Sovereign Rarities Ltd
Auction 2 24 Sep 2019
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Commonwealth (1649-60), gold Unite of Twenty Shillings, 1653, English shield within laurel and palm branch, legends in English language, initial mark sun, .THE. COMMONWEALTH. OF. ENGLAND., rev. English and Irish shields, value .XX. above, beaded circle and legend surrounding, date at top,.GOD. WITH. VS., weight 9.13g (Schneider 341; N.2715; S.3208). Lightly toned, good very fine.
This is the largest denomination gold coin of the Commonwealth, with all hammered coins of this period being the first British coins to have legends in plain English. The mint accounts from 26th December 1651 to 30th November 1653 show £38,010 worth of gold denominations were struck. Oliver Cromwell had taken over as Lord Protector from April 1653 ruling through an executive council and taking power away from the Members of Parliament. Not long after Cromwell waged war on the Dutch, a costly exercise and he began to look for ways to raise money, one of which was to try to seize Spanish treasure being transported back from the New World to the mother country and her allies in the Spanish Netherlands. The first opportunity came in late 1652 when five ships carrying bullion were captured and taken to Woolwich, and eventually the treasure from these ships were coined from mid-1653 to mid-1654 which would account for a proportion of the gold to make Unites like we have herewith.
Provenance:
Ex Baldwin Auction 40, 3rd May 2005, lot 245.
This is the largest denomination gold coin of the Commonwealth, with all hammered coins of this period being the first British coins to have legends in plain English. The mint accounts from 26th December 1651 to 30th November 1653 show £38,010 worth of gold denominations were struck. Oliver Cromwell had taken over as Lord Protector from April 1653 ruling through an executive council and taking power away from the Members of Parliament. Not long after Cromwell waged war on the Dutch, a costly exercise and he began to look for ways to raise money, one of which was to try to seize Spanish treasure being transported back from the New World to the mother country and her allies in the Spanish Netherlands. The first opportunity came in late 1652 when five ships carrying bullion were captured and taken to Woolwich, and eventually the treasure from these ships were coined from mid-1653 to mid-1654 which would account for a proportion of the gold to make Unites like we have herewith.
Provenance:
Ex Baldwin Auction 40, 3rd May 2005, lot 245.