The crown, originally known as the " crown of the double rose", was an English 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: med ...

reform of 1526, with a value of of one pound, or five

shilling The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currency, currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 1 ...

s, or 60

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

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). Crown gold is appreciably less prone to wear than the sof ...

", and the first

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. ...

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 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 ...

. 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, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain as the wife of King Philip II from January 1556 until her death in 1558. She made vigorous a ...

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

. Until the time of the

Commonwealth of England The Commonwealth of England was the political structure during the period from 1649 to 1660 when Kingdom of England, England and Wales, later along with Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland and Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, were governed as a republi ...

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 coin Silver coins are one of 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 612–330 B ...

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

troy ounce Troy weight is a system of units of mass that originated in the Kingdom of England in the 15th century and is primarily used in the precious metals industry. The troy weight units are the grain, the pennyweight (24 grains), the troy ounce (20 p ...

, 31.1 grams), 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 Sterling silver is an alloy composed mass fraction (chemistry), by weight of 92.5% silver and 7.5% other metals, usually copper. The sterling silver silver standards, standard has a minimum millesimal fineness of 925. ''Fineness, Fine silver'' ...

standard of 92.5 per cent silver and 7.5 per cent copper, established in the 12th century by

Henry II Henry II may refer to: Kings * Saint Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (972–1024), crowned King of Germany in 1002, of Italy in 1004 and Emperor in 1014 *Henry II of England (1133–89), reigned from 1154 *Henry II of Jerusalem and Cyprus (1271–1 ...

. 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 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, the English crown was superseded by the

British crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

, which is still minted, although since 1990 with a face value of five pounds.

Gallery

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

Gun money Gun money () was an issue of coins made by the forces of James II during the Williamite War in Ireland between 1689 and 1691. They were minted in base metal (copper, brass or pewter), and were designed to be redeemed for silver coins following ...

crown (base metal) of James II (1695) File:Crown, Anna, England, 1703 - Bode-Museum - DSC02769.JPG, Crown of Anne (1703)

References

External links

{{Crown Coins of England Crown (currency)