Coins of Great Britain. Part I. XIX century.

In my past reviews, I have already introduced you to the coins of the English colonies and the crown lands of Great Britain. All this time, the review of the coins of the metropolis itself was somehow postponed "for later." This topic is so extensive that some collectors I know collect only this, rather narrow direction, and nothing else. First, I want to pay attention to a couple of features of UK coins. Firstly, this is a monarchical state with a current king (queen), whose profile is necessarily present on coins of all denominations, starting from the 17th century. Moreover, since the time of King Charles II, each subsequent monarch on coins "looks" in the opposite direction than the previous one. Secondly, for quite a long time, until 1971, Great Britain was in no hurry to switch to the decimal monetary system. During the period under review (early XIX - mid XX centuries), the coin foot practically did not change. There were only short-term "liberties," which were expressed in the release of fractional farthing and double florins. Otherwise, the "traditional" UK mint looked like this: farthing, halfpenny, penny, 3p, 6p, shilling, florin, half a crown, crown. Issues of maundy sets with silver 1, 2, 3 and 4 pennies will not be included in the review - this is a separate story.

 

To begin with, I will show a couple of coins "before the Victorian" era. There were several more coins of this period in the collection, but I was forced to part with them due to a low grade, and I have not yet found a replacement.

 

 

The reverse of the coin depicts a collective female image - "Britain." A woman in falling clothes sits on a rocky coast, a sailboat is seen in the distance on the left. In the right hand, the symbol of peace is an olive branch, the left shoulder casually touches the symbol of the conquest of the seas - the trident of the ancient Roman god of the seas and ducts Neptune, at the feet is a shield with the image of "Union Jack" - the flag of the United Kingdom since 1707. Having won dominance on the seas in bloody battles, Britannia rests peacefully on the shore, waits for the ship to dock and waves an olive branch to the sailors. The obverse of the coin features a portrait of King George III.

 

 

The need for fractional parts of pennies arose in the Middle Ages. Then the 1 penny coin, if necessary, was simply cut into equal parts and received ½ and ¼ pennies. To save the population from unnecessary body movements and prevent further damage to coins, they switched to minting denominations that make up a fraction of a penny.

 

The next coin is a farthing from the reign of George IV.

 

 

The name of the coin "farthing" comes from the English farthing - the fourth part of something. In this case, it's ¼ part of a penny.

 

The first English copper farthing was issued during the reign of King James I. Since in England at that time only gold and silver coins were in circulation, the king did not dare to issue coins of base metals at the Royal Mint and instructed one of his close associates to mint the first English copper coins - Lord Harrington. The population "got used" to the new material used in the manufacture of Harrington farthings, gradually: the surface of copper coins of the first issues was covered with tin, thereby imitating the appearance of silver coins. Also, stories have known unsuccessful experiments of using tin in its pure form as blanks for coins of this denomination, including in the manufacture of the first bimetallic coins (tin/copper). Farthings produced in the 17th century were called the names of their manufacturers - Lennox farthing, Richmond farthing, Maltravers farthing and others. Later, the farthings became pure copper, without coating, with a diameter of 15 mm. In 1672, during the reign of King Charles II of England, the issue of copper farthings was already established by the Royal Mint. Subsequently, farthings due to problems with metal for their release, were minted irregularly. It should be noted that farthing was not the smallest coin in Great Britain - coins in denominations of ¼, 1/3 and ½ farthing were also issued. 

 

The first farthing in the 19th century was put into circulation only in 1821.

 

 

On the reverse of the coin is a new version of "Britannia." The woman acquired a more militant look: a helmet on her head, a trident took the place of a laurel branch in her hands, her right hand is ready to take a shield. At the feet of "Britain" lies a lion - a symbol of the personification of the power of the state, uniting England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. At the same time, the ship and the sea horizon disappeared from the coin. Disputes about who was the prototype of "Britain" on British coins do not subside to this day. The first option that immediately comes to mind for everyone familiar with ancient Greek mythology is Athena, the goddess of wisdom of military strategy and tactics. This is evidenced by her helmet and shield. But the trident completely refutes this version - Athena was at enmity with Poseidon and could not use his trident. The second option is the sea nymph Thetis, the patroness of the Argonauts and the mother of Achilles, part-time. The helmet and shield, of course, are superfluous - Thetis was not a warrior, but this option, more than the previous one, corresponds to ancient Greek mythology and the current position in the world of Britain - the mistress of the seas.

 

There are no coins of the next King William IV in the collection. He ruled for only 8 years, after which the granddaughter of George III, Victoria, ascended the throne. For the next 63 years, the United Kingdom enters a new era - the Victorian, which was marked by the greatest heyday of the British Empire.

 

 

Traditionally, the first coins with the profile of the current monarch are issued a year after the death of the previous one. Therefore, the year after the coronation, in 1838, most of the line of bargaining chips with the profile of the young Queen Victoria was minted and put into circulation. In 1839 and 1841, this issue was supplemented with other denominations.

