Coin Stories I - History of an Island
over 8 years ago
– Tue, Sep 29, 2015 at 12:53:26 PM
First, thank you all again for making this project come to life. We're excited about the stretch goals to come and we'll be covering those in future updates, but today let's talk about the coins themselves.
One of the things we love about a currency is how it provides insight into the history of a country, a region, an empire. These items were not just money to be exchanged for goods. They were political statements, tangible expressions of influence and dominance, reflections of past values and belief systems. When designing our coins, we did extensive research trying to find pieces that were not only beautiful engaging works of art, but that also told interesting and compelling stories about their cultures.
Many backers have been asking us about this background of specific coins and themes. Listed below are some brief excerpts from research we conducted selecting your coins. We'll be posting similar updates for all of the sets over the next several days. Enjoy!
Early English Kings Theme
Much like the historical currency of this scepter'd isle, our coins don't have any precious metals in them. But unlike the English monarchs of that time, we wouldn't recommend you try to sneak these replica coins by your local merchants. Featured in this set is a reproduction of the first English Crown and a coin depicting Archangel Michael battling a fearsome dragon.
Tiny Early English Kings – King John
Minted in Dublin during King John of England's reign, this coin was likely used to fund England's military campaigns against France. King John is most well remembered as the "bad king" from the Robin Hood tales who was left in charge while his well-liked brother Richard the Lionhearted fought in the Crusades. Among his many blunders, he ceded Normandy to France and also struck a deal with a group of rebel barons, issuing the Magna Carta charter. The obverse of this coin reads "IOhA NNES RE X" or "JOHN KING", written on the reverse is "+ROBE RD ON DIVE" or "ROBERD OF DUBLIN".
Small Early English Kings – Edward I
Nicknamed "Longshanks" for his tremendous height of 6'2", Edward I of England's record of accomplishments is uneven. Though he has a reputation as a reformer--he made the British parliamentary system permanent, intending to raise taxes and reform laws through it--many of his actions were less than progressive. He launched numerous campaigns of conquest and repression against the Scottish people and issued The Edict of Expulsion, which required that all Jews leave England or face execution. The face of the English sovereign is pictured on the front side of this coin, and engraved on the back is a crucifix or "long-cross".
Medium Early English Kings – Edward IV
The design of this coin, introduced in 1465 by Edward IV, was inspired by the French Angelot or Ange coin. The name refers to Archangel St. Michael, who can be seen on the obverse side of this coin in the midst of slaying a dragon with a lance. In the Roman Catholic tradition, St. Michael is alternately venerated as a spiritual warrior, the angel of death who carries souls to heaven, and the guardian of the Church. On the reverse of the coin is a sailing ship with a quartered shield and crucifix mounted on its hull.
Large Early English Kings – Henry VIII
Still minted in the United Kingdom today, the English Crown was first introduced in 1526 by Henry VIII. King Henry VIII's profligacy with his tax revenues and the wealth he inherited from his father, which he spent on luxuries such as vast weapons collections and hundreds tapestries for his palaces, eventually led him to confiscate monastic land and treasure and to request grants from parliament so he could afford his military campaigns. The introduction of the Crown was part of a scheme initiated by the monarch to debase the English currency, inflate its nominal value by reducing the amount of precious metals in each coin, in order to bring the court's income and expenditure to the same level--at the expense of the overall economy's health.
Jumbo Early English Kings – Edward III
The Noble was introduced in England mere months after the unsuccessful launch of the Florin, or Double Leopard, by Edward III. The English Florins, based off the Italian Florin, were quickly rejected by merchants for being underweight for their value and so were pulled from circulation to be melted down into Nobles. The Noble was used for over a hundred years throughout a number of important events in English history, including The Black Death and the subsequent Peasant revolts, the end of the Hundred Year's War with France, and the decades long war of succession between two branches of English royalty, known as the War of The Roses.
Anglo-Saxon Theme
Liberated from Roman rule, Anglo-Saxon tribes migrated to Great Britain and began their journey to the establishment of an empire of their own. The coins reproduced in this set date from an early, more aspirational period in English history. Featured in the set are coins from the 8th century, when England was divided into several dominant states and their clients. A portrait of King Offa of Mercia, a great power in the region, is represented on a coin, and another coin in the set is engraved with one of his adversaries, Aethelberht II of East Anglia.
Tiny
Anglo Saxon – King Eadberht
Anglo-Saxon artists, having never seen lions, had to imagine the animal from a few Biblical descriptions, the most memorable one perhaps being found in the Book of Daniel. On the obverse of this coin one can see that the engraver took inspiration from a creature they were very familiar with, a horse. The design on reverse of the coin is by a different artist, who chose to accentuate the lion's feline features. For Christians at that time, the lion was a symbol with many sacred meanings, one of which was Jesus' resurrection, for, as was their misconception at the time, lions slept with their eyes open.
Small Anglo Saxon – East Anglia Penny
In the Christian tradition snakes generally represent evil. However, for Early Anglo-Saxon Christians snakes could also symbolize protectiveness. On the face of this coin we see a bird carrying a cross, thus an allegory of Christ, trampling a snake, seen here playing the part of Evil. Anglo-Saxons used birds at various times to represent the Mother Church, immortality and The Resurrection. On the back of this coin a worm-like snake is shown transforming into a wolf. The meaning of this curious design is much debated, and the author would gladly accept any explanations you might want to offer ([email protected]).
Medium Anglo Saxon – King Offa
This coin dates from the reign of the Anglo-Saxon King Offa of Mercia, a kingdom on the rainy island we now know as England. Ruling from 757 to 796, Offa ruthlessly expanded his territory and often butted heads with the Roman Catholic Church, whose leaders often supported rulers of the surrounding kingdoms that resisted his imperial ambitions. On the obverse of this coin a profile of King Offa is pictured with a cross over his left shoulder. The reverse shows two creatures flying around a runic inscription.
Large Anglo Saxon – Two Emperors Thrymsa
This coin, struck sometime during the 7th century in Anglo-Saxon Britain, was based off the Tremissis coin of its former conqueror, the late Roman Empire. Called a Thrysma, it were soon replaced by the antecedent of the British penny, a coin that continues to circulate in the United Kingdom today. This Thrysma is called a "two emperors type"; one can see on the front the countenance of an emperor amongst runic characters, and on the back two emperors facing each other.
Jumbo Anglo Saxon – Aethelbert II
The coin that this design is inspired by was found in 2014 in Sussex by an exterminator who was sheltering under a tree during a hailstorm. One of only four in existence, it's one of a handful of artifacts that has survived from the reign of Aethelberht II of East Anglia, now the area of England known as Norfolk and Suffolk. Not much is known about his time in power except that he died under mysterious circumstances, beheaded on orders from Queen Cynethryth of Mercia while visiting his future bride Ælfthryth of Crowland, a Mercian royal.
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