Oliver Cromwell Lord Protector

From 1656 to 1658 a few coins (eight different denominations) were issued bearing Oliver Cromwell's portrait. Most of the crowns have a very noticeable die flaw running horizontally across the lower part of the obverse and this is evident with the coin in the museum's collection. Another interesting feature is the overdate - that is the date on the die has been altered by overpunching, in this case the final 8 over a 7. The die was engraved by the medallist Thomas Simon, chief engraver at the Mint from 1649-60, who prepared two versions for the gold and silver issues. Very few of these coins were made and Samuel Pepys mentions in his diary how collectable they had become. Thomas Simon (1618-1665) was born in London, and was apprenticed to Edward Green, the chief engraver at the Royal Mint in September 1635. During this time he was heavily influenced by Nicholas Briot - particularly in relation to the style of his work and his skills in developing new machinery to strike coins and medals. In 1645, Parliament appoint Simon and his fellow worker, Edward Wade as Engravers. Simon became Chief Engraver in 1649 and was engaged in making dies and seals for the Commonwealth, working closely with Pierre Blondeau (d. 1672), a French moneyer and engineer. See Alan, J. Nathanson, Alan Thomas Simon His Life and Work, Seaby Publications, London, 1975.