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Discover the History of the Royal Mint at the Tower of London

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Discover the History of the Royal Mint at the Tower of London Discover the Coins & history of the Royal Mint at the Kings Tower of London Self-guided school visits Key stages 2 & 3 1 Contents Exhibition themes, Your visit to objects and stories Coins & Kings Edward I: The king Discover the story establishes the Mint of the Mint at the at the Tower ....................... 7 Tower of London ............. 3 Background: Elizabeth I: The queen School visits to restores England’s Coins and mints the exhibition ................... 4 currency .............................. 8 An introduction to Learning activities the value of coins ........... 11 Charles II: The and curriculum links ...... 5 Monarchy returns to How coins were the Mint ............................... 8 made at the Tower of London ............ 12 William III: Mint Warden Issac Newton How to read fights crimes old coins ............................ 13 against coinage ................ 9 Cromwell Crown, 1658 George III: Britain teeters on the brink Sovereign, of financial ruin ................. 9 Elizabeth I Coins & Kings Schools resources 2 Exhibition Your visit to highlights There’s plenty to do on a Coins & Kings visit to Coins & Kings. • Discover fascinating accounts of the Mint’s history-makers, including its famous Warden Issac Newton and his arch- nemesis, counterfeiter William Chaloner • See rare and wonderful coins dating back to 1279 • Try your hand at the screw press and test the amount of precious metal in the Discover the story monarch’s coins of the Mint at the • Play Mint Master — a free smart phone download — and see if you can manage Tower of London the Mint at the Tower Built nearly 1,000 years ago, the the Tower also housed the Royal Coins & Kings helps Coins & Kings is a Tower of London is probably Mint for over 500 years. At visitors of all ages explore this permanent exhibition best known as a fortress and its height, the Mint produced untold history of the Mint at produced in partnership prison, and for the occasional coinage for the whole of Britain. the Tower of London. Enjoy between Historic Royal execution. exciting tales of forgery and Over the centuries, economic financial crisis, grim conditions Palaces and the Royal Mint Its secure walls made it an ideal crises ensured the Mint at the and technological change, Museum. stronghold, serving monarchs as Tower played a crucial and and discover the institution a military storehouse, a records colourful role in the lives of responsible for maintaining the office and even as a menagerie monarchs, moneyers and the people’s trust in the country’s for exotic animals. Significantly, people of England and Britain. coins. 3 Coins & Kings is on Directions Accessibility Visiting the Mint Street, based Enter through the The exhibition is based in surviving Mint groups entrance (Middle on the ground floor and exhibition with buildings in the Drawbridge) on the has ramp access.There Wharf next to the river. is an induction loop Tower’s outer Turn left and continue available and large print school groups curtain wall down Water Lane (39). and braille booklets of the exhibition text are Turn right into Mint Street (26). available from warders. Visiting with large groups The Coins & Kings route consists of five spaces, each able to accommodate 4-5 visitors at a time. Its small size will not suit teaching within the rooms and large school groups should be prepared to divide into smaller groupings to view the exhibition comfortably. School visit tips • The exhibition space is small. Large groups will need to divide up. • Pre-visit classroom resources are available at hrp.org.uk/coins and tes.co.uk • Lost? Ask a Yeoman Warder for Mint Street! 4 Ideas and activities for teaching Guinea, George III Learning and learning — before, during and activities and after your visit curriculum links Learning objectives Curriculum links Visiting the place where history really The Coins & Kings exhibition features a happened will help pupils develop their wealth of personalities, stories and objects imagination for what life might have been to inspire creative writing, historical like in the past, an essential skill for learning enquiries, numeracy activities and art & history. design projects. Coins & Kings illuminates five eras in the You may also draw on pre-visit and history of the Mint when coin crises served post-visit activities developed using the to highlight the institution’s importance for exhibition’s themes to support: the monarch and for the nation. Key Stage 2 Pupils will learn that the Tower of London • English was once home to the Mint and discover • Art & Design how coins were made — both by hand and • History by the earliest screw presses. Key Stage 3 History Children will also develop an understanding Unit 2 How did