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English fifty shilling coin

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The English fifty shilling coin, worth 50/-, was only ever minted once, in the year 1656. It was a milled gold coin weighing 22.7 g (0.73 ozt) and with a diameter of 30 mm (1.2 in). Only eleven examples are known to survive. One extremely fine specimen was recorded to have been sold for £15,250 in May 1989.[1]

A lustrous example was sold in London in January 2021 for £471,200 ($643,597 U.S.) including the 24 percent buyer’s commission, setting a new record price for a Cromwellian coin.[2]

The obverse of the coin depicts Oliver Cromwell as a Roman Emperor, with the inscription OLIVAR D G R P ANG SCO HIB &c PROOliver, by the grace of God, of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, Ireland, etc. Protector. The reverse depicts a crowned shield bearing the Commonwealth arms, with the inscription PAX QVÆRITUR BELLOPeace is sought through war, and the date 1656, while there is also an edge inscription PROTECTOR LITERIS LITERÆ NVMMIS CORONA ET SALVSA protector of the letters, the letters are a garland and a safeguard to the coinage.

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