Siege piece

A silver shilling ‘siege piece’ from Pontefract. The octagonal flan is struck on the obverse with a crowned ‘CR’ [for Charles II] and the legend: ‘DVM. SPRIO.SPERO’ (meaning ‘Whilst I live, I hope’). The reverse bears the legend: 'PRO FILIO POST MORTEM PATRIS' (meaning ‘For the son after the father's death’). Also on the reverse is a castle surmounted by the letters ‘P.C’ [for Pontefract castle], the letters ‘OBS’ (for ‘obsessum’, meaning 'besieged') to the left, and a ‘0’ on the right. This piece was obviously issued after the death of Charles I (30 January, 1649) and during the last siege of Pontefract castle. Royalist commanders sometimes paid their garrisons in makeshift coins, made from silver plate. Little attempt was made to shape the pieces though each had to weigh roughly the same as the official coin and was stamped with the value and the name of the fortress.