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.
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.