World Coins: Your Newest Acquisition!

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Was happy to add this 355-year-old crown to my collection. There is something mesmerizing about these big silver coins. Amazingly, they are (generally) not all that expensive either, all things considered. I thought this one at ~$190 was quite decent.

ENGLAND
Time of Charles II, 1660-1685
AR Crown (38.8mm, 29.32g, 12h)
Dated 1671. Royal mint, London, England
Obverse: CAROLVS·II· DEI·GRATIA, laureate and draped “second bust” of King Charles II right
Reverse: MAG· BR·FRA· ET·HIB· REX·16-71·, crowned cruciform shields around central Garter star, interlinked Cs in angles
References: Numista 53766
Mintage: unknown​

When King Charles I was executed on January 30, 1649 by Parliamentary forces during the English Civil War, his son and newly appointed king of Scotland, Charles II, attempted to regain the English monarchy. However, he was defeated by Oliver Cromwell at the Battle of Worcester on September 3, 1651, and forced to flee England. For nine years, Charles II lived in exile on the European continent, until the death of Cromwell in 1658 and the following political instability opened an opportunity for him to return to England. He did so in 1660, and was welcomed back in what became known as the Stuart Restoration. As king, Charles II oversaw the continued growth of England as a global empire, with expansions in North America, the West Indies, and India. Though his court became notorious for its moral laxity, King Charles II took a keen interest in the growing fields of science, including physics, astronomy, botany, medicine, and more; in 1660 he founded the Royal Society, which is still in existence today. King Charles II died in 1685 at the age of 54, and was succeeded by his younger brother James II.