At Last.....A Great Britain Commonwealth 1654 Unite

The gold Unite was first struck during the reign of King James I and was the second English coin to be valued at 20 shillings or one pound. During the reign of Charles I they bore an XX behind the king's head representing the value of the coin as 20 shillings.

During the English Civil War very few unites were produced by the crown and those that are available today represent unique coins and achieve very high auction prices. Following the defeat of Charles I by Oliver Cromwell and his execution in 1649, the Commonwealth issued gold unites which, for the first time, bore English legends "The Commonwealth of England" and "God With Us" with no portrait of an individual or monarch. The Latin legends being associated with Catholicism.

Oliver Cromwell most probably took vindictive pleasure in removing any likeness of a king or queen, and changing the decadent Latin legends to more Puritan English. These new coins were disliked during their time for their ugliness and their crude strike. They bore the twin shields of England and Ireland resembling a pair of trousers and were dubbed 'breeches money'. Despite their contemporary vilification, these coins have gained popularity in modern times due to their historical significance, unusual style and utter separation from any preceding or following styles.

The Commonwealth gold coinage was replaced in 1656 with the introduction of the Broad which bore the portrait of Oliver Cromwell. Ironically, it would appear that
he assumed, to some extent, the very characteristics and trappings of the monarchy which he had fought against. He dissolved Parliament, set up his own barebone Parliament which he later admitted was a mistake, agreed to the minting of coinage bearing his portrait and appointed his son as his successor.

Although he supposedly received a state funeral (it is claimed that the coffin was empty and that his putrefied remains had already been buried several days earlier) his remains were dug up on the return of Charles II to the throne, and symbolically tried, convicted and executed in revenge for the execution of Charles I. His skull was then placed on a 20' stake in view of the general public.

Of the gold unites struck during the English Commonwealth, 1654 is the rarest year with only 2 examples certified by NGC and none by PCGS, to date. I have always wanted to own a coin from that historical period and after several failed attempts, finally have something that I can put in an exalted place in my collection. The example below graded at MS62 is the finest known to date for that year:





Please share your Cromwell coins or any coins from those troubled times.

 

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Own nothing from Cromwell, but nice writeup & great coin!

 

Most interesting description of a most interesting period of English history. Thanks for sharing. I have 3 pieces from the Commonwealth period. Unfortunately, my aim to photograph coins keeps getting pushed into the future.

 

Just looked it up in my 2003 Krause world coin catalog. KM#395.1 , weight-9 g. or .2653 oz. .917 gold, mint mark: Sun= Tower mint. The date run is from 1649-1657. MS62 wow this is a valuable coin. Amazing coin.

 

I believe they were all minted in London's Tower Mint at the time......Yes it did set me back a bit more than a pound, even a pound of silver which they were originally valued to represent

 

for the 1658 and 1660 Unite have an Anchor mint mark

 

Those were minted under the reign of Charles II I think. All Commonwealth unites were minted in Tower mint as far as I’m aware.

 

OK, found my only Commonwealth coin to take a picture. It's a 1653 half crown, but it was accidentally marked as a sixpence by a seller who only saw the vi instead of the II vi for the denomination (two shillings and six pence). The design is almost identical for both coins, but this is much too big for a sixpence. The reverse is rotated at a large angle compared to the obverse.

 

I have tried to do better, but this is what I have for Cromwell pieces.

A 1652 Commonwealth Shilling



And a 1658 Cromwell shilling

 

More from the "troubled times?"

Okay, a Charles I Unite



A 1646 Newark siege shilling



A 1663 Charles II shilling. I love the portrait on this piece. Charles II had many mistresses. He fathered at least 16 illegitimate children, but he could not have any children with the queen. When he died, that's why the crown went to his brother James II. That profile with the little mustash makes him look like quite the playboy, don't you think?



Finally there was the story about the Massachusetts Oak Tree shillings. One day Charles II asked Sir Thomas Temple about the illegal Massachusetts coinage. Temple came up with a story that oak tree was in honor of the king. Temple reminded Charles about the time when he hid in an oak tree from Cromwell's men to avoid capture. They both had a good laugh, and Charles reportedly said, "They are a bunch of good dogs, aren't they?"

Here is an oaktree shilling.