6 Pence - Elizabeth I Milled issue, Cross pattée

Elizabeth I's milled coinage was produced by the French engineer Eloye Mestrelle, who introduced a horse-powered rolling mill and screw press to the Tower Mint around 1561 — the first mechanized coin production attempted in England. The experiment was short-lived. Moneyers working the traditional hammer resented the threat to their livelihoods and lobbied aggressively against Mestrelle, whose milled pieces were ultimately abandoned by 1572. Mestrelle himself was later hanged at Norwich for counterfeiting.

The milled sixpences from this window are markedly rounder and more consistently struck than their hammered counterparts — a mechanical advantage that did nothing to save the technology.