1 Crown - Charles II 1st bust

The 1662 Crown marks the first use of the milled screw press at the Tower Mint for regular crown-sized silver production, displacing the hammered coinage that had served England for centuries. The transition was politically charged — hammered coins were easily clipped and counterfeited, and their replacement was part of a broader effort to restore financial credibility to a Crown that had spent over a decade in exile. Samuel Pepys recorded visiting the mint during this period and noted the novelty of the machinery with obvious fascination.

The first bust variety was used only briefly before edge and portrait modifications were introduced, making it the shortest-lived of the Charles II crown obverse types.