medieval monarchs keep of the importance of the Mint as a form of control? monarchic control. Unit 5 Elizabeth I: how successfully did she tackle the problems of her reign? Unit 7 Images of an age: what can we learn KS2 History: Discover the story of from portraits 1500-1750? William Foxley, the potter who fell asleep for 14 days and 15 nights Unit 8 The civil wars: was England ‘turned upside down’ in the seventeenth century? All Coins & Kings teaching resources are available at hrp.org.uk/coins 5 Pre-visit activities Back in the classroom... Key Stage 3 History Before you visit, give your pupils a Build on your visit to the Mint exhibition and Edward I’s grounding in the history of the Mint at the extend your pupils’ learning with these in- coinage crisis Tower. depth, follow-up activities. Unit 2 Minted! Making the nation’s Key Stage 2 Pupils help the king coins at the Tower of London bring England’s Stories from Mint Street currency problems Key Stage 2/3 under control. This PowerPoint English resource helps you A series of short tell the story of the creative writing tasks Elizabeth I and the Mint at the Tower so to help pupils use Great Debasement your pupils have a the Mint’s settings, Unit 5 good understanding people and history as Pupils advise the before they arrive. inspiration for writing queen as she tackles their own stories. the country’s coinage crisis Faking it: Help Mint Warden Isaac Activities during your visit Newton take on the counterfeiters Kings on Coins: How Questions and investigations can give pupils Art & Design did monarchs wish to focus as they make their way through the Pupils train to be seen? exhibition. become spies for the Unit 7 famous Mint Warden Pupils consider how See pages 7-9 for Mint Missions by developing the monarchs from Henry skills and knowledge VIII to George III have of counterfeiters. been depicted. The Mint and the Download all activities at Help Wanted! Working life at the Mint in Tudor times Restoration hrp.org.uk/coins Unit 8 History The monarch’s back. All Coins & Kings teaching re- Pupils examine What does it mean for sources are freely available to primary sources as the people and work of they consider what download from our website and the Mint? working life might tes.co.uk have been like at the Mint in Tudor times. 6 Coins & Kings Edward I The king establishes the Mint at the Tower By 1279, Edward I had centralised Themes, the London Mint by moving it to the Tower. The location in his newly re-built fortress provided stories security for the large amounts of silver used at the Mint. It also enabled him to benefit from the and profits of minting. At the same time, Edward had inherited a coinage in crisis. Coins were made by hand – by Try this... objects hammer and dies – and clipping Feel the weight and resistance was a problem on the thin, worn of replica shears, the type used coins in circulation. The devalued for making and clipping coins in coins led to inflation and low medieval England. foreign confidence in English currency. Look at this... Woodcut-inspired Edward responded decisively. He illustrations show the ordered the Mint to make new medieval minting coins. The coins would represent process from royal authority by being start to finish. produced at the king’s Mint and A preview of the by featuring his likeness. To justify a recoinage Mint Missions exhibition with Edward I needed scapegoats. He blamed Why might Edward have suggestions for and punished Mint moved the Mint to the Tower officials, goldsmiths and, of London? learning in particular, England’s Jewish community, for Find out why Edward made the poor state of coinage. life so difficult for the Jewish 7 population. Elizabeth I Charles II The queen restores The Monarchy returns England’s currency to the Mint Elizabeth inherited a troubled The 1660s was an exciting time kingdom and economy. at the Mint: Charles II had been Her father, Henry VIII, had restored to the throne and a new disastrously debased England’s era was beginning, heralded by currency by replacing silver in the impressive portrait on his the coins with cheaper metals. coins. The Great Debasement led to New technology was introduced, widespread inflation. It also Try this... as machines became the primary Try this... earned Henry the nickname ‘Old Learn about one of the Mint’s means of production from 1663. Test your coin-striking rhythm in Coppernose’ for the copper alloy most important processes - the screw press interactive. Feed that eventually revealed itself assaying - in an interactive game Screw presses allowed the Mint blanks between the dies — then through worn coins. that challenges you to measure to produce uniform, beautiful remove the finished coin (and try the precious metal content of coins very quickly. not to lose your fingers!) Elizabeth ordered a recoinage coins. which created large amounts The new coins were harder to of work at the Mint.
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