1654 Commonwealth of England Hammered Silver Halfcrown II.VI

[LawrenceChard]

1654 Commonwealth of England Hammered Silver Halfcrown II.VI

There was something in the news recently about teaching Latin in schools. Nearly 400 years ago, we were using it, or at least Roman Numerals,  to show coin  denominations, as evidenced by this halfcrown:

Although under Oliver Cromwell, the Latin legends had been exchanged for English ones, as in GOD WITH US,  although some people would read it as GOD WITH VS, with Sun mintmark.

Reverse:

THE COMMONWEALTH OF ENGLAND

For some reason, Doug thought it might look better with some colour:

Who wants to go back to Imperial measures, and pre-decimal £.s.d. coinage?

12.5 pence better?

😎

 

[Zhorro]

19 minutes ago, LawrenceChard said:

1654 Commonwealth of England Hammered Silver Halfcrown II.VI

There was something in the news recently about teaching Latin in schools. Nearly 400 years ago, we were using it, or at least Roman Numerals,  to show coin  denominations, as evidenced by this halfcrown:

Although under Oliver Cromwell, the Latin legends had been exchanged for English ones, as in GOLD WITH US,  although some people would read it as GOLD WITH VS, with Sun mintmark.

Doesn't it say "God" rather than "Gold"?

[LawrenceChard]

5 minutes ago, Zhorro said:

Doesn't it say "God" rather than "Gold"?

Doh!

What a clod!

Freudian or what?

😎

[Stuntman]

I love these hammered silver Commonwealth coins - and also the milled silver Cromwell coins.  Proper pieces of history.  I would love to own an example of both.

[Foster88]

On 16/06/2022 at 18:24, LawrenceChard said:

1654 Commonwealth of England Hammered Silver Halfcrown II.VI

There was something in the news recently about teaching Latin in schools. Nearly 400 years ago, we were using it, or at least Roman Numerals,  to show coin  denominations, as evidenced by this halfcrown:

Although under Oliver Cromwell, the Latin legends had been exchanged for English ones, as in GOD WITH US,  although some people would read it as GOD WITH VS, with Sun mintmark.

Reverse:

THE COMMONWEALTH OF ENGLAND

For some reason, Doug thought it might look better with some colour:

Who wants to go back to Imperial measures, and pre-decimal £.s.d. coinage?

12.5 pence better?

😎

 

Aren’t we still using Roman numerals today on our coinage and notes by referring to HM The Queen as ‘Elizabeth II’? 
 

But I appreciate your post is about denomination.

[LawrenceChard]

9 hours ago, Foster88 said:

Aren’t we still using Roman numerals today on our coinage and notes by referring to HM The Queen as ‘Elizabeth II’? 
 

But I appreciate your post is about denomination.

We are indeed.

I gleaned considerable understanding of English grammar, and other languages from our (sub-optimal) Latin lessons at school, and think Latin should continue to be taught to many or most. The chief downside is we could end up with more Boris Johnsons.

Although my post was partially about the denomination, it was intended to be wide ranging.

Slightly odd to get rid of the elitist Latin and foreign language on the coinage, yet still retain Roman numerals for the denomination, rather paradoxical I think.

😎

[Stuntman]

We also retain inscriptions that are Latin, or abbreviations of the Latin, on most current UK coins.

I too studied Latin at school to O Level (that of itself dates me) and it stood me in good stead for other subjects, and also my subsequent degree in Law.  After graduation I did not pursue a career in the legal profession, but I thoroughly enjoyed studying law.