Commonwealth 1653 Unite, O over sideways O in GOD, R3, VF35

Commonwealth (1649-60), gold Unite of Twenty Shillings, 1653, variety with O of GOD struck over a sideways O, English shield within 14 leaf laurel and palm branch, legends in English language, initial mark sun, .THE. COMMONWEALTH. OF. ENGLAND., rev. English and Irish shields, value .XX. above, beaded circle and legend surrounding, date at top, legend surrounding, .GOD. WITH. VS., O struck over sideways O, weight 8.64g (Schneider 341; N.2715; Bull EGC 17 R3; S.3208). Toned with an attractive red colour, has been slabbed and graded by PCGS as VF35, the variety currently unpublished in the reference books.

PCGS Certification 396586.35/38364733

All gold coins of this period are struck in 22 carat gold and are the first British coins to have legends in plain English.

The gold and silver coins dated 1653 are the most populous of the Commonwealth period, and there is a good reason for this as there was a massive influx of metal into the Mint for coining. A new 2020 publication "the Metal in Britain's Coins" by Dr Graham Birch gives the full story in Chapter Seven "Oliver Cromwell's Treasure" page 94-99 inclusive. The large influx of metal was a result of the capture of five Spanish civilian ships in October 1652 on their way up the English Channel, to the Spanish Netherland territories of Ostend, Dunkirk and Amsterdam. The ships were carrying silver and gold recently brought to Spain by the Treasure Fleet from Cadiz and were held in England where Oliver Cromwell declared they were taken lawfully. The Spanish declared the capture of the ships Sampson, St. Salvador, St. George, Morning Star and the Angel of Flushing as illegal. Whilst the negotiations continued into 1653 Oliver Cromwell by now Lord Protector, decided to send the 34 metric tonnes of silver and the much smaller proportion of gold to the Mint to be coined in two tranches, June 1653 and May 1654 resulting in large outputs of coin, some £276,000 which were vital to pay for Cromwell's military adventures overseas.

The coin offered herewith has the O on the reverse over a sideways O as evidenced by the small interior to the O and parts of the O sideways underneath showing through. The letter Os on the obverse are all displayed as normal.