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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Dafydd, post: 26077248, member: 86815&quot;]Here&#039;s an interesting British coin nicknamed &quot;Breeches money&quot;.</p><p>Silver shilling of the Commonwealth, with &#039;sun&#039; mint mark on obverse, of Tower Mint London, dated 1653. Obverse: Shield of England, with legend &#039;COMMONWEALTH. OF. ENGLAND&#039;. Reverse: Paired shields of England and Ireland with mark of value &#039;XII&#039; above, with legend &#039;GOD. WITH. VS. 1653&#039;. The conjoined shields, looking like a pair of trousers, gave rise to the nickname &quot;Breeches money&quot;.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1661080[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1661081[/ATTACH]</p><p>In this year the &quot;Instrument of Government&quot; was published and made law which was the first British Constitution and the instrument declared, &quot;That the supreme legislative authority of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and the dominions thereunto belonging, shall be and reside in one person, and the people assembled in Parliament: the style of which person shall be the Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland&quot;.</p><p>Ironically after the execution of King Charles, Cromwell, the Lord Protector, in many ways assumed the office of a King and in fact Cromwell was offered the position of King in 1657 but refused having fought against monarchy. His milled coinage however was regal with Cromwell wearing a crown of laurel leaves.</p><p>This coin crossed the pond from West to East returning to its homeland. I like to think that originally it crossed to the USA, as now, in the pocket of a Puritan fleeing from England following the demise of the Commonwealth, because he or she was appalled by the fact that the public could sing , dance and drink again without criticism. The Commonwealth&#039;s condemnation of public holidays and celebrations did nothing to gain popular support for their Revolution.</p><p>Cromwell and his cronies more or less finished what Henry VIII had started, destroying as much &quot;papist idolatry&quot; that they could and this included smashing stained glass church windows, statues and many works of art. Charles had amassed a huge art collection and much of this was auctioned by Cromwell fetching very little but some being resold at huge profits in mainland Europe.</p><p>The English Civil War was brutal and the extent of its brutality and casualties have been somewhat lost in time to many. The percentage of population it affected was similar to many more modern conflicts with a parallel to the USA Civil War, when sometimes families chose different sides and fought each other.</p><p>Like the Cartwheel coins [USER=33176]@Kentucky[/USER] originally posted, this design was very different to its predecessors.</p><p>Here is a Cartwheel of another sort. A huge Oxford Pound weighing approximately four ounces of silver , twice the weight of the Cartwheel Twopence and a larger diameter of 54 mm compared to the 41 mm of the 1797 coin. This was the largest British coin ever minted with a stated value.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1661083[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1661084[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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