The crown, originally known as the " crown of the double rose", was an English coin introduced as part of King Henry VIII's monetary reform of 1526, with a value of of one

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 five

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, or 60

pence A penny is a coin ( pennies) or a unit of currency (pl. pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. Presently, it is th ...

History

The first such coins were minted in 22 carat " crown gold", and the first silver crowns were produced in 1551 during the brief reign of King Edward VI. 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, 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 Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". Eli ...

. 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 e ...

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 and Charles I. The silver crown was one of a number of European silver coins which first appeared in the 16th century, all of which were of a similar diameter (about 38 millimetres) and weight (approximately one ounce), 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, engraved by Thomas Simon, is exceptionally rare. The composition of the silver crowns was the sterling silver 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 in 1707, the English crown was superseded by the

British crown The Crown is the state (polity), state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, British Overseas Territories, overseas territories, Provinces and territorie ...

, 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 A gun is a ranged weapon designed to use a shooting tube (gun barrel) to launch projectiles. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns/cannons, spray guns for painting or pressure washing, pr ...

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