1 Shilling - Commonwealth of England Pattern

This piece dates to the Interregnum, when England's mint faced an acute ideological problem: what to put on coins when you've just executed the king. The Commonwealth's answer was to strip royal imagery entirely and replace it with heraldic shields — a decision made by Parliament in 1649 that broke with centuries of English numismatic convention. Pattern strikes from 1651 predate the fully authorized Commonwealth shilling series and were likely produced to demonstrate acceptable designs to parliamentary committees.

The dies were cut by Thomas Simon, the most accomplished engraver of the period, who had previously worked under the Crown.