The crown, originally known as the " crown of the double rose", was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

coin introduced as part of King Henry VIII's

monetary Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are ...

reform of 1526, with a value of of one pound, or five shillings, or 60 pence

History

The first such coins were minted in 22 carat "

crown gold Crown gold is a 22 karat (kt) gold alloy used in the crown coin introduced in England in 1526 (by Henry VIII). In this alloy, the proportion of gold is 22 parts out of 24 (91.667% gold)—and is appreciably less prone to wear than the softer 23 k ...

", and the first

silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

crowns were produced in 1551 during the brief reign of

King Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first E ...

. However, some crowns continued to be minted in gold until 1662.The Story of the Crown
at 24carat.co.uk No crowns were minted in the reign of

Mary I Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. She ...

, but silver as well as gold crowns again appeared in the reign of her successor

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...

. Until the time of the

Commonwealth of England The Commonwealth was the political structure during the period from 1649 to 1660 when England and Wales, later along with Ireland and Scotland, were governed as a republic after the end of the Second English Civil War and the trial and execu ...

it was usual for some crowns to be minted in gold as well as in silver, so both versions of the coin can be found for

James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) *James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) *James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu *James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...

and

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

. The silver crown was one of a number of European

silver coin Silver coins are considered the oldest mass-produced form of coinage. Silver has been used as a coinage metal since the times of the Greeks; their silver drachmas were popular trade coins. The ancient Persians used silver coins between 612–33 ...

s which first appeared in the 16th century, all of which were of a similar diameter (about 38 millimetres) and weight (approximately one

ounce The ounce () is any of several different units of mass, weight or volume and is derived almost unchanged from the , an Ancient Roman unit of measurement. The avoirdupois ounce (exactly ) is avoirdupois pound; this is the United States customa ...

), so were more or less interchangeable in international trade. English silver crowns were minted in all reigns from that of Elizabeth I. The Charles II

Petition Crown The Petition Crown was a pattern coin produced in 1663 by Thomas Simon, a celebrated English medallist and coin-designer. The coin was submitted directly by the artist to King Charles II as a personal 'petition' against the contemporary coins ...

, engraved by

Thomas Simon Thomas Simon (c. 16231665), English medalist, was born, according to George Vertue, in Yorkshire about 1623. Simon studied engraving under Nicholas Briot, and about 1635 received a post in connection with the Royal Mint. In 1645 he was appoi ...

, is exceptionally rare. The composition of the silver crowns was the

sterling silver Sterling silver is an alloy of silver containing 92.5% by weight of silver and 7.5% by weight of other metals, usually copper. The sterling silver standard has a minimum millesimal fineness of 925. '' Fine silver'', which is 99.9% pure silver, i ...

standard of 92.5 per cent silver and 7.5 per cent copper, established in the 12th century by Henry II. This was harder-wearing than fine silver, yet still a high grade. The hardness discouraged the practice of "clipping", and this practice was further discouraged (and largely eliminated) with the introduction of the milled edge. With the creation of the

Kingdom of Great Britain The Kingdom of Great Britain (officially Great Britain) was a Sovereign state, sovereign country in Western Europe from 1 May 1707 to the end of 31 December 1800. The state was created by the 1706 Treaty of Union and ratified by the Acts of ...

in 1707, the English crown was superseded by the British crown, which is still minted, although since 1990 with a face value of five pounds.

Gallery

File:Crown, Anna, England, 1703 - Bode-Museum - DSC02769.JPG, Crown of Anne (1703) File:William III Silver Coin.jpg, Crown of William III (1695) File:Post Medieval coin, Irish 'Gun money' crown (FindID 577447).jpg, Gun money crown (base metal) of James II (1695) File:Post-Medieval coin, crown of Charles II (FindID 268418).jpg, Crown of Charles II (1676) File:Crown, Oliver Cromwell, Republic, England, 1658 - Bode-Museum - DSC02766.JPG, Crown of Oliver Cromwell (1658) File:Coin (Crown) Showing Charles I MET 22.122.24 002nov2014.jpg, Crown of Charles I (1625) File:Post-Medieval coin, thistle crown of James I (FindID 505145).jpg, Gold "thistle" crown of James I (1609–1610) File:Elizabeth I AR Crown 1602 74001334.jpg, Crown of Elizabeth I (1602)

References

External links

{{Crown Coins of England