Petition Crown

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The tone or style of this article or section may not be appropriate for Wikipedia.
Specific concerns may be found on the talk page. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for suggestions.(December 2007)

The Petition Crown is a coin created in 1663 by Thomas Simon, an engraver. It was submitted directly to Charles II, King of England as Simon’s personal “Petition” that only his coin should be considered as the new format for all future British coinage. The portrait of the King, Charles II, shows the candlelight shadows of even the King's veins on his neck.

Charles II, recently back to England in 1661 after living abroad, had commissioned a trial from the then official engravers to the Royal Mint, for this prestigious project. Horrified that he might miss the opportunity of a lifetime, Simon’s audacious and creative plan was to submit his far-superior, silver prototype all with his personal name beneath the Kings head and Petition brilliantly engraved with 200 letters in two lines around the coin’s rim which is only 35 mm in depth reading:

‘THOMAS SIMON MOST HVMBLY PRAYS YOVR MAJESTY TO COMPARE THIS HIS TRYALL PIECE WITH THE DVTCH AND IF MORE TRVLY DRAWN & EMBOSS'D MORE GRACE; FVLLY ORDER'D AND MORE ACCURATELY ENGRAVEN TO RELIEVE HIM.'

The marking of the edges of coins as a guard against clipping was only now being adopted in England. Although the coin came too late for King Charles to alter his plans, due to Simon being in France, Simon produced this extraordinary specimen which today is in the Geoffrey Cope Collection and is considered to be the finest, indeed the "King of Coins", of three remaining coins known to be in private hands. The wereabouts of the third coin today unknown.

Simons coin shows the bust of King Charles draped in his flowing hair and laurel leaves, with his celebrated lovelock over his right shoulder. The inscription reads CARLOS II. DEI. GRA and on the reverse are crowned shields of England, Scotland, Ireland and France, arranged in the form of a cross, with garter and a picture of St. George in the center. There are two C's interlinked in each angle. The reverse of the coin is slightly convex and the portrait concave to show the King as a stronger feature of the coin.

Once sold for £12 in 1775 this coin’s rarity has seen its estimated value climb into the regions of new records when the present owner declining in excess of $3,500,000 pounds in 2005.

On 27 September 2007 a Charles II 'Petition' Crown of 1663 sold at auction with SPINK for 207,100 GBP.

Diameter: 40 mm, Weight: 33.1 g