London . ubled character of the period, and the sliilts to which he was con-tinually reduced. We have them lozenge-shaped, round, and octangular; andotliers again are small bits of silver plate, an inch and a half long, with a scarcelylegible drawing of a castle. Among the places of mintage we find Oxford, York,Shrewsbury, Newark. Carlisle, Pontefract, &c. Silver ten and twenty .shillingpieces were struck by Charles. In marked contrast with the nioiley currentduring the war appears that of the Commonwealth when the contest was the finest coins wc can boast of belong to the
London . ubled character of the period, and the sliilts to which he was con-tinually reduced. We have them lozenge-shaped, round, and octangular; andotliers again are small bits of silver plate, an inch and a half long, with a scarcelylegible drawing of a castle. Among the places of mintage we find Oxford, York,Shrewsbury, Newark. Carlisle, Pontefract, &c. Silver ten and twenty .shillingpieces were struck by Charles. In marked contrast with the nioiley currentduring the war appears that of the Commonwealth when the contest was the finest coins wc can boast of belong to the period in mostother respects so unfavourable to the arts. Prior to the war Nicholas Eriot, aFrench engraver, had produced for Charles I. the most beautiful money thenknown : it was a pupil of Briots, Thomas Simon, who, in the service of Cromwell,outstripped his master, and produced the coins here shown, in which the bust ofthe great Protector is considered to be, with few exceptions, the most masterly. [Silver Crown of production of any modern artist who has exhibited his genius in this mode. It isprobable that Simons very excellence in connexion with such a subject was hisdire offence when Charles II. came to the throne. How else are we to accountfor the treatment he then received ? He was superseded; and although in ao-enerous spirit of emulation he prepared a crown-piece, esteemed to this dayone of the noblest specimens of medalling known, and presented it to the King,with a petition for his restoration, the a]ipHcation was unsuccessful. We mustnot quit the subject of the Commonwealth money till we have referred to thecoins which so long furnished a standing joke for the Cavaliers. These appearedbefore CromwelFs appointment as Protector, and presented on the one side theEno-lish arms, and on the other the arms of England and Ireland, with the in-scription God with us. One Royalist jest was, that it appeared from theirown coin that God and the Commonwealth were on
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1840, bookpublisherlondo, bookyear1844
