of the coin weights I see but in its present overall condition I’d price it no higher than £12 – £15.

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