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1 Shilling - Charles II 1st milled bust
| Issuer | England |
|---|---|
| Year | 1663-1669 |
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| Engraver(s) | John Roettier |
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| Obverse description | Laureate and draped bust of King Charles II facing right, rendered in the Baroque portrait style engraved by John Roettier, with long flowing curls falling over the shoulder and a classical drapery secured at the chest. The effigy is bold and high-relief, characteristic of the first milled bust series introduced at the Restoration coinage of 1663. The Latin legend is divided either side of the portrait and reads CAROLVS·II·DEI·GRATIA, denoting Charles II by the Grace of God. A toothed inner border runs along the coin's periphery. |
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| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
Charles II's milled coinage of the 1660s was a deliberate political act as much as a monetary one. The hammered silver it replaced had been clipped and counterfeited for decades, and the switch to machine-struck coin with milled edges — pushed through despite fierce resistance from the Moneyers, who stood to lose their hammering fees — effectively ended large-scale clipping almost overnight. The Royal Mint's adoption of Blondeau's edge-marking technology was central to this.
The first bust portrait was replaced by a second around 1669, making the earlier issues a distinct short-lived type spanning only the first years of the Restoration milled series.