What's the reason behind the 17th century tradition of British monarchs being depicted on coins facing in the opposite direction to their predecessor?

score:23

Accepted answer

I find the answer given by news outlets to be insufficient, as it still does not answer what the symbolic meaning or reason behind this tradition that began with Charles II is.

And correctly so, since it is simply not true.

As you can see even The Royal Mint is very carefull with the wording when repeating the claim that this tradition started (and the possible reason for it) with Charles II.

Historic Portraiture | The Royal Mint
Left, Right, Left
From around the time of the restoration, it became customary for the monarch to face in the opposite direction to their predecessor on coins. This may have started because Charles II wanted to be seen turning his back on Oliver Cromwell and the Commonwealth. This is not certain but we can see a new stylistic flourish in the way the restored king was portrayed.

This was certainly not true for the first issued coins in 1660, where all denominations faced in the same direction as Cromwell and Charles I:

Coins from Charles I to Charles III (1625-2022):

  • coins from Henry VII to James I are shown after Charles III
Charles I
1625-1649
Commonwealth
1649-1660
Charles II
1660-1685

Hammered Shilling

Throughout the reign of Charles II, at least for small denominations, coins were still being issued with the portrait facing different directions:

Charles II
Milled Shilling, 1663
Charles II
Halfpenny, 1673
Charles II
Farthing, 1684

One plausible reason could be that since all previous coins were hammered, the new milled (silver) coins (starting late 1662) faced the opposite direction to distinguish between the two types of coins.

Even under James II (1685-1688) not all coins faced in the same direction:

James II
Halfpenny, unknown
James II
Half Crown, 1686
James II
Threepenny, 1687

This 'tradition' seemed to have started with William III and Mary II in 1689, some 30 years after the restoration (but within the late 17th century timeframe).

All issued coins/denominations were faced to the right.

William III and Mary II
1689-1694
William III
1694-1702
Anne
1702-1707

Shilling 1693

Shilling 1696

Shilling 1702

After the death (in 1694) of Mary II, her portray was removed showing only William III (still facing to the right).

George I
1714-1727
George II
1727-1760
George III
1760-1820

Penny (Moundy), 1716
(12 mm)

Penny (Moundy), 1754
(since 1822: 11 mm)

Penny (pattern), 1797
(35.56 mm)

Penny - Royal Mint Museum
The ‘cartwheel’ penny and the twopence of 1797
The coins were not struck by the Royal Mint but by Matthew Boulton at his private Soho Mint in Birmingham, and the name of the mint can, in fact, be seen on the coins just below Britannia’s shield. They were made legal tender for amounts of up to one shilling by a proclamation of 26 July 1797, which also specified that the penny should weigh one ounce and the twopence two ounces. The object of making them so heavy was that their intrinsic value should correspond as nearly as possible to their face value: in other words, their cost of production (copper plus workmanship) was to be a penny in one case and twopence in the other. The diameter of the penny measures 1.4 inches [35.56 mm] and that of the twopence 1.6 inches [40.64 mm].

It is believed that approximately 720,000 twopences and nearly 44,000,000 pennies were issued, all bearing the date 1797. Consequently the penny is a very common piece and the twopence not particularly hard to come by.

1797 to the modern day
The cartwheel pennies of 1797 proved popular and continued to circulate, along with later and slightly lighter copper pennies, until 1860.
In that year copper pennies were replaced by smaller, thinner and more durable coins in bronze. Originally known as bun pennies from Queen Victoria’s portrait on the obverse, these and later issues of the bronze penny remained in circulation until the time of decimalisation in 1971.

George IV
1820-1830
William IV
1830-1837
Victoria
1837-1901

Penny, 1825

Penny, 1834

Penny (beaded borders), 1860
(30.86 mm)
Edward VII
1901-1910
George V
1910-1936
Edward VIII
1936

Penny (low tide), 1902

Penny (KN mint mark), 1919

Penny (Official Pattern), 1937

The Coinage That Never Was | The Royal Mint
Breaking Tradition
Edward’s coinage portrait broke with a long-standing tradition dating back to the reign of Charles II in the seventeenth century. Each new monarch’s effigy faced in the opposite direction to that of their predecessor. George V faced left, meaning Edward’s effigy should have faced right if the established protocol had been observed. Edward, however, had other ideas, insisting his portrait show his favoured left side. He felt that the inclusion of his parting would break up an otherwise solid fringe of hair. An unusual feature, that along with their scarcity, only adds to the sense of fascination that surrounds these coins.

George VI
1936-1952
Elizabeth II
1952-2022
Charles III
2022

Penny (proof), 1952

Penny (proof), 1970

50 Pence, 2022

Coins Henry VII to James I (1457-1625):

Henry VII
1457-1509
40 Grains
(2 Scruples)
(2.59196 grams)

Groat, 4d
(Facing Bust)
1489-93

Groat, 4d
(Tentative Issue)
1504-05

Groat, 4d
(Regular Profile Issue)
1505-09
Henry VIII
1509-1547
32 Grains
(1.6 Scruples)
(2.07357 grams)
Testoon
(Shilling)

Groat, 4d
(2nd Coinage)
1529-32

Groat, 4d
(Third Coinage)
1544-47

Testoon, 12d
(Third Coinage)
1544-47
Edward VI
1547-1553
Half-Sovereign
(10 Shillings)
Sovereign
(20 Shillings)

Sixpence, 6d
(Fine Silver Issue)
1551

Half-Sovereign, 10/-
(Second Period)
1549-50

Sovereign, 20/-
(Third Period)
1550-53
Mary I
1553-1558
Sole rule
1553-1554
Philip and Mary
1554-1558

Groat, 4d
(32 Grains)
1554-1558

Fine Sovereign, 30/-
1553

Shilling, 12d
(undated)
1554
Elizabeth I
1558-1603
Pound
(20 Shillings)
Fine Sovereign
(30 Shillings)

Sixpence, 6d
(Milled Issue)
1562

Pound, 20/-
(Fifth Issue)
1591-95

Fine Sovereign, 30/-
(Fifth Issue)
1591-95
James I
1603-1625
Sovereign
(20 Shillings)
Laurel
(20 Shillings)

Sixpence, 6d
(First coinage)
1603

Sovereign, 20/-
(First coinage)
1603-04

Laurel, 20/-
(Third Issue)
1623-24

Sources:

More post

Search Posts

Related post