Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
1/2 Puffin - Martin Coles Harman
| Issuer | Lundy |
|---|---|
| Year | 1965 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 6 g |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | MARTIN · COLES · HARMAN 1965 |
| Reverse description | Frontal portrait bust of an Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica) rendered in fine detail, occupying the central field. The bird's distinctive large, laterally compressed beak and characteristic facial markings are clearly depicted. The legend LUNDY arcs across the upper field, while HALF PUFFIN is divided across the lower field in two lines flanking the bird's body. The design is enclosed within a raised beaded border. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Martin Coles Harman purchased Lundy in 1925 and promptly issued bronze Puffins and Half-Puffins in 1929 — a move that earned him a prosecution under the Coinage Act 1870 and a £5 fine. The 1965 gold issue is an entirely different matter: struck as a commemorative following Harman's death in 1954, it was produced for collectors rather than any attempted parallel currency.
The Royal Numismatic Society catalogued the original bronze issue as a genuine attempt at local coinage; the gold pieces were never remotely that ambitious. Mintage figures for the 1965 issue remain poorly documented.