Description
Commonwealth (1649-60), Crown, 1653, English shield within laurel and palm branch, mintmark sun, legend commences THE COMMONWEALTH. OF ENGLAND. Rev, conjoined English and Irish shields, nine strings to Irish harp, denomination value V above, all within beaded circle. Date at top, legend reads GOD WITH VS, with inverted A for V in VS, 29.56g (S.3214; N.2721; ESC.6A R3). Slightly ragged fl an edges, an interesting variation, struck on a broad flan, legends are legible on both sides, old cabinet toning, some flan striations. Good very fine to near extremely fine. Recorded as R3, extremely rare, with the inverted A variation on reverse.
Commonwealth coins have their titles in English as opposed to Latin, to show more of an apparent allegiance to Protestantism, in this sense these coins are academically significant, not least as they display the zeitgeist of the period. Ironically when Cromwell began to mint his milled coins, he reverted back to Latin with his famous PAX QUAERITUR BELLO (Peace is sought by War) motto, inscribed on the 1656 Gold Broad. Nevertheless, the Commonwealth coins are equally as important historically as they are in Numismatic terms.
