1 Broad - Oliver Cromwell

Cromwell's gold Broad of 1656 was never officially issued for circulation — it exists in a political limbo, struck as a pattern at a moment when the Protectorate was actively debating whether to restore the monarchy in all but name, with Cromwell himself as king. Parliament had offered him the crown in 1657; these pieces preceded that offer and may have been produced to test the waters of regal-style coinage. Most surviving examples are thought to be presentation pieces or cabinet specimens from the outset.

The dies were cut by Thomas Simon, whose work on Cromwell's coinage is widely considered the finest English medal-engraving of the seventeenth century. Simon later petitioned Charles II directly — by way of a coin — after the Restoration cost him his position.