c1658 Cromwell Pattern Farthing

Item Description

c1658 Oliver Cromwell copper pattern Farthing, no portrait (Peck 388, North 2738). Obverse: three pillars, linked by a chain and surmounted by a cross, a harp and a thistle, star/mullet initial mark followed by 'TVHS · VNITED · INVINCIBLE' around, no letter under the pillars. Reverse: ship sailing left, within a rope circle, mullet initial mark ' AND GOD DIRECT OVRCOVRS' around. Weight: 4.56g. Diameter: 22mm. Grade: aVF - rich, attractive brown tone with one flat spot to the edge, no other real issues for around Very Fine. Comes with an old ticket.

This scarce copper coin is a key lot in our upcoming 4 December 2024 sale of coins and tokens.

Made during the interregnum period - between the execution of Charles I and the restoration of his son, Charles II - this pattern coin represents an interesting moment in the history of English coinage.

Find out more about this Commonwealth pattern coin before it goes under the hammer.

What Are Pattern Coins?

Pattern coins are produced to evaluate potential coin designs and test out dies. They may be made of a different metal to the eventual currency issue, and they can show radically different motifs and design details.

Collectors value pattern coins for what they can tell us about numismatic history and development. Since they are usually produced in very small numbers and not intended for circulation, they are generally scarce and often valuable.

THVS VNITED INVINCIBLE

The obverse of this pattern shows three pillars connected by a chain or cord and surmounted by a cross, a harp and a thistle, the design enclosed within a roped circle. The legend around reads 'TVHS · VNITED · INVINCIBLE' ('thus united, invincible') with lozenge-shaped stops and a star-shaped initial mark, referred to as a mullet.

The reverse features a masted ship sailing left with waves below, the words 'AND GOD DIRECT OVRCOVRS' ('and God directs our course') around it, preceded by another mullet initial mark. The design and the legend are separated by another roped border.

Interregnum Coinage

This pattern coin dates from a period of upheaval for British coinage.

Without a monarch and the symbolic trappings of the old regime, employees of the Royal Mint were left to create a new visual language to communicate authority and assurance.

Initially, this was expressed in straightforward designs, centred on shields of arms, paired with simple English inscriptions. The hammered coins of the 1650s represent the first time that the vernacular had been used on English currency. 

After 1653 when Oliver Cromwell was named Lord Protector, coins were issued with his portrait and a Latin inscription. Designed by Thomas Simon, these coins made on machines designed by French moneyer and engineer, Pierre Blondeau (d. 1672).

This copper pattern farthing, with its English legends and portrait-less design, sits between the hammered tradition and the innovation of the later milled currency. Other pattern copper Farthings from the same period show a crude portrait of Oliver Cromwell, imitating Simon's glorious, warts-and-all-laureate busts.

Patterns Of David Ramage

Consensus now attributes the design of these Farthings to an engraver known as David Ramage (d. 1661/2). His 'R' initial can be seen below the pillars on other patterns of this type.

Earlier authors ascribe these patterns to Thomas Rawlins, who was appointed Chief Engraver to the Royal Mint late in the reign of Charles I. Rawlins (1620?–1670), a Royalist, was out of favour during the interregnum and in prison for debt at the time these Farthings were created so is an unlikely author.

A distinctive feature of Ramage's coins and tokens is a border engraved to look like rope or cable, which can be seen on both sides of this pattern. This detail can also be seen on so-called 'Armstrong Farthings', produced circa 1660, which are also attributed to the moneyer.

Ramage seems to have played a central role in a bitter dispute between the Tower mint's moneyers and Blondeau. The prospect of the Frenchman's machine-struck coinage posed a threat to their livelihoods, which relied on traditional methods of coin minting dating back millennia. Ramage and the moneyers won the argument in the short term but Blondeau's methods would be adopted wholesale after Charles II's restoration in 1660.

Further Reading

Challis, Christopher E. A New History of the Royal Mint. Cambridge University Press, 1992.

Peck, C. Wilson. English Copper, Tin And Bronze Coins In The British Museum 1558-1958. Trustees Of The British Museum, 1970.

Thompson, Robert. 'David Ramage And His Tokens For England, Wales And Ireland.' Token Corresponding Society Bulletin, Vol. 12, No. 7 (2018): 244-252.