| Coin | Unite of King Charles I, 1625 - 1642 |
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The Unite was the second English gold coin first produced during the reign of King James I. It was named after the legends on the coin indicating the king's intention of uniting his two kingdoms of England and Scotland. The unite was valued at twenty shillings until 1612 when the increase in the value of gold throughout Europe caused it to be raised to twenty-two shillings (264 pence).
Numerous issues of gold unites valued at twenty shillings were also produced at the Tower Mint (which is now the Royal Mint) throughout the reign of King Charles I (1625 - 1649), both when the mint was under the king's control and under Parliament's control. They depict the crowned bust of the king on the obverse, looking left, with the value "XX" appearing behind the king's head.
The gold unite was replaced by the milled gold Guinea in 1663, and a twenty shilling coin did not reappear until the Sovereign of 1817. |
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| Obverse | |
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Within a beaded border, the obverse depicts the crowned bust of King Charles I facing left, wearing a lace collar and 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.
Behind, the value XX (twenty shillings; at twelve pence per shilling, this equals 240 pence, or one pound).
The inscription around the rim reads · CAROLVS D. G: MAG: BRIT: FRA: ET · HIB: REX · - abbreviated from CAROLVS DEI GRATIA MAGNAE BRITANNIAE FRANCIAE ET HIBERNIAE REX, which means "Charles, 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 harp. |
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| Reverse | |
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Within a beaded border, the reverse design of the coin features the oval crowned 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.
Separated by the shield, the king's monogram CR (from CAROLVS REX - Charles, King); both letters are crowned.
The inscription around is followed by a small symbol representing the mint mark (a harp in this photo), and reads FLORENT CONCORDIA REGNA (united kingdoms flourish), referring to the King's desire to rule the joined kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland. |
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| Edge | Thin | Edge Inscription | None |
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| Notes | As with most Medieval coins, the mass of the gold unites 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.
There are a number of privy marks that were used on the coins, such as a rose, harp, portcullis etc. |
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