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
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:
- Historic Portraiture | The Royal Mint
- Coins of the UK - Pictures Monarch Index (by Tony Clayton)
- Pictures of Coins of Henry VII
- Pictures of Coins of Henry VIII
- Pictures of Coins of Mary I
- Pictures of Coins of Edward VI
- Pictures of Coins of Elizabeth I
- Pictures of Coins of James I
- Pictures of Coins of Charles I
- Pictures of Coins of The Commonwealth
- Pictures of Coins of Charles II
- Crown (Five Shillings)
The new issue of machine made [Blondeau] "milled" coins were introduced to the public in the latter part of the year 1662, with the production of these English silver Crowns, the first denomination issued proudly by this method. The smaller denominations of Halfcrown and Shilling would follow dated 1663 with the Sixpence not arriving till 1674, the Twopence in 1668 and other small silver from 1670.
I wonder if this is the true reason for the change the face direction
- Crown:
- Hammered Gold 1660-62: left faced
- Milled silver 1662 onwards: right faced
It seems there was good reason for the issue of the silver Crowns first as in the year 1662 King Charles II sold the town of Dunkirk back to the French for five million French Livres, the town having been captured by the Parliamentarian forces in 1658. This created a massive influx of silver into the Mint to convert to British silver, reportedly 1,500,000 silver Ecus transported in 300 chests from December 1662 until mid-1663 at a total weight of 108,636 pounds.
- Crown:
- Crown (Five Shillings)
- Pictures of Coins of James II
- Pictures of Coins of William III and Mary II
- Pictures of Coins of William III
- Pictures of Coins of Queen Anne
- Pictures of Coins of George I
- Pictures of Coins of George II
- Pictures of Coins of George III
- Pictures of Coins of George IV
- Pictures of Coins of William IV
- Pictures of Coins of Queen Victoria
- Pictures of Coins of Edward VII
- Pictures of Coins of George V
- Pictures of Coins of Edward VIII
- Pictures of Coins of George VI
- Pictures of Pre-Decimal Coins of Elizabeth II
- Pictures of Decimal Coins of Elizabeth II
- Coins of the UK - Pictures Denomination Index
- The coinages of Henry VIII and Edward VI in Henry's name - British Numismatic Society (PDF)
- Portraiture of our Tudor Monarchs on their coins and medals. - British Numismatic Society (PDF)
- The Great Debas*m*nt (1544–1551) - Wikipedia
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