Wakefield Museums and Castles

This is a silver half-crown found in the Ackworth Hoard. It was issued by the Royalists during the English Civil Wars.

A half-crown was a coin with value of 2 shillings and 6 pence, so 30 pence. This was an eighth of a pound. Before decimalisation a pound had 240 pence in it.

Half a crown was about 3 days’ pay for an ordinary foot soldier in the Civil Wars.

This coin was made in Oxford in 1644. We know this because it has ‘1644 OX’ marked on it.

Charles I had made Oxford his main base during the Civil Wars. He chose Oxford because he had lost control of London.

The king had to set up new mints outside London to produce coins to pay his troops. Parliament had gained control of the national mint at the Tower of London. However, the Royalists couldn’t make enough coins of their own. So, they used Parliament’s coins as well.

Both sides used the same coins. This meant that they were an important way of spreading propaganda. People wouldn’t throw coins away just because they disagreed with the messages on them!

There are three inscriptions on this coin. One reminds everyone who Charles is. It reads ‘Charles by the Grace of God King of Great Britain, France and Ireland’.

The next warns the reader: ‘let God arise and His enemies be scattered’. The final inscription lets everyone know what Charles stands for: ‘the Protestant religion, the laws of England and the liberty of Parliament'.

Many of Charles' enemies would have argued that the king favoured Catholicism. They believed he broke the laws of England and tried to close down Parliament whenever he disagreed with it.