Petition Crown
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The Petition Crown was a
pattern coin A pattern coin is a coin which has not been approved for release, but produced to evaluate a proposed coin design. They are often off-metal strike (using metals of lower value to test out the dies), to proof standard or piedforts. Many coin co ...
produced in 1663 by
Thomas Simon Thomas Simon (c. 16231665), English medalist, was born, according to George Vertue, in Yorkshire about 1623. Simon studied engraving under Nicholas Briot, and about 1635 received a post in connection with the Royal Mint. In 1645, he was ap ...
, a celebrated English
medallist A medalist (or medallist) is an artist who designs medals, plaquettes, badges, metal medallions, coins and similar small works in relief in metal. Historically, medalists were typically also involved in producing their designs, and were usually e ...
and coin-designer. The coin was submitted directly by the artist to King Charles II as a personal 'petition' against the contemporary coins designed by the Flemish brothers
John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...
and Joseph Roettiers, and for the further Royal consideration that only Simon's designs be used for all future
specie Specie may refer to: * Coins or other metal money in mass circulation * Bullion coins * Hard money (policy) * Commodity money * Specie Circular, 1836 executive order by US President Andrew Jackson regarding hard money * Specie Payment Resumption A ...
now that machine-made currency had been adopted universally for the production of British coinage. The rivalry between the Roettiers brothers and Thomas Simon resulted from a Royal competition to design this new milled coinage. For unclear reasons, Simon did not submit his trial design in time, resulting in the Flemish engravers winning by default and their coinage being issued for circulation in 1662. However Simon's desire to win back the King's affections resulted in the development of this trial piece the following year. Not only did it dramatically differ from the coins produced by the Roettiers brothers, but it also bore his 'petition' engraved in 200 letters in two lines around the coin's rim: :
''THOMAS SIMON MOST HVMBLY PRAYS YOVR MAJESTY TO COMPARE THIS HIS TRYALL PIECE WITH THE DVTCH AND IF MORE TRVLY DRAWN & EMBOSS'D MORE GRACE; FVLLY ORDER'D AND MORE ACCURATELY ENGRAVEN TO RELEIVE HIM. ic'
The adoption of edge lettering on British coinage began under
Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...
, when Thomas Simon was engraver of dies at the
Royal Mint The Royal Mint is the United Kingdom's official maker of British coins. It is currently located in Llantrisant, Wales, where it moved in 1968. Operating under the legal name The Royal Mint Limited, it is a limited company that is wholly ow ...
and where he also produced the State Seal of the Commonwealth. The markings were intended to guard against the contemporary practice of
clipping Clipping may refer to: Words * Clipping (morphology), the formation of a new word by shortening it, e.g. "ad" from "advertisement" * Clipping (phonetics), shortening the articulation of a speech sound, usually a vowel * Clipping (publications ...
or the shaving of precious metal off the edges of a coin for illicit personal gain. At the time of production, Charles II's coinage bore the Latin phrase DECVS ET TVTAMEN An Ornament and a Safeguard'in relation to this practice. This phrase was still being used on British coins until the revision of the pound coin in 2015. Simon's coin shows the bust of King Charles II draped in his flowing hair and laurel leaves, with his celebrated lovelock over his right shoulder. The intricacy of the engraving portrays even the shadows of the King's veins on his neck. The inscription reads CAROLVS II. DEI. GRA and on the reverse are crowned cruciform shields of England,
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
,
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
and
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, with the order of the Garter at the centre. There are two C's interlinked in each angle. The reverse of the coin is slightly
convex Convex or convexity may refer to: Science and technology * Convex lens, in optics Mathematics * Convex set, containing the whole line segment that joins points ** Convex polygon, a polygon which encloses a convex set of points ** Convex polytop ...
and the obverse is
concave Concave or concavity may refer to: Science and technology * Concave lens * Concave mirror Mathematics * Concave function, the negative of a convex function * Concave polygon A simple polygon that is not convex is called concave, non-convex or ...
to show the King as a stronger feature of the coin. Ultimately however the Roettier brothers continued to produce the dies for the crowns, albeit from 1664 with subtle corrections as a result of the influence of Simon's pattern. The earliest known sale of Simon's revered pattern coin occurred in 1742 at the sale of the
Earl of Oxford Earl of Oxford is a dormant title in the Peerage of England, first created for Aubrey de Vere, 1st Earl of Oxford, Aubrey de Vere by the Empress Matilda in 1141. De Vere family, His family was to hold the title for more than five and a half cen ...
, wherein it fetched the princely sum of £20 (approximately £2,300 in 2017). Whilst the market price for examples has fluctuated dramatically over the centuries, from as little as £6.6.0 in 1795 to £500 in 1889, its spectacular artistry and noted rarity have gained it a passionate following amongst
numismatist A numismatist is a specialist, researcher, and/or well-informed collector of numismatics, numismatics/coins ("of coins"; from Late Latin , genitive of ). Numismatists can include collectors, specialist dealers, and scholar-researchers who use coi ...
s. Today the coin is known from only a handful of examples and is extremely sought after. Consequently copies of the coin known as electrotypes have been made for collectors who were otherwise unable to afford the artist's original. In 2007, an original example sold for £207,100 pprox. $420,000 More recently, an example was sold in New York in 2018 for a reported $649,000. In 2023 the UK's
Royal Mint The Royal Mint is the United Kingdom's official maker of British coins. It is currently located in Llantrisant, Wales, where it moved in 1968. Operating under the legal name The Royal Mint Limited, it is a limited company that is wholly ow ...
released a range of modern commemorative coinage, inspired by the 1663 'petition' crown, celebrating 360 years since the original pattern coin was struck. In January 2024, an
NGC NGC may refer to: Companies * NGC Corporation, the name of US electric company Dynegy, Inc. from 1995 to 1998 * National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago, a state-owned natural gas company in Trinidad and Tobago * National Grid plc, a former nam ...
MS 62 graded example was sold for $960,000 (based on a hammer for $800,000 plus the buyer`s 20 percent premium of $160,000), and in May 2024, an example of higher graded NGC MS 63+ was sold for CHF 775,000 plus CHF 174,375 buyers premium and taxes (in total $1.04 million) setting a new world record price for a British silver crown.


Reddite Crown

Simon's dies were also used to strike the similar 'Reddite' Crown, which differs from the Petition Crown only on the basis of the edge lettering:
''REDDITE QUÆ CÆSARIS CÆSARI''
On 27 March 2014, an example sold in London for £396,000 657,000 setting a current world record for any British silver coin.


References

{{Reflist


External links


The Art of Coins website
Coins of England Pattern coins