COMMONWEALTH, 1651 BLONDEAU PATTERN SILVER SHILLING

COMMONWEALTH, 1651 BLONDEAU PATTERN SILVER SHILLING

Code: 10182

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Commonwealth Pattern milled silver Shilling, 1651, by Peter Blondeau
Obverse: English shield within laurel and palm branch, mint mark sun, legends in English language surrounding: THE. COMMONWEALTH. OF. ENGLAND
Reverse: English and Irish shields, value XII above, beaded circle with date at top, legends in English language surrounding: .GOD. WITH. VS.
edge milled.
Atractively toned a bold very fine and very rare.
27 mm in diameter, 5.9 grams.

* Commissioned by the Commonwealth to improve upon English coinage, Pierre Blondeau arrived from Paris France in 1649 and, with the help of engraver Thomas Simon, immediately began to produce patterns which would focus upon his primary concern: the marking of the edges of coins with either lettering or reeding–an important deterrent to the practice of clipping. This series of patterns was struck for 1651, and presents the first encounter of a lettered edge within English coinage. Opposition to Blondeau increased at the mint, however, and he returned to France in 1656. The Frenchman would ultimately be called back to England in 1662 to oversee the modernization of English coinage and the full implementation of edge marking in 1663.