COINS OF THE CIVIL WAR
Ema Sikic, of A.H. Baldwin & Sons, describes the dramatic reign of Charles I using notable coins of the period
Charles I oversaw and was directly involved in one of the most dramatic periods of British history, leaving the nation facing questions over the monarchy, religion, and money. Ema Sikic, of A.H. Baldwin & Sons, describes the events using notable coins of the reign
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. He was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of Scotland.
After his father inherited the English throne in 1603 as James I, he moved to England. After the death of his older brother Henry Frederick in 1612, Charles became the heir apparent of the three kingdoms. Charles I ascended to the throne in 1625, the same year he married the Bourbon princess Henrietta Maria of France, who was a Roman Catholic.
Charles firmly believed in the divine right of kings to govern according to their own conscience. He was fiercely opposed by the Parliament that sought to curb his royal prerogatives. King’s policies were widely opposed, especially the levying of taxes without parliamentary consent. Because he was married to a Roman Catholic,
his religious policies were also opposed and ignited the opposition, consisting of Reformed English Puritans and Scottish Covenanters. His views were deemed ‘too Catholic’ especially since he failed to help the Protestant forces successfully during the Thirty Years’ War. The discontent towards the King was mounting.
The impressive gold Triple Unite
In 1642, both sides began to raise arms. Charles raised an army using the medieval method of commission of array, and Parliament called for volunteers for its militia. The attempted negotiations were unsuccessful; Charles I raised his royal standard at Nottingham on 22 August 1642. The King and the Parliament were now at war. King’s forces controlled (approximately) the Midlands, Wales, the West Country, and northern England. His court was now set up at Oxford. The Parliament forces had London, the south-east and East Anglia, as well as the English navy.
After raising his standard, the King proceeded into Shropshire, arriving in Wellington on 19 September 1642. The following day he issued the famous Wellington Declaration stating that he would uphold ‘the Protestant Religion, the Laws of England, and the Liberty of Parliament’.
The Wellington Declaration was immortalized on the Charles I Triple Unite pictured here, produced in Oxford mint, in 1642. Only a handful of these large coins exist today; they are the most impressive artistic expressions of this turbulent era in English history. This Triple Unite represents the largest hammered gold coin ever made in England with a staggering value of sixty-shillings or three pounds. This extraordinary coin features a crowned and armoured half-length portrait of the King, holding a sword and an olive branch. On the reverse is a continuous scroll with the abbreviated motto from the Declaration.
The Triple Unite was struck with a goal to reinforce the image and the waning power of the King.
The motto from the Wellington
Declaration appeared on many of his coins, however, it is in its largest form on the Triple Unites. They were issued during a three-year run from 1642 to 1644, alongside an excessively rare 1642 Shrewsbury issue. There is also the outstanding Thomas Rawlins Presentation piece of 1643 (he was a former pupil of the brilliant French engraver Nicholas Briot), initially considered a pattern, a unique coin (ex. Spink 29, 2nd June 1983, lot 113).
The coin was issued in Oxford because the Tower Mint fell into the hands of Parliament, thus Charles was forced to open mints in Royalist western England. The Oxford Mint was established at New Inn Hall, on the site of St Peter’s College. Much of the bullion was donated by the colleges.
The quote from the Wellington Declaration on this coin is a fervent proclamation of a King whose power is threatened, made in ‘real time’. These words, the style and the size of this coin are more than merely a gesture, the King was readying his army for the battle and the impressive coinage was meant to symbolise the re-asserting of his power.
Innovations in silver: milled coins, Welsh silver and Siege pieces
The turbulent reign of Charles I saw the inception of machinemade coins with distinguished pieces produced by Nicholas Briot, a prominent pioneering French engraver, medallist and mechanical engineer. Illustrated here is the Crown of Five Shillings, Nicholas Briot’s first milled coinage issued between 1631 and 1632. In 1625 he fled to England after being pursued by creditors and swiftly offered his machinery and services to Charles I. His milled silver coinage spanned two periods, first in 1631-39 with Flower and B as initial marks and second in 163839, where an anchor and B/ anchor and mullet were used as initial marks. However, at this time, machine-made coins could not be struck fast enough to satisfy the demand and failed to replace hammered coins completely.
Another major innovation happened in 1637 when a mint was set up in Aberystwyth, to make coins with silver from Welsh mines. Dies were supplied from the Tower mint. Aberystwyth Mint had a distinctive mint-mark: a book. The silver mines in Wales were well known before the time of Charles I, however, he was the first to formalize their output and set up a mint within the Castle of Aberystwyth.
From the Civil War period, we have the so-called emergency or siege piece coinage. These coins were made from silver plate during the sieges of Newark, Scarborough, Carlisle and Pontefract. Of these mints, Newark was most fruitful and most siege money known today survives from there. To mint the money, Royalist noblemen and gentlemen gave up their silverware: mainly flagons and cups, which were shaped into distinctive lozengeshaped coins. Sometimes the pattern of the cup is still visible on the coin. Siege money of this period is very popular with collectors.
The Protectorate and Oliver Cromwell
On 30 January 1649, King Charles was tried, convicted, and executed for high treason. The Protectorate was established on 16 December 1653. Production of Oliver Cromwell portrait coins was authorised in 1655 and their first full production came in 1657. All Cromwell portrait coins were machine-made in the presses of another Frenchman, Pierre Blondeau, who was tasked with re-introducing machine-made coinage to the country. He was a pioneer in stamping the letters onto the edge of coins, thus, ushering a new era in British numismatics.