Cleveland Museum of Art

Unite: Charles I (obverse); Crowned Shield (reverse)

Date

1625

Medium

gold

Culture

England, Charles I, 1625-1649

Department

Medieval Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

After ascending to the throne, Charles I ordered that the coinage should remain the same types and denominations as that of James I. Throughout all the troubles of his reign he did not alter the value of the gold coinage. Until the English Civil War started in 1642, the king's authority continued to rule the Tower mint. With the appointment of Sir John Coniers as Lieutenant of the Tower, control of the mint passed into the hands of the Parliamentary party, which continued to strike coins bearing the king's effigy and titles. To keep the Royalist party supplied with money, Charles opened other mints at York, Aberystwyth, Shrewsbury, Oxford, Bristol, Truro, Exeter, Weymouth, and Chester, while a mint operated near Worcester in 1646. During the civil war mints operated in the besieged towns of Carlisle, Colchester, Newark, Pontefract, and Scarborough, and produced a number of irregularly shaped coins of many odd denominations hastily struck from local domestic plate. The gold unite was valued at 20 shillings, the roman numeral XX can be seen on the obverse.

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