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Gold Angels
Gold Angels, probably the most welcomed British hammered coins, are always sought after amongst the collectors. With probably the most beautiful designs and their bigger-than-usual size, they achieved an eminent position amongst the whole series of British hammered coins.
The name, Angel, came from its design. Gold coins of this type have the Archangel, St. Michael spearing a dragon on the obverses, hence the name Angel for such coins. The reverses are a ship with a cross as the mast and a shield of the royal arms below the mast. Beside the mast are the initial letters of the King’s names on the left and a rose on the right.
Angels were first struck during the reign of Edward IV in 1465 and every king after Edward IV also ordered the striking of Angles until Charles I, the King who was beheaded by Cromwell. At first Angel of Edward IV weighed 80 grains or 5.18 grams, with a denomination of 6 shillings and 8 pence (80 pence), exactly one third of a pound (240 pence). The fineness was 23 ct 3 1/2gr (99.5% gold) from 1465 to 1542, but then was debased to 23 ct (95.8%) under the reign of Henry VIII and his son Edward VI from 1542 to 1551. Again, since Mary’s reign, the fineness was restored to 99.5%, the traditional British gold fineness. The weight and the denomination of Angel remained the same despite the changes in fineness.
Angels were popular in their time and used widely. But I reckon that these Angels were of high denomination then because a Groat (a kind of silver coin worthy 4 pence) in the fifteenth century could buy a sheep! Most people only earned several pence in a whole week.
The diameters of these Angels are 28 to 30 mm, a comfortable size to hold in hands but with the thickness of only about 0.3 to 0.4 mm. All British hammered coins were struck from very thin silver or gold flans by a pair of dies, the design of the obverse and the reverse each. The moneyers put the flan between the two dies and then struck them hard with a hammer, so the patterns of both sides were pressed into the flan. The name of hammered coins did come from this method of striking. So it remains obvious that only very thin coins could be easily done by hands.
This is why I could spot the error in the popular American costume TV show The Tudors when Henry VIII rewarded his men with a handful of very thick golden coins. Coins that thick were impossible in the sixteenth century!
Here, I listed three Angels from different Kings. The first one was struck during the second reign of Edward IV (1471-1483). As you can find the angle and the dragon were cruder than later issues. The legend on the obverse reads: EDWARD DEI GRA REX ANGI Z FRANC, the reverse reads: PER CRVCEM TVA SAIVA NOS XPC REDEMPT. This Angel weighs 5.02 grams and was struck between 1477 and 1480.
The second Angel was struck at the time of Henry VIII (1509-1547), the King with six wives, also known as the father of Elizabeth I. The design looked more vivid compared to the first Angel. The obverse reads: hENRIC VIII DI GRA REX AGL Z FR. The reverse reads: PER CRVCE TVA SALVA NOS XPE REDE. As you may have already found that both Kings (REX) declaimed himself as the King of both England (ANGI/AGL) and France (FRANC/FR)! The reverse legends are similar and translated as By Thy cross, save us, O Christ, our Redeemer, apparently came from the Bible! This one weighs 4.90 grams and was struck tween 1509 and 1526.
The third Angle was struck during the reign of the beloved Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603), which was the Gold Age of England. This one is not as beautiful as the previous two due to its weak striking. BUT! A close look at the mint mark in front of the name of the Queen or the legend on the reverse would unveil its rarity. Mint marks are small marks which were used for distinguishing the different mints or years. The mint mark on this coin is a crown or more commonly called a Coronet. Coronet was seen from coins which were struck in the Tower Mint between 1567 and 1570. A duration of three years is not a very short time in which a large number of coins could be struck. BUT actually Angels with the mint mark Coronet are very rare, possibly less than five samples are known today! The legend on the obverse reads: ELIZABETH D G ANG FR ET HIB REGINA, OK, now Queen (REGINA) of Ireland (HIB) became a new title for the Queen following the title of Queen of England (ANG) and France (FR)! The reverse is different now as: A DNO FACTVM EST ISTVD ET EST MIRABI, or in English as: This is the Lord’s doing and it is marvelous. This one weighs 4.88 grams and was struck between 1567 and 1570.
Angels were struck under the reigns of ten Kings and Queens in total: Edward IV, Henry VI, Richard III, Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary, Elizabeth I, James I and the pathetic Charles I. Those of Richard III, Edward VI, Mary and the last two Kings are much scarcer than others. And most Angels of James I and Charles I have a hole on the coins. These holed-Angels were not supposed to be used as money but as the badges or more officially speaking, touch-pieces. People in the seventeenth century suffered from scrofula or lymphadenitis of the cervical lymph nodes (sorry for the long words as I’m a doctor). This disease was also called King's evil. People wore these touch-pieces because they believed their diseases of King’s evil could be expelled by these touch-pieces which had been touched by the King!
I hope you will like this beautiful coinage!
by Assur
1 September 2016
Shanghai
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Edward IV Angel
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Henry VIII Angel
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Elizabeth I Angel
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发表于 2016-9-1 16:28:46
发表于 2016-9-1 17:08:41
楼主
. But we Chinese have an old saying "what is yours is yours", means if some stuff belongs to you, it will come to you no matter where and when. Take it easy, enjoy collecting.
