| Coin | Gold Crown of King James I, 1613 - 1619 |
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The crown, originally known as the "crown of the double rose", was an English coin introduced as part of King Henry VIII's monetary reform of 1526, with a value of five shillings (60 pence).
The first such coins were minted in 22 carat "crown gold", and the first silver crowns were produced in 1551 during the brief reign of King Edward VI. However, some crowns continued to be minted in gold until 1662. Until the time of the Commonwealth of England it was usual for some crowns to be minted in gold as well as in silver, so both versions of the coin can be found for King James I and King Charles I. |
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| Obverse | |
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Within a beaded border, the obverse depicts the fifth bust of King James I. The king is facing right and wears a lace collar and decorated armour. He is crowned with Saint Edward's Crown which was traditionally used to crown English and British monarchs at their coronations since the 13th century.
The inscription around the rim reads · IACOBUS. D .G. MA. BRI. FRA. ET. HI. REX - abbreviated from IACOBUS DEI GRATIA MAGNAE BRITANNIAE FRANCIAE ET HIBERNIAE REX, which means "James, by the Grace of God, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland" in Latin. The legend reflects the king's claim to the throne of France, which he did not actually rule.
A small symbol after the legend represents a privy mark; in this photo, it is a crescent. |
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| Reverse | |
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Within a beaded border, the reverse design of the coin features the crowned square royal shield with the combined arms of England and France (1 & 4) - England represented by three lions "passant guardant" and France represented by three fleurs-de-lys, Scotland (2) - a rampant lion, and Ireland (3) - harp.
Above the shield and separated by the crown, the king's monogram IR (from IACOBUS REX - James, King).
The inscription around is preceded by a small symbol representing a privy mark (a crescent in this photo), and reads · HENRICUS · ROSAS · REGNA · IACOBUS, literally: "Henry the roses, the kingdoms - James". It refers to the fact that King Henry VI "united the Roses" - that is, was victorious in the Wars of the Roses between the Houses of Lancaster and York, symbolised by the Red Rose and the White Rose respectively, with the House of Tudor emerging after the war as the ruling dynasty, represented by the unified Tudor Rose integrating both the earlier roses. James, on the other hand, unified the Kingdom of England - which he ruled as King James I, with the Kingdom of Scotland - where he ruled as King James VI. |
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| Reverse Inscription |
IR · HENRICUS · ROSAS · REGNA · IACOBUS |
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| Edge | Thin | Edge Inscription | None |
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| Notes | As with most Medieval coins, the mass of the gold crowns varies - due to not only the irregularities in the production method, but also to the practice of "clipping" the coins, where people clipped off some of the gold around the edges.
The privy mark can be one of the following: cinquefoil (1613-1615), tun (1615-1616), book on lectern (1616-1617), crescent (1617-1618), plain cross (1618-1619), or a saltire cross (1619). |
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