The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 25, 2024

Unite: Charles I (obverse); Crowned Shield (reverse)

Unite: Charles I (obverse); Crowned Shield (reverse)

1625
Diameter: 3.4 cm (1 5/16 in.)
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

The gold unite was valued at 20 shillings, the roman numeral XX can be seen on the obverse.

Description

After ascending to the throne, Charles I ordered that the coinage should remain the same types and denominations as that of James I. Throughout all the troubles of his reign he did not alter the value of the gold coinage. Until the English Civil War started in 1642, the king's authority continued to rule the Tower mint. With the appointment of Sir John Coniers as Lieutenant of the Tower, control of the mint passed into the hands of the Parliamentary party, which continued to strike coins bearing the king's effigy and titles. To keep the Royalist party supplied with money, Charles opened other mints at York, Aberystwyth, Shrewsbury, Oxford, Bristol, Truro, Exeter, Weymouth, and Chester, while a mint operated near Worcester in 1646. During the civil war mints operated in the besieged towns of Carlisle, Colchester, Newark, Pontefract, and Scarborough, and produced a number of irregularly shaped coins of many odd denominations hastily struck from local domestic plate.
  • -1969
    Mrs. Emery May Holden Norweb (1895-1984), Cleveland, OH, gifted to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1969-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Cleveland Museum of Art, and Emery May Norweb. English Gold Coins, Ancient to Modern Times, On Loan to the Cleveland Museum of Art from the Norweb Collection. [Catalog. 1968. p. 51
  • Year in Review: 1969. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 27-February 22, 1970).
    English Gold Coins: Ancient to Modern Times. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1963).
  • {{cite web|title=Unite: Charles I (obverse); Crowned Shield (reverse)|url=false|author=|year=1625|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1969.192