Diamonds of today

CROWNS of 1662

One thing to bear in mind is that although Charles II’s first milled crowns bear the date 1662 they were actually struck in 1663 by our reckoning. The picture here shows the obverse of a 1662 crown (the rose below the bust indicates the silver came from the West Country), struck in 1663 from dies prepared in 1662. The reverse is from a very similar coin, which actually was struck in 1663. The diarist Samuel Pepys saw the new dies in late 1662, and was then shown the new coins in the spring. However, in those days the New Year was usually counted from 25 March, with the formula 1662/3 being applied to the dates 1st January to 24th March.

‘We saw none of the money; but Mr Slingsby did show the King and I did see the stamps [dies] of the new money that is now to be made by Blondeau’s fashion, which are very neat and like the King’.

Samuel Pepys, Diary 24 November 1662

‘There dined with us today Mr Slingsby of the Mint, who showed us all the new pieces, both gold and silver (examples of them all) that are made for the King by Blondeau’s way, and compared them with those made for Oliver – the pictures of the latter made by Symons [Thomas Simon], and of the King by one Rotyr [John Roettier], a German I think, that dined with us also. He extolls these of Rotyrs above the others; and endeed, I think they are the better, because the sweeter of the two, but upon my word, those of the Protectors are more like in my mind than the King’s – but both very well worth seeing. The Crownes of Cromwell are now sold it seemes for 25 shillings and 30 shillings a-piece.’

Samuel Pepys, Diary 9 March 1663

Cromwell’s milled coins had been demonetized. It is interesting to see that collectors were already snapping them up. Today they cost a small fortune!

SHIPWRECK COINS

Shipwreck milled coins are rare but are fascinating to own. By far and away the biggest source of shipwreck milled (and other) coins of this period is HMS Association wrecked off the Isles of Scilly in 1707 (wreck details). The wreck was discovered in 1967 and before long the coins discovered on the seabed were being sold on the open market, initially at a large Sotheby’ auction on 14 July 1969 and 28 January 1970. Many were silver coins of William III from sixpences to crowns. These coins were sold in Sotheby’s small brown paper envelopes with a date stamp for the auction and the Lot number written in by hand. Coins from Lot No. 67 on 14 July 1969 resurfaced on Ebay in April 2014.This Lot, complete with original envelopes, consisted of a battered halfcrown of Charles II, a halfcrown, shilling and four sixpences of William III. This time they sold for £430 despite most of the coins having illegible dates and very badly corroded reverses.

Later finds from the site were often sold with certificates but as time has gone on many coins have been separated from those valuable pieces of paper. So they often turn up for resale now without the certificates and circulate in the milled coinage market without any reference to their exciting origins.

However, the coins have giveway damage. The three coins shown below are (left to right): a 1697 Exeter halfcrown of William III certified as coin no. 11027 from the wreck. The 1696 crown in the centre is alleged to be from the Association but had lost its certificate. Its condition and clear water damage absolutely support the claimed provenance. The 1696 crown on the right was bought in about 2004. No provenance came with it, but the huge amount of damage it has suffered is typical of some Association coins and it is almost certain that is where it came from. Association coins also include coins of Charles II and James II as well as foreign silver coins (some are still being sold – see here and here). Sadly, there is no list or full publication of what was found available today and it is very difficult to run down pictures of Association coins. Over 30,000 coins have been found since the 1960s but most are in very poor condition.

DENOMINATIONS

Seventeenth-century milled coins were struck in:

1. Gold – the guinea and its multiples (value of guinea varied up to 30 shillings = £1.50)

2. Silver – crown (5 shillings = 25p); half-crown (2shillings and sixpence = 12.5p); shilling (12 pence = 5p); sixpence (2.5p), fourpence (about 1.75p), threepence and a twopence

3. Copper and tin – halfpenny and farthing

DENOMINATIONS: gold guinea piece of Charles II, struck 1680 (nominally equal to £1 but this varied according to bullion values, and eventually stabilized at 21 shillings = £1-05); silver crown piece of James II, struck 1686 (equivalent to 5 shillings, today’s 25 pence); halfcrown of Charles II, struck 1683 (equivalent to 2 shillings and sixpence, or 12.5 pence today); shilling of George I, struck 1723 (equivalent to 12 pennies, or 5 pence today); sixpence of William III, struck 1696 (equal to 2.5 pence today). Below are shown a present-day UK 50 pence piece and a USA 25 cents piece for scale.

‘MAUNDY’ MONEY. The smaller silver pieces (4d, 3, 2d and 1d) are often known as Maundy Money, which refers to the ceremony when the King or Queen of England handed out on Maundy Thursday.

In fact, until about 1760 the only coin used for this was the silver penny. Since at least 1800 the other denominations have been struck for use as Maundy money but until then the 4d, 3d, and 2d circulated as NORMAL currency. This is evident from the large number of surviving coins and the wear they show.

Their reverses differ from the other silver. The two coins shown are a 4d (1673) and 3d (1681) of Charles II. Interlinked Cs mark the value. Under James II the Roman numeral I was used: IIII, III, II, and I. Under William and Mary, and thereafter, the design was changed to 4d, 3d, 2d, and 1d.

OBVERSE LEGENDS:

OBVERSE PORTRAITS AND LEGENDS (all halfcrowns). Top row: Charles II, 1683; James II, 1688; William and Mary, 1693; William III, 1697. Bottom row: Anne, 1714; George I, 1714; George II, 1732; George II, 1746

1. Charles II (1660-85). CAROLVS II  DEI GRATIA, ‘Charles II, by the Grace of God’

2. James II (1685-8). IACOBVS II DEI GRATIA

3. William and Mary (1689-94). GVLIELMVS ET MARIA DEI GRATIA

4. William III (sole reign, 1694-1702). GVLIELMVS III DEI GRATIA

5. Anne (1702-14). ANNA DEI GRATIA

6. George I (1714-27) . GEORGIVS DG M BR FR ET HIB REX FD

7. George II (1727-60). GEORGIVS II DEI GRATIA (young and old portraits shown; the young portrait example has had initials engraved on it. This has nothing to do with the design and was done later. See Love Tokens)

In all cases the monarch is shown facing to one side. This alternated between reigns and has carried on up to the present time. Charles II faced right, James II left, and so on. The coinage of William and Mary showed the busts side by side, as appropriate to the only instance in British history of the monarchs each being rulers in his and her own right.

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