Commonwealth of England - 1651. The Protectorate. Oliver Cromwell. Silver Shilling. Weak strike in middle. Blue tone on edges. The only time in English history when the nation became a Republic. The commonwealth of England marked an interruption of a monarchy in English history with the execution of King Charles I on 1649. Due to a quarrel between King Charles and the Parliament over who controls the army, this led to the English Civil War between troops from both parties which ended with the Monarchy's defeat and Charlie's execution. Oliver Cromwell took over the reins of government as Lord Protectorate. When he died, his son Richard Cromwell took over but proved to be an ineffective ruler. That combined with his father's strict and unpopular administration eventually led the people to demand the restoration of the monarchy with the return of King Charles II in 1649.
A curious feature of the Commonwealth coinage is that it marked the first and until the 20th century, only time that the English language appeared on coinage because Latin was considered too Papist. Another coinage series, this time in North America, was necessitated and tolerated because of the English Civil War. Massachusetts Bay coined it's own coinage under the premise that back in the home country they were too concerned with all the political strife to interfere in N. America's first coinage. Which is why with the exception of the 1662 tuppence that all the coinage is dated 1652 even though the Pine Tree coins were struck until 1682.
He was brutal to the Irish. '618,000 deaths from fighting and disease out of a total pre-war population of c. 1.5 million, or 41 per cent of the population.' ref. http://www.historyireland.com/cromwell/how-many-died-during-cromwells-campaign/ COMMONWEALTH. Oliver Cromwell. Lord Protector, 1653-1658. AR Halfcrown (34mm, 14.99 g, 6h). Tower (London) mint. Dated 1658. Laureate and draped bust left / Crowned coat-of-arms. ESC 447; North 2746; SCBC 3227A. Good VF, toned, holed and plugged, small dig near edge of obverse top. From the D. Meisner Collection.
And yet, the first one to conquer the 'Emerald Isle'. Cannon Balls knock down castle walls......I'll get a lot of negs on that statement.
1658 Commonwealth of England crown, London mint. All of the crowns that I've seen have the die crack through the lower section of the obverse.
Signed the death warrant of Charles I, passed Penal Laws against the Catholics and confiscated much of their land, committed genocide in Ireland, was a harsh and brutal dictator, allowed the execution of surrendering opposition soldiers, supported nepotism otherwise why would his weak son ‘inherit the throne of Lord Protector’ after his death, was posthumously executed, beheaded and hung by loyalists after his death……. was he truly any different from those he wanted to replace???!!! Will still buy one of his coins for their collectability
"Meet the new boss, same as the old boss" The Who "Won't Be Fooled Again" "What do you do when the old man's gone - do you want to be him? And your real self sings the song. Do you want to free him? No one to help you get up steam And the whirlpool turns you `way off-beam" Jethro Tull "Thick as a Brick" Songs are littered with little truths. The boys from Britain have woven some wisdom in their little ditties.
Coins of Cromwell and the Commonwealth have always interested me, but I've not had any. Oh, and @4to2centBC - I've been a rabid Jethro Tull fan for 37 years. I'm envious of all three coins posted in this thread so far.
