Following
the Restoration of the Monarchy Charles II ordered trials for a milled coinage
from the newly appointed Dutch engravers, the Roettier brothers, at the Royal
Mint. Thomas Simon,an audacious and creative local engraver, armed with a
wonderful contemporary drawing from his friend the diarist and close friend of
the king, Samuel Pepys, sought to secure the commission, but
failed.
Simon, aggrieved that he had not been given the commission, was
determined to win the King over and be chosen as the official designer with his
clever concepts. He set out to win the King over by creating a coin which would
highlight his skills.
The Worlds Most Prestigious and Valuable
Silver Coin
Simon engraved the dies for this
fabulously detailed Crown featuring an arresting depiction of Charles II’s
bust on the obverse with “Simon” engraved just below the King’s
clothed neckline. Simon was the first engraver to bring ‘frosted’
parts to a coin. The spectacular details on the coin and the medallic
appearance allowed showed off his artistry in the portrait of the King with
such fine detail such as the candle light shadows of the King's vein on the
neck.
To dramatize his case, he placed a tiny inscription in two rows of
letters on its edge of the coin. The “Petition” of two hundred raised
letters in two lines around the coin’s rim, which is only 3.5mm deep,
demonstrated his technical skill. It read "
"THOMAS SIMON MOST HVMBLY PRAYS YOVR MAJESTY TO COMPARE THIS
HIS TRYALL PIECE WITH THE DVTCH AND IF MORE TRVLY DRAWN & EMBOSS’D
MORE GRACE; FVLLY ORDER’D AND MORE ACCURATELY ENGRAVEN TO RELIEVE HIM
"
The beauty of
Simon’s crown has been acclaimed ever since he struck it. However The
King, for a variety of reasons, did not select his design, even though
Simon’s coin was clearly the superior to the work of the Roettiers.
Charles picked the Roettier design as the winner. Though he lost the contest,
Simon did win lasting fame among numismatists..
An Exibition at the ANA
Money Museum in Colorado USA will be held in the Spring of 2007 together with
40 of the finest quality British Renaissance Coins ever to be displayed in the
United States.
