The English shilling was a

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

coin of the

Kingdom of England The Kingdom of England was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from the late 9th century, when it was unified from various Heptarchy, Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland to f ...

, when first introduced known as the testoon. A shilling was worth twelve pence, and there were 20 shillings to the

pound sterling Sterling (symbol: £; currency code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound is the main unit of sterling, and the word '' pound'' is also used to refer to the British currency general ...

. 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 Great Britain, also known as the Kingdom of Great Britain, was a sovereign state in Western Europe from 1707 to the end of 1800. The state was created by the 1706 Treaty of Union and ratified by the Acts of Union 1707, which united the Kingd ...

in 1707.

Name

The word ''shilling'' comes from the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

'' scilling'' (meaning to separate), an accounting term dating back to

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

times, to mean a 20th of a pound, although there was no specific coin of that value. A common misconception is that the word is a Norse

loanword A loanword (also a loan word, loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language (the recipient or target language), through the process of borrowing. Borrowing is a metaphorical term t ...

into English; however, it can be found in English laws many years before Norse incursions into Britain, for example the Law of Æthelberht, of Kent.

History

Testoon

In the

, during the reign of Henry VII, the forerunner of the shilling, the testoon, was introduced. This coin was produced in extremely small quantities, probably around 1489, and the fact that there are only three known dies for this issue (and three subsequent legend varieties, HENRIC, HENRIC VII and HENRIC SEPTIM) shows clearly that the coins were not made for general circulation. The HENRIC SEPTIM legend is the rarest and a high rarity also being one of the first testoons. They were made during the same period as the trials for the Profile issue of groats and half-groats, so they were probably trial pieces or patterns. In the

Kingdom of Scotland The Kingdom of Scotland was a sovereign state in northwest Europe, traditionally said to have been founded in 843. Its territories expanded and shrank, but it came to occupy the northern third of the island of Great Britain, sharing a Anglo-Sc ...

, during the reign of

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was List of Scottish monarchs, Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legit ...

, the testoon and half testoon were introduced to the Scottish coinage in 1553 and 1555 respectively. The 1553 is a Scottish rarity and Mary was presented with one (this piece was EF which sold for £61 during the 1850s Thornburn).

Henry VIII (1509–1547)

The testoon was struck in quantity during the last part of the reign of

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

, with the Tower, Southwark and

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

mints producing testoons in 1544–1551. These testoons were made in the very poor base silver in this period, and are known as base testoons. The coins were struck after Henry's death in 1547, at the Tower, Southwark, and at Bristol. Legend BRISTOLLIE and BRISTOLIE on reverse. BRISTOLIE are extremely rare and were struck pre- and post-death Henry VIII 1547 with WS monogram in legend. (One was recorded pre-WWII at 6.89 grams fully round, said to be from BRISTOL used as evidence at the trial of William Sharington.) The mint-marks for these testoons are as follows: :TOWER (London) :* two lis OR :* lis OR :* pellet in annulet :Southwark :* S OR :* E :Bristol :* WS (for William Sharington) The coins from Southwark have the reverse legend "CIVITAS LONDON" (City of London) and the Bristol coins the legend "CIVITAS BRISTOLLIE" (City of Bristol) or later "CIVITAS BRISTOLIE" (City of Bristol) The obverse of these coins shows a facing bust of Henry VIII and the reverse side, a crowned rose with Sin legend. Very Rare are any BRISTOL testoons which are full, round and not clipped or shaved.

Edward VI (1547–1553)

Henry VIII's young son

Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. The only surviving son of Henry VIII by his thi ...

continued the issues of base testoons. In his reign the testoons were called "shillings" for the first time, and the coins show the bust of the young boy king. Unlike his father's coins, the shillings of Edward VI cannot be differentiated by their reverse legend. There are six slightly different busts for these issues. Most importantly, these coins are the first English ones to carry the date, which is in

Roman numerals Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, eac ...

. The coins were minted at the Durham House, Tower, Southwark, Canterbury and Bristol mints. The mint-marks for these coins are: :Durham House MDXLVIII (1548) :* BOW :This issue is exceedingly rare and could be a pattern or contemporary forgery. :Durham House MDXLIX (1549) :* BOW :Tower MDXLIX (1549) :* ARROW OR :* GRAPPLE OR :* PHEON OR :* SWAN :Southwark MDXLIX (1549) :* Y OR :* EY :Canterbury MDXLIX (1549) :* ROSE OR :* T :Bristol MDXLIX (1549) :* TC :Tower MDL (1550) :* LION OR :* LIS OR :* PHEON AND :* SWAN OR :* MARLET OR :* CROWNED LEOPARD'S HEAD :Southwark MDL (1550) :* Y OR :* LIS AND Y :Tower MDLI (1551) :* LION AND ROSE OR :* ROSE AND ROSE :Southwark MDLI (1551) :* Y AND LIS :Undated issue (Durham House) :* BOW

