Crowns have a long history, derived from a gold coin introduced by Henry VIII in 1526 to replace the Sovereign. The gold of that Sovereign was too soft, so hard-wearing ‘crown gold’ was introduced. This has been the standard of British gold coins ever since. In 1551 coins of the same size and weight, but made from silver, were brought in.

They adopted the name crown from the gold version and became the sole carrier of that name after 1662, when gold crowns were no longer produced. This coin is offered in XF45 condition, retaining the clarity and definition of its Royal Arms design.

Obverse shows the boy King Edward VI on horseback right with the reverse featuring the quartered shield over long cross fourchée, large fleur de lis, wire line and beaded inner circles.

The 1551 dated crown is the first English coin to have the date displayed in our modern familiar way rather than in Roman numerals as some of the preceding coins of Edward of 1547-50 had displayed. This is also the first occasion an English Crown had been issued in silver having been exclusively a gold denomination up to this time. The gold Crowns continue as a concurrent issue until the last hammered issue of Charles II in circa 1662. The dated silver Crowns of our familiar format continue until 1553 whereupon there is not another until the 1642 issues at the Provincial mints of Charles I at Shrewsbury and Oxford.