Charles I Forty Pence

The Charles I Forty Pence is a hammered silver coin struck during the reign of Charles I (1625–1649). Valued at forty pence, it was one of the larger silver denominations circulating in the troubled decade that ran up to and through the English Civil War, a period when royal coinage was produced under increasing strain.

The piece carries a crowned profile bust of the king in armor with characteristic long curled hair on one side, and a crowned heraldic shield of arms on the other, ringed by a Latin legend. Like all coins of its era it was struck by hand between two dies, so each surviving example shows a slightly irregular flan and its own individual character.

The photographed example belongs to the 1640–1649 window, the final and most turbulent years of Charles I's reign, and displays the reverse motto reading toward PRO REGE ET LEGE — "for king and law" — a phrase closely associated with the royalist coinage of the period.

Charles I came to the throne in 1625 and ruled until his execution in 1649. His silver coinage spans a remarkable range of denominations and mints, and the character of that coinage shifted sharply as his conflict with Parliament escalated into open civil war from 1642. During these years coins were struck not only at the established royal mints but also at emergency and provincial mints raised to fund the war effort.

The forty-pence denomination sits among the larger hammered silver pieces of the reign. Its crowned-bust obverse and crowned-shield reverse follow the established pattern of Charles I silver, while the surrounding legends proclaim the king's titles and the royalist motto of king and law. The 1640s issues in particular reflect a mint system under pressure, producing coinage of variable style and execution as circumstances demanded.

Because the reign ended violently in 1649 and the subsequent Commonwealth swept away the royal portrait coinage, forty-pence pieces of Charles I are survivors of a distinct and short historical moment. They were struck entirely by the hammered method, before mechanized minting became standard in Britain.

The obverse shows Charles I in left-facing profile, crowned, wearing armor, with the long curled hair typical of his portraits. A Latin legend giving his royal titles runs around the rim. The bust style, armor, and hair are key diagnostics separating this from later milled portraits.

The reverse carries a crowned heraldic shield bearing a cross and floral or quartered charges, encircled by the legend that reads toward PRO REGE ET LEGE ("for king and law"). On the photographed coin the surrounding inscription is visible around the crowned shield. The combination of crowned armored bust and crowned shield with this motto is the type's signature.

The coin is hammered silver, so expect a slightly uneven, out-of-round flan, hand-cut lettering, and the soft, sometimes doubled relief of hand-struck work rather than the crisp uniform edges of machine-made coins. Mint marks — small symbols placed in the legends — are important for attributing the exact mint and period within the reign, and should be read carefully against a standard reference.

As a genuine hammered silver coin of Charles I roughly 375 years old, the forty-pence piece is a collectable survivor of the Civil War era that trades well above its silver content. Value is driven by grade, strength of strike, mint, mint mark, and overall eye appeal rather than by any single fixed figure.

Worn but authentic examples typically change hands for solid sums in the low-to-mid range for period hammered silver, while sharp, well-centered coins, scarcer mints, and pieces with attractive toning can command considerably more at specialist auction. Emergency and provincial war-mint issues, where applicable, can carry significant premiums.

Because the type is old, hand-struck, and sometimes faked or clipped, condition and verified attribution heavily influence what a given coin realizes. Anyone valuing a specific piece should consult recent auction records for the matching mint and mint mark and treat any single quoted price as context rather than a guarantee.