Commonwealth, 1649-1660, Cromwell Dutch Cast Copy Sixpence, 1658
KM-E-207, S- 3229, 3.91 grams, 24mm. Laureate head left with liberty cap and pole below, OLIVAR.DGR.P.ANG.SCOHIB.PRO, reverse: crowned shield of the protectorate, date 1658 above, PAX.QVAERITVR.BELLO. Prepared from a rather crude set of Dutch dies in 1738. Slightly porous (as expected of a casting), the surfaces present a medium steel-gray appearance with darker color at the borders. Abundant incrustation is also present at the peripheries.
Oliver Cromwell, "the Great Emancipator" was born on April 25, 1599 in Huntington. He married Elizabeth Bourchier in August 1620 and had nine children, seven of whom survived infancy. The Protectorate was established on December 16, 1653, with work on the production of portrait coins authorized in 1655. Although often referred to as patterns, there is, in fact, nothing to suggest that the portrait coins of Oliver Cromwell were not intended for circulation. Authorized in 1656, the first full production came in 1657 and was followed by a second, more plentiful one before Cromwell's death on September 3, 1658. All coins were machine made, struck from dies made by Thomas Simon (1618-1665), in the presses of the Frenchman Pierre Blondeau. Later, some of Simon's dies were sold in the Low Countries and an imitation crown piece was made there. Other Dutch dies were prepared and found their way back to the Mint, where in 1738, it was decided to strike a set of Cromwell's coins. Shillings and sixpences were struck from the Dutch dies, and crowns from the new dies prepared by John tanner. Dutch and Tanner "halfbroads" were also made. Oliver was succeeded as Lord Protector by his son Richard for whom no coins were struck. Good Very Fine