8 



point or signification even to those of the day. 

 The other coin is the sovereign of Henry VIII., 

 the first coiner of these pieces, their intrinsic value 

 at the present day about £:io each. 



Giants of skill and design in art lived in the 

 reign of Charles I. but apart from the biblical 

 mottoes we look in vain for any especial Chiistian 

 emblems excepting the simple cross formed by the 

 divisions of the heraldic shield of arms on the 

 reverse of his coins, but there is one notable 

 except'on on a pattern piece designed by the cele- 

 brated Briot but never admitted into circulation, in 

 this individual specimen the shields representing 

 England, France, Scotland and Ireland are placed 

 cross fashion a plan afterwards ad jpted in Charles 

 II's. reign and continued with intermissions to the 

 present day. Charles was very fond of having 

 fresh issues of his coins and throughout the most 

 troublous times of his reign he recouped himself 

 by the profits made out of the coinage, never 

 debasing the standard as many of our monarcbs 

 have done. Among his examples there are several 

 that fetch long prices when brought to thfl 

 hammer. He would carry specimens in his 

 pockets and fiom time to time take one out and 

 admire it, even when engaged upon affairs of 

 state, a pattern five broad piece of the weight of 

 seven hundred and thirty-two grains was thus 

 carried by him, and he presented it to Bishop 

 Juxon on the scaffold, just before his execution. 

 The nation has lately become the purchaser of 

 this unique piece tor the price of ^770. There 

 was another pattern crown by Briot, it was sold at 

 Montague's sale for ^50 and has a pedigree of 

 no less than eight names of former possessors. 

 The celebrated Oxford Crown with a view 

 of the city, the value of this piece may 

 be estimated by a pewter copy of it 

 having lately realised £a at auction. Crom- 

 well, in the coins of the Commonwealth, 

 reintroduced the cross in a bold and uncommon 

 manner, namely, by making it synonymous for the 

 count! y as part of the arms, and it is noteworthy 

 that he omitted the St. Andrew's Cross for 

 Scotland. No doubt this gave great offence, 

 although I do not find it anywhere so stated, but 

 he rectified this error in his own coins, which some 

 say were never put in circulation. His own 

 likeness is a very striking portrait. When 

 Charles II. ascended the throne he returned 

 at first to the style of his father's money, or at 

 least to one of the many of his types. The story 

 of his portrait being reversed upon his coins 

 because he would not look in the same direction as 

 Cromwell (to the left) is untenable, but it is 

 necessary to mention it because succeeding 

 monarchs heads have ever since been turned upon 

 their money the opposite way to their predecessors. 

 There was no greatness of character about this 

 Charles, and he showed in many ways a petty mind. 

 He dismissed from otfice the minters, designers, 

 and artificers, simply because they had worked for 

 Cromwell, and dated his coins from, not the time 

 of his accession to the throne, but the year of the 



death of his father, a time when he himself was in 

 exile, an absurdity in itself. This dismissal in the 

 case of the celebrated Simon, who had worked for 

 his father as well as Cromwell, led to the striking of 

 one of our most celebrated silver pieces.the Petition 

 Crown ;only a few of these,some say thirteen in all, 

 ate known, and when sold they realize from i:l50 

 to .£300 each, according to condition. The petition 

 is around the edge (instead of graining) ; it runs 

 thus : — " Thomas Simon most humbly prays your 

 Majesty to compare this his tryall piece with the 

 Dutch and if more truely drawn and embossed 

 more gracefully ordered and more accurately 

 engraven to relieve him." Simon was not relieved, 

 retired to France, where he was occasionally 

 employed and sometime afterwards died in poverty. 



In addition to the quotation from St. Luke's 

 Gospel already quoted, the following texts and 

 mottoes are to be found upon our English coins, 

 almost invariably they are in Latin, but several 

 belonging to the Commonwealth and Cromwell are 

 in the vernacular. For obvious reasons they are 

 here all translated : — 



Render luito Caesar the things that are Ciesar's. xxii 

 Matt. 21. 



Thy word is a lipbt unto my feet, cxix Ps., 105 v. 



Lord uot ia thy fury, xxxviii Ps., 1, Edward III 

 and Richard II. 



In Thee Lord have I put my trust, liv Ps., 4. 



His enemies will I clothe with shame, cxxii Ps., 18. 



What God hath joined together etc. lix Matt., 6. 



The fear of the Lord is a fountain of Life, xiv 

 Prov., 27, 



Let God arise and let His enemies be scattered. Ixviii 

 Ps.,1. 



It is the work of the Lord and it is marvellous in our 

 eyes xxi Matt., 42. 



Mene, tekel, upharsin. v. Daniel 25. On Perkin 

 Warbeck's groats. 



Others bore various paraphrases of scripture 

 mottoes and aphorisms. 



1 cannot conclude this review of coinage and 

 Christian emblems without one remark that you 

 will find quite easy to verify. The Christian 

 symbols almost invariably refer to the individual 

 as well as to his money, as did those of the Roman 

 Emperors ; even during the great struggle for 

 supremacy between the houses of York and 

 Lancaster, the country was slowly progressing in 

 religious life, and the whole of that time, the cross 

 appeared upon the coinage, whenever the cross 

 was absent from the monarch or his money, 

 England was forced backwards. Her flag has 

 never been so respected and her influence never 

 so great amongst foreign nations as in the great 

 reigns of Elizabeth, Cromwell and Victoria, and 

 even coins have their own tales to tell, apart from 

 the collectors love of acquiring objects of beauty, 

 for his amusement and study. 



A, hearty vote of thanks was accorded to the 

 lecturer, who then called attention to a collection 

 of British half-crowns which he had placed on the 

 table— a very valuable collection, bein!> worth at 

 the present time about .£350. 



