The Petition Crown of
Thomas Simon
The Petition Crown of Thomas Simon (Obverse)
The Petition Crown of Thomas Simon
The sale at auction for £55 (about $775) of a specimen of the rare coin known as the Petition Crown of Thomas Simon affords an opportunity of giving a brief history of this famous piece and in doing so it will not be out of place to review the state of the English coinage immediately prior to its issue.
The reign of "Good Queen Bess" was distinguished by the introduction of the new mechanism for the minting of money. Instead of the old hammer and punch method of minting, the mill and screw was introduced, by which process coins of a superior workmanship, and more regular appearance, were produced.
Folks say that the inventor of the "mill and screw" is supposed to have been a Frenchman named Philip Mastrelle, who eventually fell into the practice of coining counterfeit money, and was convicted and executed at Tyburn on the 27th day of January, 1562.
Mr. Hawkins, however, does not agree with this statement, and asserts that the name of the introducer of this process of coining is unknown, and the whole history of its employment involved in obscurity.
Most of the milled money (but chiefly the shilling and sixpence) of Queen Elizabeth's reign may be known by a five-pointed star at the end of the legend. The larger coins (crowns and half-crowns) are struck on the old hammer principle, which was continued by her successors, James I, and Charles I. But the bulk of the money issued by Queen Elizabeth, from the crown to the penny, was hammered money.
In about 1650 Cromwell availed himself of the more recent improvements of coining already adopted by some of the continental nations. A celebrated French artist, Pierre Blondeau, who had perfected the mode of minting by the mill and screw, by which means a legend was impressed for the first time on the edge of a piece. But no issue was ever made of these coins, and the specimens of them are very rare.
During the latter part of his protectorate Cromwell caused coins to be executed by the new process bearing his own bust; but it is supposed that few were issued, as the coins of the old hammered type are much more numerous. They are considered by some authorities to have been patterns. The bust of Cromwell on the obverse is most beautifully executed by Simon, and in a manner superior in point of art to anything that had been seen upon an English coin before.
Charles II, on his ascension to the throne in 1660, with a view, it may be, of returning to the extreme orthodoxy of his father's reign, discarded the mill and screw, and his early coins were produced by the old process; but in 1662 Pierre Blondeau was re-engaged to direct the mint upon the mill and screw principle, and a competition for engraving dies was entered into between the celebrated Simon and John Rotier, of Antwerp, which, it is said, was unfairly decided in favor of Rotier.
Dissatisfied with the judgement of Blondeau, and confident of his skill as a die-sinker, Simon appealed to the king, and his petition took the unique, though appropriate form of a pattern of the value of a crown. Hence it is that England can justly boast of a most exquisitely engraved coin, which is considered a model of art, and superior to any coin of that or any other period. It will be seen from the illustration of the piece here given, that the king's bust is draped and laureated, with flowing hair and love lock over the right shoulder. The inscription on the obverse reads "CARLOS II. DEI. GRA." On the reverse are crowned shields of England, Scotland, Ireland and France, arranged in the form of a cross, with garter and St. George in the center. There are two "C"'s interlinked in each angle. Inscription "MAG. BRI. FR. ET. HIB. REX. 1663".
On the edge of this famous coin is inscribed Simon's petition to the king against the alleged unjust decision. The petition runs thus:
Thomas Simon most humbly prays your Majesty to compare this, his tryal piece, with the Dutch, and if more truly drawn and embossed, more gracefully ordered, and more accurately engraven, to relieve him.
Notwithstanding the undoubted superiority of the piece, Simon's petition was unheeded.
It is said that only twenty copies were struck with the petition on the edge, and a few others with a different edge. In 1775 a specimen of this rare and beautiful crown piece sold for £12. In 1802 a specimen changed hands for £105, and in 1824 the same piece brought £210. At Trattle's sale in 1832, a fine specimen realized £225 (about $1,125.00). In December, 1921, B. Max Mehl, owner of the Numismatic Company of Texas, sold a good specimen for $900.00.
About the Author
B. Max Mehl (1884-1957) of Forth Worth, Texas, was America's most colorful coin dealer during the first half of the 20th century. This article, "The Petition Crown of Thomas Simon", is from the 21st edition (1922) of his coin catalog, "The Star Rare Coin Encyclopedia" (though mostly complete, this article has been edited for this Web site; evidence in the article suggests it was first written in 1921). Mehl's publications are highly collectible; many may still be obtained for a modest price.
Related Web Sites
• British Petition Crown - The Art of Coins
• Coins, Crown & Conflict: An Exploration of Cromwell's England
Cite this Page
Bibliography:
Mintmark.com. 2007. The Petition Crown of Thomas Simon.
http://www.mintmark.com/petitioncrownthomassimon.html
(accessed xxxx 7, 200x).
In-Text:
(Mintmark.com 2007)