Fine silver issue

In 1551, the silver standard was restored from about 0.342 silver to the (thence) normal 0.925 "sterling" silver. It was struck in large quantities but is normally found fairly worn and sometimes holed. Mint-marks: :Tower or Southwark. No date (1551) :* Y :Tower. No date (1551–3) :* TUN

Mary (1553–1558) and Philip (1554–1558)

Shilling of Philip and Mary MET DP100459

No shillings were struck in England until Queen Mary I of England was married in 1554 to Philip of Spain, though Irish shillings with Mary's portrait were struck in 1553 and 1554 before her marriage. After Mary's marriage some shillings were coined. To boost Philip's popularity his bust was placed on these coins, facing Mary's. These coins are fairly rare, but nevertheless do frequently appear on the market. There are two main varieties: Spanish titles (which adds on "Prince and Princess of Spain") and English titles. Many of these coins were dated using Arabic dates and some coins have a mark of value (X__II) above the royal shield. There is an exceedingly rare variety which has the date under the busts. All the coins were made at the Tower mint.

Elizabeth I (1558–1603)

One of the first events of

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. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...

's reign was the counter-marking of the Edward VI shillings to revalue them to their true worth. These coins have the counter-mark of a

portcullis A portcullis () is a heavy, vertically closing gate typically found in medieval fortifications. It consists of a latticed Grille (architecture), grille made of wood and/or metal, which slides down grooves inset within each jamb of the gateway. ...

greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a dog breed, breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Some are kept as show dogs or pets. Greyhounds are defined as a tall, muscular, smooth-c ...

and are extremely rare. The coins with the portcullis counter-mark were revalued at fourpence halfpenny, and the coins with the greyhound were revalued at twopence farthing. A major recoinage was then embarked upon, with thousands of silver coins being produced. The shilling was no exception with the date being removed from the design. (However, mint-marks can be used to reveal the date.) No shillings were produced between 1562 and 1582, but the next issue was also very large and a good number have survived for collectors. Mint-marks: :Hammered issue (all coins were produced in the Tower) :* Lis (1559–1560) :* Cross crosslet (1560–61) :* Marlet (1560–61) :* Bell (1582–83) :* A (1582–84) :* Escallop (1584–86) :* Crescent (1587–89) :* Hand (1590–92) :* Tun (1592–95) :* Woolpack (1594–96) :* Key (1595–98) :* Anchor (1597–1600) :* 1 (1601) :* 2 (1602) :Milled issue (Tower mint only) :* Star (1560–1) The milled issue was produced by Eloye Mestrelle using horse power. The issues were a success, especially the sixpences, but he lost his post over various disputes with the mint workers. Although Eloye found it very difficult to make smaller coins the sixpences and shillings were made in fairly large quantities. The shillings still tend to be much rarer than sixpences and are often found weakly struck, gilded, holed, mounted etc. They are still available to collectors, albeit in poor condition.

James I (1603–1625)

During the reign of James I, coinage continued in much the same way as in Elizabeth's but the coins have a mark of value () in front of the bust. Some shillings were struck with a plume above the shield (Welsh silver). The mint-marks for these coins are: :First coinage (reverse legend ''Exurgat deus dissipentur inimici'') :* Lis (1603–4) :* Thistle (1603–4) :Second coinage (reverse legend ''Quae deus coniunxit nemo seperat'', square cut beard) :* Lis (1604–5) :* Rose (1604–6) :* Escallop (1606–7) :* Grapes (1607) :* Coronet (1607–9) :* Key (1609–10) :* Mullet (1611–2) :* Tower (1612–3) :* Trefoil (1613) :* Tun (1613–5) :* Cinquefoil (1613–5) :* Closed book (1615–6) :* Plain cross (1617–18) :Third coinage (very long curly hair) :* Spur Rowel (1619–20) :* Rose (1620–1) :* Thistle (1621–3) :* Lis (1623–4) :* Trefoil (1624) :Welsh issues (with plume above shield) :* Thistle (1621–3) :* Lis (1623–4) :* Trefoil (1624)

1625 to 1706

Shillings were minted in every subsequent reign as well as during the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

period. From 1707, as the result of the Union of England and Scotland to form the

, the English shilling was converted into the British shilling.

References

{{Shilling Coins of England Silver coins Shillings