Related Research Articles
The standard circulating coinage of the United Kingdom, British Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories is denominated in pennies and pounds sterling, and ranges in value from one penny sterling to two pounds. Since decimalisation, on 15 February 1971, the pound has been divided into 100 pence. Before decimalisation, twelve pence made a shilling, and twenty shillings made a pound.
The history of the English penny from 1485 to 1603 covers the period of the House of Tudor up to the death of Elizabeth I without an heir. The Tudor era saw the debasement of the penny under Henry VIII and Edward VI, with Elizabeth I's reign overseeing the recovery of the silver quality. Under the Tudors, the penny decreased in size.
The history of the English penny from 1603 to 1707 covers the period of the House of Stuart, up to the Acts of Union of 1707 which brought about the Union of the Kingdom of England with the Kingdom of Scotland.
The British threepence piece, usually simply known as a threepence, thruppence, or thruppenny bit, was a denomination of sterling coinage worth 1⁄80 of one pound or 1⁄4 of one shilling. It was used in the United Kingdom, and earlier in Great Britain and England. Similar denominations were later used throughout the British Empire and Commonwealth countries, notably in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
In numismatics, the term milled coinage is used to describe coins which are produced by some form of machine, rather than by manually hammering coin blanks between two dies or casting coins from dies.
The crown was a denomination of sterling coinage worth a quarter of one pound. The crown was first issued during the reign of Edward VI, as part of the coinage of the Kingdom of England.
The groat is the traditional name of a defunct English and Irish silver coin worth four pence, and also a Scottish coin which was originally worth fourpence, with later issues being valued at eightpence and one shilling.
The British sixpence piece, sometimes known as a tanner or sixpenny bit, was a denomination of sterling coinage worth 1⁄40 of one pound or half of one shilling. It was first minted in 1551, during the reign of Edward VI, and circulated until 1980. The coin was made from silver from its introduction in 1551 until 1947, and thereafter in cupronickel.
The threepence or threepenny bit was a denomination of currency used by various jurisdictions in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, valued at 1/80 of a pound or 1⁄4 of a shilling until decimalisation of the pound sterling and Irish pound in 1971. It was also used in some parts of the British Empire, notably Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
The shilling, informally called a "bob", was a type of silver coinage issued by the Commonwealth of Australia, that circulated prior to the decimalisation of Australian coinage. The Australian shilling was derived from the British pre-decimal sterling pound system and was first issued following the passing of the Australian Coinage Act 1909, which established Australia's first formal currency system. The shilling was issued as part of Australia's silver coinage, which included the two-shilling (florin), the sixpence and the threepence. The shilling was minted from 1910 until 1963. During this period there was one significant modification to the design of the Australian shilling, the change in its reverse design, which occurred in 1938 when the design was altered from the Australian coat of arms (1910–1936) to the visage of a Merino ram's head (1938–1963).
The Great Debasement (1544–1551) was a currency debasement policy introduced in 1544 England under the order of Henry VIII which saw the amount of precious metal in gold and silver coins reduced and in some cases replaced entirely with cheaper base metals such as copper. Overspending by Henry VIII to pay for his lavish lifestyle and to fund foreign wars with France and Scotland are cited as reasons for the policy's introduction. The main aim of the policy was to increase revenue for the Crown at the cost of taxpayers through savings in currency production with less bullion being required to mint new coins. During debasement gold standards dropped from the previous standard of 23 karat to as low as 20 karat while silver was reduced from 92.5% sterling silver to just 25%. Revoked in 1551 by Edward VI, the policy's economic effects continued for many years until 1560 when all debased currency was removed from circulation.
The English shilling was a silver coin of the Kingdom of England, when first introduced known as the testoon. A shilling was worth twelve pence, and there were 20 shillings to the pound sterling. The English shilling was introduced in the 16th century and remained in circulation until it became the British shilling as the result of the Union of England and Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707.
The English three halfpence, a silver coin worth 1+1⁄2d, was introduced in Elizabeth I's third and fourth coinages (1561–1582) as part of a plan to produce large quantities of coins of varying denominations and high silver content. The obverse shows a left-facing bust of the queen, with a rose behind her, with the legend E D G ROSA SINE SPINA – Elizabeth by the grace of God a rose without a thorn – while the reverse shows the royal arms with the date above the arms and a mintmark at the beginning of the legend CIVITAS LONDON – City of London, the Tower Mint.
