Exceptional Cromwell Crown
COMMONWEALTH. Oliver Cromwell. Lord Protector, 1653-1658. AR Crown. Blondeau’s mint, Drury House, London. Dies by Thomas Simon. Dated 1658/7. Lessen E12; Bull 240; ESC 10; SCBC 3226. Beautiful cabinet toning with hints of blue iridescence, a few minor marks and scrathces, usual diagnostic die break. AU. A beautiful coin in hand.
In the summer 1656, after years of petitioning, Pierre Blondeau was authorised by Parliament to strike coins using his own milling machinery. In response he produced some of the most celebrated coins in the entire English series. Initially a small issue of gold Broads and silver Halfcrowns dated 1656 were struck using dies engraved by Thomas Simon. Bearing an imposing effigy of the Lord Protector, legends in Latin and in case of the Halfcrown, a lettered edge, the 1656 issue represented a radical departure from the puritanical simplicity of the coinage of the Commonwealth, which had been crudely struck by hand. Lessen has suggested that the 1656 Halfcrowns were ‘circulated in the sense that they were distributed on a high social level (Parliament?), possibly as an experiment for general circulation’ (M. Lessen, “A Summary of the Cromwell Coinage” in BNJ XXXV (1966), pp. 163–72). A much larger issue of silver followed dated 1658, the Crown, Halfcrown and Shilling of which are commonly available.
