Cromwelltaler

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Cromwell Taler from 1658 - the tear of the die was associated with Cromwell's posthumous beheading

Cromwelltaler is the German name for the English silver crown (Cromwellcrown) with the year 1658 and the bust of Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell (1653-1658), which shows a stamp tear that runs across the neck of the bust and ends with the word NEMO in the margin . The die break has been linked to Cromwell's posthumous beheading.

description

(The description refers to the coin shown.)

The English silver crown from the brief period of the English Republic , minted under Oliver Cromwell without a mintmaster's mark , weighs 29.99 grams, has a diameter of 39 millimeters and was minted in the London mint . The mint master responsible for the minting was Pierre Blondeau. The dies were cut by the medalist Thomas Simon.

front

On the front is the bust of Cromwell with a laurel wreath and a Roman toga . A stamp tear is visible in the coin image, which goes over the neck of the bust and ends with the word NEMO in the margin . The complete transcription is given in two variants:

  • Inscription after Reumanns Erben (Ed.) (1702), Kundmann (1734) and Schmieder (1811):
    • OLIVAR (ius). D (ei). G (ratia). R (erum). P (ublicarum). ANG (liae). SCO (tiae). HIB (erniae) & c PRO (tector)
Translation: Oliver by the grace of God, the republics of England, Scotland, Ireland etc. Protector.
  • Inscription according to Schultheß-Rechberg (1840):
    • OLIVAR (ius). D (ei). G (ratia). R (ei). P (ublicae). ANG (liae). SCO (tiae). HIB (erniae) & c PRO (tector)
Translation: Oliver, by God's grace and the Republic, protector of England, Scotland and Ireland etc.

back

The reverse shows the crowned four-field coat of arms of the Commonwealth with a central shield . The legend is Oliver Cromwell's motto with the year 16 - 58 divided

Inscription:

  • PAX. QVÆRITVR. BELLO
Translation: "Peace is sought through war"

edge

The raised marginal writing to prevent the edge of the coin from being trimmed is as follows:

  • HAS NISI PERITVRVS MIHI ADIMAT NEMO
Translation: "ruin him who circumcises me"

Explanation

Oliver Cromwell was Lord Protector of England , Scotland and Ireland during the brief period of the English Republic (1648–1660) from 1653 until his death . He was a member of the court that sentenced Charles I (1625–1648, † 1649) to death. Shortly before his death on September 3, 1658, he appointed his son Richard  (1658–1659, † 1712) as his successor, who, however, only stayed in government for half a year. In 1660, a new parliament was installed, which Charles II (1660–1685), son of the executed Charles I, proclaimed the new king and ended the time of the English republic.

"This is one of the most precious thalers because it comes from such an author who [has] been [from] a common nobleman [to] a really ruling king of three kingdoms / [although] he [...] abstained from the royal title . "

On the Cromwelltaler Oliver Cromwell is depicted as the Roman emperor , draped and adorned with a laurel wreath. The motto of the Lord Protector PAX QVÆRITVR BELLO (Peace is sought through war) refers to the end of civil war and the peace achieved. The die tear visible in the coin image, which runs from the neck to the word NEMO (read backwards omen) in the margin, was seen as a prophecy of Cromwell's beheading in 1661. The Cromwelltaler minted only in the year of death 1658 are almost all minted with torn stamps. There are also half silver Cromwell crowns with the same coin image without a crack.

In the London Mint, machines, screw presses (spindle mechanisms) were used for the first time for the minting of coins , and the coin dies were designed in such a way that they are suitable for inclusion in the new presses.

Historical explanations

After the posthumous execution of Oliver Cromwell , Henry Ireton and John Bradshaw, their heads were displayed on three long poles (numbered 1, 2, 3 in the picture). The crack in the stamp in the Cromwelltaler was seen as an omen for this event.

According to Karl Christoph Schmieder (1811), “the specialty of these crowns stamped in Cromwell's years of death ” consists in the fact that on many “a tear has been made to a line that goes from the neck of the bust to the word Nemo in the margin. As is well known, "says Schmieder," the Protector died of natural causes in 1658, but two years later his body was dug up again [was exhumed on January 28, 1661], hung on the gallows, cut off his head and exhibited publicly in the Westmünsterhalle . The above neckline was thought to be a praesagium [= prediction] of his decapitation after death, especially since the word Nemo, wherever the line points, can be read backwards omen . Since this scholarly superstition was made known, "says Schmieder," they sought out those thalers with avidity and sometimes paid for the piece with 20  Kronthalers , more recently in Germany even with 10  Louisd'ors , because they had become very rare due to the coinage. "

