Stuart hammered silver: James I to Charles II
The Stuart hammered series 1603–1662. Three James I coinages, Charles I's Tower and Civil War mints, Commonwealth, and Charles II hammered.
Stuart hammered silver covers sixty years (1603–1662) and four monarchs — James I, Charles I, the Commonwealth, and Charles II in his brief hammered phase before milled took over for good. The period dominates UK detector finds of post-medieval silver. Here’s the dynasty in one place.
James I (1603–1625) — three coinages
James inherited the English throne from Elizabeth I in 1603 while already king of Scotland (as James VI). His English coinage falls into three coinages distinguished by bust style:
| Coinage | Dates | Bust |
|---|---|---|
| First | 1603–1604 | Profile right; thistle initial mark; Elizabethan-style collar |
| Second | 1604–1619 | Crowned half-length bust with orb and sceptre |
| Third | 1619–1625 | Crowned facing bust |
Initial marks for James I include thistle (1603–04), lis, rose, escallop, grapes, coronet, key, bell, mullet, tower, trefoil, cinquefoil, tun, book on tun, crescent, plain cross, saltire, spur rowel.
Charles I (1625–1649) — Tower mint and provincial mints
Charles I’s reign produced the most prolific Stuart hammered coinage and accounts for the largest single share of post-medieval detector finds. His coinage divides between the Tower mint (royal until 1642, then under Parliament from 1642–43) and a network of Civil War provincial mints that operated wherever the king could secure a base.
The Tower mint initial mark register
| Initial mark | Years |
|---|---|
| Lis | 1625 |
| Cross calvary | 1625–26 |
| Blackamoor's head | 1625–27 |
| Castle | 1627–28 |
| Anchor | 1628–29 |
| Heart | 1629–30 |
| Feathers | 1630–31 |
| Rose | 1631–32 |
| Harp | 1632–33 |
| Portcullis | 1633–34 |
| Bell | 1634–35 |
| Crown | 1635–36 |
| Tun | 1636–38 |
| Anchor (later) | 1638–39 |
| Triangle | 1639–40 |
| Star | 1640–41 |
| Triangle-in-circle | 1641–43 |
| (P) in brackets | 1643–44 |
| (R) in brackets | 1644–45 |
| Eye | 1645 |
| Sun | 1645–46 |
| Sceptre | 1646–48 |
Civil War provincial mints
Charles I’s Civil War mints operated from 1642 onwards as the king moved with his armies. Each has distinctive iconography:
- Oxford — Declaration reverse (
RELIG PROT LEG ANG LIBER PAR= “the religion of the Protestants, the laws of England, the liberty of Parliament”). Plume mark. - York— struck before the city fell to Parliament in 1644. Lion initial mark.
- Bristol— struck 1643–45 under royal control. BR or BR-with-plume marks.
- Aberystwyth— plume above shield, distinctive Welsh provincial style.
- Truro and Exeter— western mints under royal control late in the war.
- Newark(siege coin) — lozenge-shaped flan, crude crowned C R on obverse, year and denomination on reverse.
- Carlisle(siege coin) — octagonal flan.
- Pontefract(siege coin) — lozenge flan, struck in the name of Charles II while his father was already dead.
- Worcester, Chester, Weymouth— smaller provincial mints.
The Commonwealth (1649–1660)
After Charles I’s execution in January 1649, the Commonwealth deliberately broke with royal iconography. Commonwealth coins:
- No king on the coinage— the only English coinage between Anglo-Saxon and modern that doesn’t name a monarch.
- English legend (
THE COMMONWEALTH OF ENGLAND) instead of Latin. - Shield of St George + Irish harpon the reverse — a deliberate republican design.
- Mintmark: sun (early), anchor (1657–60).
Commonwealth coins are recognisable at a glance — the English legend is the categorical break with everything else in English numismatic history.
Charles II hammered (1660–1662)
Charles II returned from exile in 1660 and resumed coinage in his own name. The first two years (1660–62) produced hammered silver in the Stuart tradition, with a left-facing bust and the full Stuart royal arms. In 1662 the machine-struck milled coinage of the Royal Mint replaced hammered for good. Charles II hammered is the last of the line; milled coinage has dominated ever since.
Denominations
Facing-direction by monarch
Stuart hammered coinage alternates facing direction monarch-by-monarch in a pattern that’s easy to memorise:
- Elizabeth I (last Tudor): left
- James I: right (the change-of-dynasty)
- Charles I: left
- Commonwealth: no portrait
- Charles II hammered: left (continued)
- Charles II milled (1662+): switches to right
Within the hammered period, the James-to-Charles-I facing flip is the single most useful detector diagnostic. See our James I vs Charles I guide for full detail.
Procedural identification
- Confirm Stuart period. Facing direction (right = James, left = Charles I or II); full Stuart shield on the reverse with Scottish lion / Irish harp.
- Read the legend.
IACOBVS= James I.CAROLVS= Charles I or II.THE COMMONWEALTH OF ENGLAND= Commonwealth (1649–60). - For Charles coins: check flan shape. Round standard flan = Tower or main provincial. Lozenge / octagonal = siege coin (Newark, Carlisle, Pontefract).
- Read the initial mark. Pins the coin to a 1–3 year window for Tower issues.
- Read provincial mint marks (plume, BR, lion etc.) for Civil War issues.
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