1/2 Crown - Charles I Tower mint under the King, group II, type 2c

Group II of Charles I's Tower coinage represents the period when Nicholas Briot, a French-trained medallist, was agitating loudly for control of the English mint — his superior mechanical methods a standing rebuke to the hand-hammered production still dominant here. Type 2c is distinguished by its smaller, rounder horse compared to earlier Group II varieties, a subtle revision that helps sequence the dies within a span of barely two years.

The early 1630s were fiscally turbulent: Charles was governing without Parliament and funding the Crown through increasingly unpopular expedients, including forced loans. Coin production at the Tower reflected this pressure.