 

 

On the reverse of the coins is a new image of "Britain." This time the medalist saved Britain from the laurel branch and the lion, she sits in a helmet, with a trident and a shield. As in previous issues, there is no mention of the face value of the coin on the coins. Those suffering from illiteracy do not need this, they can navigate the diameter of the coins.

 

Let me go a little deeper into history and list some important moments from the history of pennies.
1. The name of the originally English currency has common roots with Germanic pfennig and Old Norse penning. In the period under review, the 1 penny was 1⁄240 part of the pound sterling. 
2. Before the 1971 reform, in which Great Britain switched to the decimal system, the penny was conventionally denoted by the symbol "d," since before the penny the small coin was the ancient Roman denarius  (denarius).
3. The first silver penny was minted in the VIII century by the kings of Kent and Mercia - the ancient kingdoms in the territory of modern Great Britain. In the X century, under King Edgar of England, the issue of pennies became the same for all subjects of the English Kingdom.
4. Penny as a means of payment in the Middle Ages was widely used in Scandinavian countries and in Russia.
5. For a long time, the penny was the only coin in England. Only in the XIII century coins with a face value of 4 pence (groot) and ¼ pence (farthing) were put into circulation.
6. Under King George II in 1750-1758. pennies on silver blanks were minted only in sets consisting of 1, 2, 3 and 4 pennies, which were intended for distribution on Easter week (Maundy).
7. The first penny of copper was issued in 1797. The reason for the transition from silver to copper was the massive counterfeiting of silver coins. It was decided to issue such a copper coin, which would be economically unprofitable to forge, since the metal content would correspond to its nominal value. This denomination, as well as the 2p coin due to its weight and size (28g/36mm. and 56 g/41 mm. accordingly) in everyday life were called Cartwheel (cartwheel).

 

In addition to the above copper coins, the release line with the first portrait included silver coins in denominations of 3, 4, 6 pence, shilling and ½ kroons. All coins are made on 925 silver blanks - the English sterling silver standard.

 

 

In 1860, trifles were produced on bronze blanks. The diameter of the coins is decreasing, a new portrait of the queen on the obverse and a plot with "Britain" on the reverse have been developed. This time, "Britain" returned the rocky coast, sea and sailboat, and also added a lighthouse to the plot.

 

 

In 1874, the Queen's profile "matured" on the entire line of bronze coins.

 

 

In 1874-1875, part of the ½ penny coins were issued by the Heaton Mint in Birmingham. They can be determined by the small letter "H," which is located under the date. In 1876, the entire circulation was minted at this mint, due to a breakdown of equipment at the Royal Mint. Part of the circulation of ½ penny coins in 1881 and 1882 was also issued in Birmingham. 

 

 

In 1887, the portrait of the queen on silver coins is updated. This is the so-called "anniversary portrait," developed in part of the 50th anniversary of the Queen.

 

 

On the line of coins of the sample of 1893, the queen is depicted in a veil. In 1861, Albert, the Queen's husband, died of typhus. Until the end of her days, Victoria wore mourning for her deceased husband, which is why the people began to call her "Windsor widow." On coins with the last lifetime portrait of Queen Victoria, a sailboat and a lighthouse disappeared from the plot of Britannia - at the turn of the century progress does not stand still, and steam-powered sea vessels replace sailing ships.

 

 

From 1897 to 1918, farthings after minting began to be tinted (blackened finish) in order to avoid confusion with half-sovereign gold coins of the same size.

 

 

Coins in denominations of 6 pence have not yet been in our review. In everyday life, the coin has the nickname "bender" - bent, since the coin could easily be bent in half due to its size. Also, the coin from the 18th century was called "tanner," since during the reign of George II the design of some coins was developed by engraver John Sigismund Tanner. And before that, this coin was also called "simon," in honor of the engraver Thomas Simon, who lived in the XII century.

 

 

The next coin is a shilling. According to one version, the name schilling came from the name of the old German coin solidus. Also, the name is similar to the Scandinavian skilling (Skilling). Despite all the variety of denominations of English coins, by and large, there are only 3 denominations in the coin foot (penny, shilling and crown), the rest are their fractional parts. A shilling consists of 12p, a krona of 5s. The predecessors of the shilling were first minted in 1502 during the reign of King Henry VII and were called testoon. The first coins with the name shilling were published under King Edward VI in the 16th century and for quite a long time, until the beginning of the 18th century, were issued extremely irregularly. The shilling also has a nickname - "bob," in honor of the popular 19th century English politician Robert Peel.

 

 

The reverse of the shilling shows the crowned arms of the three Kingdoms forming Great Britain (England three golden lions, Scotland a rising red lion, Ireland a golden harp with silver strings). 

 

 

The crown- ½ coin depicts a fragment of the coat of arms of the United Kingdom - a four-part shield with the arms of the above subjects.

 

This concludes the first part of the UK coin review. In part II I will show a line of Edward VII coins, consider in detail all varieties of George V coins, describe the history of preparations for the release of coins of the failed monarch Edward VIII and how this influenced the design of coins of the first issue of George VI coins.