Hammered gold coins: noble to unite
Edward III's noble through Charles II's unite. The high-status hammered gold sequence — noble, ryal, angel, sovereign, unite.
Hammered gold coins are the high-status end of medieval and early modern English coinage — the noble, ryal, angel, sovereign and unite. They’re uncommon as detector finds but recognisable on sight, and every hammered gold find triggers an FLO conversation and (usually) a Treasure Act inquiry. Here’s what the major denominations look like and where they fit in the sequence.
The introduction of gold — Edward III, 1344
Although gold coins had been struck in Britain in the Iron Age, post-Roman gold coinage didn’t resume until Henry III tried a gold penny in 1257 (a near-total failure: only a handful survive). Edward III made the second attempt in 1344 with the florin (or “double leopard”), again unsuccessfully, and then with the noble — which finally established a successful gold denomination.
The noble was originally valued at 6 shillings 8 pence (one-third of a pound, the same as a mark) and weighed about 9 g of nearly pure (~23.5 carat) gold. Half-noble and quarter-noble denominations completed the series.
The noble family (1344–c.1465)
| Coin | Years | Weight | Module |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florin / double leopard | 1344 only | ~7 g | 35 mm — failed, very rare |
| Leopard | 1344 only | ~3.5 g | 25 mm — half-florin, also rare |
| Helm | 1344 only | ~1.7 g | 20 mm — quarter-florin |
| Noble | 1344–c.1465 | ~7.7–9 g | 35–37 mm |
| Half-noble | 1344–c.1465 | ~3.8–4.5 g | 26–28 mm |
| Quarter-noble | 1344–c.1465 | ~1.9–2.3 g | 19–22 mm |
The noble’s ship reverse shows the king standing armed in a ship at sea — an explicit reference to the naval victory at Sluys (1340) early in Edward III’s reign. The ship motif continues unchanged through Richard II, Henry IV, V, and VI before the design evolves into the rose noble under Edward IV.
The ryal / rose noble (1464–c.1485)
Edward IV’s reform of 1464 introduced two new gold coins:
- Ryal (rose noble): 38 mm, ~7.7 g. Same general ship-and-king obverse as the noble, but with a heraldic rose at the centre of an elaborate sun-burst reverse — hence “rose noble”. Valued at 10 shillings (half a pound).
- Half-ryal and quarter-ryal: smaller denominations at the same fineness.
The angel (1465–1642)
The angel — named for its reverse showing the archangel Michael slaying a dragon — replaced the noble as the main gold denomination and remained current for nearly two hundred years.
- Module: 28–30 mm.
- Weight: 4.6–5.2 g (decreasing over the period).
- Value: originally 6s 8d; rose to 10s by the time of Charles I.
- Obverse: St Michael spearing a dragon underfoot. The dragon iconography is unmistakable.
- Reverse: ship with quartered royal shield as the main field, with a cross above and surrounding legend.
The sovereign (1489–1604)
Henry VII introduced the sovereign in 1489. Originally a twenty-shilling piece in pure gold (23.875 carat), it’s the largest gold coin in the English numismatic record until modern commemoratives:
- Module: 40–43 mm. Very large.
- Weight: 15.5 g (Henry VII / VIII first issue); reduced to 11.3 g under later issues.
- Obverse: the king enthroned facing — a fully realised throne scene that recalls earlier sovereign pennies.
- Reverse: large Tudor rose with smaller royal shield superimposed.
Half-sovereigns continued the standard. The sovereign was discontinued after James I’s reign and not revived until the modern sovereign of 1817.
The unite (1604–1662)
James I replaced the sovereign with the unite, named after the union of England and Scotland in his person. Twenty-shilling denomination, 30–36 mm, ~10 g. The reverse legend reads FACIAM EOS IN GENTEM VNAM(“I shall make them into one nation”) — explicit political messaging about the union of crowns.
Charles I gold
Charles I’s reign produced the most complex hammered gold coinage, partly because of the Civil War provincial mints. Royal Tower mint issued unites, half-unites and crowns; Civil War provincial mints at Oxford, Bristol, Truro and elsewhere added their own variants. The Oxford gold issues with their Declaration reverse (RELIG PROT LEG ANG LIBER PAR) are particularly distinctive.
Commonwealth and Restoration
The Commonwealth (1649–1660) struck twenty-shilling gold pieces in the same republican style as the silver — St George shield and Irish harp reverse, English legends, no royal portrait. Charles II’s short hammered period (1660–62) produced gold unites before milled coinage took over for good.
The end of hammered gold
1662 closes the hammered gold story. From the milled reform onwards, the guinea (introduced 1663) becomes the standard British gold denomination, with broad-bust portraiture in the milled style familiar from Charles II silver. The hammered gold tradition that began with Edward III’s noble ends three centuries later with Charles II’s final hammered unite.
Procedural identification
- Confirm gold. Distinctive bright yellow colour, high density (gold is dense — a noble feels heavier than a similar-sized silver disc).
- Identify the reverse motif. Ship with king = noble or ryal family. Heraldic rose at centre = ryal. Cross and shield = angel reverse. Throne scene = sovereign or unite.
- Read the obverse. King’s name (Latin form:
EDWARD,RICARDVS,HENRICVS,EDWARDVS,IACOBVS,CAROLVS). - Check module and weight. Quarter-noble vs half-noble vs full noble all share design but differ in size.
- Note any piercing. Religious touching ceremonies left documented holes; modern damage is usually less precisely centred.
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