The half laurel was a
coin
A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order t ...
of the
Kingdom of England
The Kingdom of England (, ) was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from 12 July 927, when it emerged from various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain.
On 1 ...
minted between 1619 and 1625, with a value of ten
shilling
The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence o ...
s (half a
pound
Pound or Pounds may refer to:
Units
* Pound (currency), a unit of currency
* Pound sterling, the official currency of the United Kingdom
* Pound (mass), a unit of mass
* Pound (force), a unit of force
* Rail pound, in rail profile
Symbols
* Po ...
, or half a
laurel
Laurel may refer to:
Plants
* Lauraceae, the laurel family
* Laurel (plant), including a list of trees and plants known as laurel
People
* Laurel (given name), people with the given name
* Laurel (surname), people with the surname
* Laurel (mus ...
).
The half laurel was the third English
gold coin with a value of ten shillings produced during the reign of
King James I. It was named after the laurel that the king is portrayed as wearing on his head, but it is considerably poorer in both quality and style than both the
half sovereign
The half sovereign is a British gold coin with a nominal value of half of one pound sterling
Sterling (abbreviation: stg; Other spelling styles, such as STG and Stg, are also seen. ISO code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and ...
and the
double crown which preceded it. The coin was produced during James I's third coinage (1619–1625). All the coins were produced at the
Tower Mint
Tower Mint was founded in 1976 by acclaimed sculptor Raphael Maklouf
Raphael David Maklouf (born 10 December 1937) is a British sculptor, best known for designing an effigy of Queen Elizabeth II used on the coins of many Commonwealth natio ...
in the
City of London
The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...
.
The half laurel was introduced to replace the double crown of 1604, which had an initial value of ten shillings but whose value had been increased to eleven shillings in 1612 because of the increasing value of gold; the need was felt for a ten-shilling coin in circulation again.
The King is looking to the left of the coin and has the value "X" to the right, behind the kings' head. The legend on the
obverse reads
IACOBUS D G MAG BRI FRA ET HIB REX – James, by the grace of God King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland – while the reverse shows a long cross over a crowned shield with the arms of the four countries, and the legend
HENRIC ROSAS REGNA IACOBUS – Henry
nitedthe roses, James the kingdoms.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Half Laurel
English gold coins