The Triple Unite, valued at sixty shillings, 60/- or three pounds, was the highest British denomination to be produced in the era of the hammered coinage. It was only produced during the Civil War, at King Charles I's mints at Oxford (between 1642 and 1644) and, rarely, at Shrewsbury in 1642. It weighed 421 grains, or just over seven-eighths of a troy ounce.
The gold coins are undoubtedly magnificent pieces of work, and they show the king holding a sword and an olive branch on the obverse, signifying his wish for peace rather than war.
The extremely rare Shrewsbury-produced coin shows, on the obverse, a plume behind the kings' head surrounded by the legend CAROLUS DG MAG BRIT FRAN ET HIBER REX -- Charles by the grace of God King of Great Britain France and Ireland. The reverse shows the legend RELIG PROT LEG ANG LIBER PAR in two lines -- The religion of the Protestants, the laws of England and the liberty of Parliament, with three plumes and the value numeral III above the declaration and the year 1642 below it, the whole being surrounded by the legend EXURGAT DEUS DISSIPENTUR INIMICI -- Let God arise and His enemies be scattered.
The Oxford issues are very similar to the Shrewsbury one, except that the legend on the reverse appears in three lines rather than two, and the obverse legend appears as CAROLUS DG MAG BRIT FR ET HIB REX. Oxford coins appear with slight design differences in each year of 1642, 1643, and 1644.
British prisoners have also come up with several slang terms for Britishcoins, many of which are still heard today: bar was one pound, bed and breakfast half a crown, spratt sixpence, demi fifty pence and chip one shilling.
In 1920, the silver content of all Britishcoins was reduced from 92.5% to 50%, with a portion of the remainder consisting of manganese, which caused the coins to tarnish to a very dark colour after they had been in circulation for a significant period.
All Britishcoins produced since 1662 have been milled; the first milled coins were produced during the reign of Elizabeth I and periodically during the reigns of James I and Charles I, but there was opposition to mechanisation from the moneyers who ensured that most coins continued to be produced by hammering.
Note that all Maundy coins (which originate in the pre-decimalisation era and have a different design to 'standard issue' coins) are legal tender in the UK, and so while the standard one and two penny coins originate in 1971, the oldest legal tender one and two penny coins date from 1822.
In 1920, the silver content of all Britishcoins was reduced from 92.5% to 50%, with a portion of the remainder consisting of manganese, which caused the coins to tarnish to a very dark color after they had been in circulation for a significant period.
The weight of this coin was instituted by Charlemagne, and the purity of 92.5% silver (sterling silver) was instituted by Henry II in 1158 with the "Tealby Penny" – a hammered coin.
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