The English farthing was a coin of the Kingdom of England worth 1⁄4 of a penny, 1⁄960 of a pound sterling. Until the 13th century, farthings were pieces of pennies that had been cut into quarters to make change. The first English farthing coins were minted in the 13th century, and continued to be struck until the early 18th century, when England merged into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707.
The British fourpence coin, sometimes known as a groat, "joey" or fourpenny bit, is a silver coin worth 1⁄60 of one pound or 1⁄3 of one shilling. It is a continuation of the English groat series struck intermittently from the late 13th century until the Acts of Union in 1707.
Peter Blondeau was a French moneyer and engineer who was appointed Engineer to the Royal Mint and was responsible for reintroducing milled coinage to England. He pioneered the process of stamping lettering onto the edge of coins.
The Castaing machine is a device used to add lettering and decoration to the edge of a coin. Such lettering was necessitated by counterfeiting and edge clipping, which was a common problem resulting from the uneven and irregular hammered coinage. When Aubin Olivier introduced milled coinage to France, he also developed a method of marking the edges with lettering which would make it possible to detect if metal had been shaved from the edge. This method involved using a collar, into which the metal flowed from the pressure of the press. This technique was slower and more costly than later methods. France abandoned milled coinage in favour of hammering in 1585.
The Jubilee coinage or Jubilee head coinage are British coins with an obverse featuring a depiction of Queen Victoria by Joseph Edgar Boehm. The design was placed on the silver and gold circulating coinage beginning in 1887, and on the Maundy coinage beginning in 1888. The depiction of Victoria wearing a crown that was seen as too small was widely mocked, and was replaced in 1893. The series saw the entire issuance of the double florin (1887–1890) and, in 1888, the last issue for circulation of the groat, or fourpence piece, although it was intended for use in British Guiana. No bronze coins were struck with the Jubilee design.
The New Zealand threepence is a coin of the New Zealand pound issued from 1933 to 1965. Equal to three pence, the coin was the smallest in size of all New Zealand pound coinage and the smallest in denomination of the initial 1933 issue of New Zealand pound coinage, produced due to shortages of British silver coins resulting from the devaluation of local currency relative to the pound sterling. British artist George Kruger Gray designed the coin's reverse design after an earlier pattern design featuring a hei-tiki was rejected by a coinage design committee organised by Gordon Coates. It features two crossed patu below the label "3d". Initially struck in silver by the Royal Mint, it was struck in cupronickel from 1947 onward due to rising precious metal prices. Following decimalisation in 1967, the threepence was replaced by the coinage of the New Zealand dollar.
The New Zealand sixpence is a coin of the New Zealand pound issued from 1933 to 1965. Equal to twice a threepence or half a shilling, the sixpence was one of five denominations of silver coins introduced in the initial issue of New Zealand coinage in 1933. Early designs for the coin featuring spears and silver ferns were rejected by design committees in Britain and New Zealand. The coin's final reverse, designed by George Kruger Gray, features a female huia, an extinct New Zealand bird, perched atop a branch. Issued in 50% silver until a postwar rise in silver prices triggered a shift to cupronickel in 1947, the coin was minted with relative consistency until 1965, when it was discontinued following decimalisation and the adoption of the New Zealand dollar.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 Goldman, P. H. J. (1974). "Eloye Mestrelle and the introduction of the mill and screw press into English coining circa 1561-1575". Spink and Son's Numismatic Circular. 82: 422–427.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Borden, D. G.; Brown, I. D. (1983). "The Milled Coinage of Elizabeth I" (PDF). British Numismatic Journal. 53: 108–132.
- 1 2 "Eloy Mestrelle - Moneyer". Museum Victoria. Archived from the original on 13 October 2014. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
- ↑ Christopher Edgar Challis (1978). The Tudor Coinage. Barnes & Noble. p. 18. ISBN 978-0-521-24026-0.
- 1 2 3 Symonds, H. (1916). "The mint of Queen Elizabeth and those who worked there". Spink and Son's Numismatic Circular. 16: 61–105.
- 1 2 Rogers Ruding (1840). Annals of the Coinage of Great Britain and Its Dependencies. John Hearne, 81 Strand.
- ↑ Edward Hawkins; Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks; Herbert Appold Grueber (1885). Medallic Illustrations of the History of Great Britain and Ireland to the Death of George II. Order of the Trustees of the British Museum. p. 120.
- ↑ John Yonge Akerman (1840). A Numismatic Manual. Taylor & Walton. p. 288.