Maritime imagery

Britain is a maritime nation, its history shaped by the actions of the Royal Navy and through the influence of international trade networks extending across the oceans. This history has had a lasting impact on our coinage and today there are many commemorative coins that celebrate this maritime tradition. But has this always been the case? Has our coinage continually reflected a nautical culture. Throughout this episode we will explore when maritime imagery first appeared on our coinage, the reasons why and how this changed and developed over centuries.

It was not until 1344, during the reign of Edward III, that a regular coinage of gold was established. Gold nobles, like the one shown here, were struck in large numbers from the mid-fourteenth century. The obverse shows the figure of the king, carrying a large sword and shield, whilst standing in a boat.

By the time that the Mint moved into the Tower of London in the late 13th century, large silver coins worth 4 pence and called a groat were beginning to be struck.

The image of Britannia, complete with lighthouse and sailing ship, became a feature of the Victorian penny for decades.

As a result of the revaluation of the noble during the reign of Edward IV (1461-83), a new, smaller, gold coin called the angel was introduced at the popular value of 6s 8d, or a third- of-a-pound. The new coin featured a striking image of St Michael slaying the devil on one side and an image of a ship on the other. It became a regular feature of the English coinage from the mid-fifteenth century.

By the reign of Charles I the angel had ceased to play a meaningful part in normal circulation, but it did perform a role in the ritual of touching for the king’s evil, a means to cure scrofula. Coins used for this purpose were pierced, threaded with a white ribbon and hung around the neck of recipients.

The ryal, introduced in the 1460s during the reign of Edward IV (1461-83), had an initial value of 10 shillings. Its design clearly drew inspiration from the noble, with the image of the monarch standing in a boat still being a prominent part of the obverse.

The placement of a modern battleship next to the figure of Britannia on this proposed design for the new coinage of Edward VIII (1936) was considered too provocative for a Europe that was becoming increasingly tense owing to the militarisation of Nazi Germany. It was removed before the abdication of Edward VIII and no place was found for it on the coinage of George VI (1936-52).

Our guests in this episode were Dr Barrie Cook (British Museum) and the Dr Richard Blakemore (Reading University). Click here to find out more about them.

Coins and Denominations

Throughout this episode, we discuss all kinds of coins and denominations that have gone into making the British coinage system what it is today. Many of these coins will be unfamiliar to the modern audience, and some familiar friends have surprisingly complex histories.

What is the History of the Penny?

The penny is the longest-serving denomination of the British coinage system, having been used in the British Isles since Anglo-Saxon times. It derived from the Roman coin the denarius, which is why pre-decimal prices had pennies labelled as ‘d’ rather than the ‘p’ we use today. The penny was a small silver coin in early medieval times, and it has since been a huge copper coin, a large bronze one, and is now the small copper-plated-steel coin we know today. While there are ongoing debates over whether this denomination is still useful when its purchasing power is next to nought, for much of its life the penny was a vital denomination that propped up the coinage system of the British Isles, and with which plenty could be purchased. Read all about the penny and its fascinating history here.

What was a Shilling?

The shilling was one of the most important denominations in the British pre-decimal system, as a unit of account in between the penny and the pound. A shilling was worth 12 pence, and 20 shillings made up a full pound. This denomination started life as a unit of account in early medieval England. While it was used for calculations and in day-to-day speech and transactions, it was not represented by an actual coin until the sixteenth century. From this point, where it was introduced as a medium-sized silver con, the shilling would remain a staple of the coinage system. It went on to become one of the pre-decimal denominations people missed the most after decimalisation in 1971. Read more about the life of the shilling here.

What was the British Pre-decimal System?

The British pre-decimal system was a monetary system used in Britain from the early medieval period through until decimalisation in 1971. It had 240 pennies to the pound, and included denominations such as the sixpence, threepence, and shilling, which was worth 12 pence. This system originated in medieval France, with some denominations finding their origins in Roman coins as well. The first English pennies were struck in the seventh century, and coins for other denominations such as the shilling and pound were introduced in the centuries that followed. Though the system of 12 pence to a shilling and 20 shillings to a pound may seem complex today, it had some distinct advantages. A full pound was divisible by 12, and so also by 2, 3, 4, and 6, allowing for precise calculation even in low value sums. Find out more about the origins and replacement of the pre-decimal system here.

What was the Angel?

Angels were gold coins in use in late medieval England from around 1470. They were very high value coins, and their depiction of the Archangel Michael slaying a dragon led some people to believe them to hold protective properties as talismans. The fifteenth to eighteenth centuries saw a great many gold coins in use in England, as the value of gold fluctuated and successive monarchs tried to put their own stamp on how a high-value coinage should look and function. The angel, though, struck a particular chord with the public as part of a ritual ceremony for good health. The coin found use in a practice known as the ‘Touching Ceremony’, where it was said to cure scrofula, a particularly unpleasant disease. Find out more about this fascinating practice here.

National Archives Currency Converter

British Museum Department of Money and Medals

Information on the Vijby Treasure

Timeline of the Spanish Armada