1628 Pattern Halfcrown

Rexford

Recently received this magnificent silver pattern back from grading at PCGS:

Great Britain, England, King Charles I 1628 Pattern Halfcrown by Nicholas Briot, PCGS SP40. On the obverse is depicted the crowned and armored King on horseback, with a rose mintmark above (for the Tower Mint in London where the piece was struck), the inscription "O REX DA FACILEM CVRSVM" around, and the signature "N. BRIOT F" in the exergue below. The reverse displays the crowned and garnished oblong shield of arms of England, with the text "ATQVE AVDACIBVS ANNVE CŒPTIS" around. When considered as a whole it is apparent that the legend is adapted from "Da facilem cursum, atque audacibus annue cœptis" ("Give me an easy course, and favor my daring undertakings"), from Virgil's Georgics, but with the addition of "Oh King" at the beginning. 14.71gm. 35mm. Catalogue references: North-2673; Bull-497; MI-252/32; Brooker-1258.

This particular pattern was likely made in commemoration of the proposed second expedition to La Rochelle as part of the Anglo-French War of 1627-29, during which England provided military support to the Huguenots of La Rochelle as they rebelled against the French royal forces of Louis XIII. While the Huguenots were eventually forced to surrender, the war did lead to the interesting event of French engineers isolating the entire city of La Rochelle with entrenchments 12 kilometers long during the 14-month siege that took place (below). It's kind of telling that Briot would make a coin commemorating a rebellion against the French monarchy, since he had only a few years prior been forced to flee France after facing much hostility there for his advocacy of the use of machines instead of hammers to produce coinage (I guess they were very serious about this). I also find the motto of "Oh King, give me an easy course, and favor my daring undertakings" especially significant, since it may be read as a supplication to Charles I to allow him to freely implement his new technological ideas, as France refused to – a supplication that was evidently granted, with Charles I eventually appointing him chief engraver of the Royal Mint in 1633.

I've always liked the look of the Charles I "King on horseback" coinage, but regular circulation issues are more likely than not weakly struck and often on jagged flans, and I prefer coins with dates while the normal issues are usually dateless. This piece, having been struck during the initial year of Briot's employment at the Tower Mint, must have been one of the first of his designs there and as such is an important example of early English machine-milled (rather than hammered) coinage, displaying a pleasingly round planchet not often found for the time period. Although it is clearly worn from age it is evident that the strike is even and strong, and the appearance is overall unmarred by cleaning, tooling, or improper treatment or handling of any sort. There are some small cracks around the edges due to the amount of pressure applied to the metal from Briot's screw presses, but this is typical for the era and I think it just adds to the overall wholesomeness.

https://imgur.com/ovT4LCo

TwoKopeiki

Wow.

bidask

Very interesting !

tonedSilver

This is a great read. And a very attractive coin.

SaorAlba

Alas Nicholas Briot would come up against organized mint workers in London who were still very much in favour of hand hammering coins because of course it was a guarantee of a job. It is simply amazing that the mint's guild could take such precedence in the manufacture of coins - and did so until the restoration of the monarchy with Charles II. Screw pressed coins were only way to go after 1662 - but old, often underweight and clipped hammered coins continued to circulate until the 1690s whence they were called in and recoined at branch mints set up all over England.

asheland

Interesting thread and great coin!!!