Cromwelltaler from Kundmann's "Nummi Singulares ..." with the margin writing

In Johann Christian Kundmann's “Nummi Singularis” (1734) the Cromwell thalers are referred to as “Thaler or English Crowns”, which were minted shortly before Cromwell's death, “on which a line appears across the neck” due to a broken punch is. “One thinks this line is cheap for omineux” [French for ominous], so the scholar, because “Cromwel An. 1658. died on his bed […], and was royal entrusted, so he was nevertheless an. 1661. again dug up on King Caroli II's orders, afterwards the head was cut off and attached to the West-Münster-Hall . "

Kundmann explains the coat of arms on the reverse of the coin as follows:

"On the other side is a crowned coat of arms,

"[...] the [...] Randschrifft", says Kundmann, "but has something special about this thaler, and in general this invention is attributed to the Cromwel, which is used as an ornament as well as a conservation [protection against pruning] of the coin, as well as having the understanding that nobody should disput the protector's dignity if he does not want to be of death [...]. "

Fortune telling coins

Random appearances in the coin image, such as the tear of the die through the neck of the Lord Protector or the broken sword of the Elector Johann Friedrich the Magnanimous on some Schmalkaldic Bundestalers from 1547, the year of his capture, were sometimes seen before the time of the Enlightenment held a good or bad omen.

“Ominous” coinage and chance occurrences in the coin image led people with their still believing ideas filled with symbols and mysticisms to the fact that these pieces were particularly sought after after the “learned superstition” became known and high prices were paid for them.

literature

  • Friedrich von Schrötter (eds.) With N. Bauer, K. Regling, A. Suhle, R. Vasmer, J. Wilcke: Dictionary of Coin Studies , de Gruyter, Berlin 1970 (reprint of the original edition from 1930)
  • Heinz Fengler, Gerd Gierow, Willy Unger: transpress Lexikon Numismatics , Berlin 1976
  • Helmut Kahnt: The large lexicon of coins from A to Z , Regenstauf 2005
  • Carl Christoph Schmieder: Concise dictionary of the entire coinage. Halle and Berlin 1811
  • D. Johann Christian Kundmann: Nummi Singulares or strange Thaler and Müntzen ... Breslau and Leipzig 1734
  • Karl Gustav von Schultheß-Rechberg: Thaler-Cabinet ..., First Volume, Emperors and Kings, Vienna 1840
  • Reumanns Erben (ed.): Historical remarks on the latest things in Europe, fourth part on the MDCCII. Year , Hamburg
  • Martyn Bennett: Oliver Cromwell. Routledge, Abingdon 2006
  • Heinz Tillmann (Ed.): Biographies on World History , Lexicon, Deutscher Verlag der Wissenschaften, Berlin 1989

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Friedrich von Schrötter: Dictionary of Coin Studies , p. 116
  2. ↑ Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden ( Memento of the original from December 20, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Crown 1658, Commonwealth of England @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / skd-online-collection.skd.museum
  3. ↑ Interactive catalog of the Münzkabinett Berlin: England: Commonwealth 1658, 42/112
  4. ↑ Reumanns Erben (Ed.): Historische Remarques ... , (1702), p. 73
  5. ^ D. Johann Christian Kundmann: Nummi Singulares oder ... (1734), p. 34
  6. ^ Carl Christoph Schmieder: Concise Dictionary of Entire Coin Studies (1811), p. 103
  7. ↑ von Schultheß-Rechberg: Thaler-Cabinet ... , (1840), p. 371
  8. ^ Carl Christoph Schmieder: Concise Dictionary of Entire Coin Studies (1811), p. 103: Wahlspruch
  9. ↑ Reumanns Erben (Ed.): Historische Remarques ... , (1702), p. 76: Wahlspruch, Translation
  10. ^ Carl Christoph Schmieder: Concise Dictionary of Entire Coin Studies (1811), p. 104
  11. ↑ Heinz Tillmann (Ed.): Biographien zur Weltgeschichte , p. 140
  12. ↑ Reumanns Erben (Ed.): Historische Remarques ... (1702), p. 73
  13. ↑ acsearch: Halfcrown 1658
  14. ↑ Royal Mint Museum: Coin stamp of the Cromwell Valley with the typical die crack (stamp design for the new screw presses)
  15. ^ Carl Christoph Schmieder: Concise Dictionary of Entire Coin Studies (1811), pp. 103/104
  16. ^ D. Johann Christian Kundmann: Nummi Singulares oder ... (1734), pp. 33/35