Discover the Coins & history of the Royal Mint at the Tower of London

Self-guided school visits Key stages 2 & 3 A teacher’s guide to visiting Coins & Kings at Contents the Tower of London

Exhibition themes, Your visit to objects and stories Coins & Kings Edward I: The Discover the story establishes the Mint of the Mint at the at the Tower ...... 7 Tower of London ...... 3 Background: : 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 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 re- sources are available at hrp.org.uk/towerlearning and tes.co.uk • Lost? Ask a Yeoman Warder for Mint Street! 4 Ideas and activities for teaching George III guinea 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/towerlearning 5 Pre-visit activities Back in the classroom... Key Stage 3 History

Give pupils a grounding in the history of the Build on your visit to the Mint exhibition and Edward I’s Mint with these introductory resources. extend your pupils’ learning with these in- coinage crisis depth, follow-up activities. Minted! Making the nation’s Unit 2 coins at the Tower of London Key Stage 2 Pupils help the King bring England’s Key Stage 2 Stories from Mint Street currency problems PowerPoint activities under control. English and tasks to help These short creative pupils develop their writing tasks help Elizabeth I and the understanding of the pupils use the Mint’s Great Debasement Mint and its history at settings, people and the Tower of London. Unit 5 history as inspiration Pupils advise the for writing their own Queen as she tackles stories. Monarchs and the Mint: Making the the country’s coinage crisis. nation’s coins at the Tower Faking it: Help Mint Warden Isaac Newton take on the counterfeiters Key Stage 3 Kings on Coins: Images Help your pupils Art & Design from the Mint at the consider why Pupils train to Tower of London monarchs issued become spies for the Unit 7 coins and how the famous Mint Warden Mint operated at the Pupils consider how by developing the monarchs from Henry Tower for over 500 skills and knowledge years. VIII to William III have of coin design. been depicted. Activities during your visit What was life like for people at the More than money? Questions and investigations can give pupils Mint in Tudor times? Unit 8 focus as they make their way through the History How far were coins exhibition. Pupils examine used as propaganda in the aftermath of See pages 7-9 for Mint Missions primary sources to see what they can England’s civil wars? reveal about the lives Download all activities at of people at the Mint hrp.org.uk/towerlearning in Tudor times. 6 Coins & Kings Edward I The King establishes the Mint at the Tower By 1279, Edward I had moved Themes, the Mint to the Tower of London. The location in his newly re-built fortress provided security for stories the large amounts of silver used at the Mint. It also enabled him to benefit from the profits of and 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 monarch returns England’s currency to the Mint Elizabeth I 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. Assaying counterfeit than hammered ones, Look at this... was an important, specialist Look at this... as the crisp machined edges and Engraver Thomas Compare Henry task required to understand beautiful engravings deterred Simon’s royal job VIII’s debased and measure the precious metal unskilled criminals. plea, written on the content in coins. This involved coins with edge of a coin. Elizabeth I’s. nitric acid and, like other jobs at However, there was also a the Mint, could be dangerous and political motive behind the cause illness or even death. production of coins at the Mint Mint Missions under Charles II. They were a Restoring England’s coinage Mint Missions reaction to the Commonwealth, Why do you think didn’t solve all Elizabeth’s and to Oliver Cromwell’s coins Charles II overlooked the economic troubles, but the What were the different jobs at and manner of rule. talented Thomas Simon queen was widely applauded the Mint? Which do you think as his engraver? by her contemporaries for was the most interesting / The inscriptions and portraiture her efforts to stabilise the dangerous / rewarding? on Charles’s coins emphasised Find at least two reasons currency. him as a restored king. machine-made coins Find out why Henry VIII was were more difficult known as ‘Old Coppernose’. to counterfeit than 8 hammered coins. William III George III Isaac Newton fights Britain teeters on the crimes against coinage brink of financial ruin When the famous scientist Isaac On Sunday 26 March 1797, Britain Newton became Warden of the was at the height of financial Mint in 1696 he inherited a hive crisis: the Bank of England had of activity. suspended payments in gold and would only issue banknotes. William III’s government had ordered the ‘Great Recoinage’. Its The situation sparked aim was to combat the problem One particularly roguish widespread outrage and financial of clipped and counterfeit silver. character was a talented panic. To avert catastrophe Prime The country’s old, worn coins engraver and counterfeiter called Minister William Pitt the Younger Try this... were still being used, leaving William Chaloner, with whom needed to act swiftly. Within Feel the weight of a bag of unscrupulous counterfeiters to Newton became embroiled. days the Bank of England’s guineas, like one mint worker take advantage and profit from store of Spanish Dollars had and thief James Turnbull would making fake coins. Try this... been delivered to the Mint to have stolen in his successful raid. Listen to scripted audio based on be quickly countermarked as Newton led the charge against English coins. The Mint worked accounts of the life of notorious Look at this... the clippers and counterfeiters, furiously day and night. In just coin forger William Chaloner. Guinea bringing personal integrity to his 17 days more than 1 million coins scales, for role as Warden. He investigated were countermarked, an average Look at this... checking the and accused several high-level of over 60,000 a day. criminals who were subsequently William III weight of halfcrowns — gold coins to tried and convicted of High The crisis of 1797 returned the ensure they Treason, which carried a death real and fake. Mint to the limelight, renewing were not sentence. talks about moving it to a new forgeries. purpose-built factory which could cope with the heavy Mint Missions demands of modern minting. In 1810, the Mint Do you think the punishment Mint Missions relocated to nearby for forging coins was fair? Tower Hill, leaving what How did the Mint help solve had been its home for the financial crisis in 1797? Look at the fake coins. How nearly six centuries. can you tell the real ones What makes a coin British? from the forgeries? 9 Try this... Help your pupils imagine the scene at the Tower:

It is October 1360 and the long-awaited first instalment of Jean le Bon’s ransom has arrived from Calais where Edward III collected it from the French King’s government.

The ransom arrives During the Hundred at the wharf by ship, A king’s Years’ War between and is brought in via and England, the Byward Postern Edward III’s forces in chests full of ransom captured the French French gold coins. king at the Battle of The street scene Poitiers in 1356. Mint officials count outside Coins out the 400,000 For more learning resources and & Kings was Imprisoned at the gold coins worth educational programmes: inspired by the Tower of London, £100,000. Such a French king Jean le Bon (John sum would be the Historic Royal Palaces II) was held for an John le Bon’s equivalent of £56 www.hrp.org.uk/learning enormous ransom by imprisonment at million today. The the English. coins would have the Tower during Royal Mint Museum weighed about 188 www.royalmintmuseum.org.uk the reign of Just outside the tonnes. Edward III Coins & Kings © Historic Royal Palaces and the Royal Mint Museum exhibition on Mint (1327-77) The expected full Coin and object images © The Royal Mint Museum Street is a medieval ransom was 3 million street scene, with Queen Elizabeth I, unknown artist; King Edward I coins (£500,000), or (‘Longshanks’) by Louis Philippe Boitard; King Charles a cart and table for £281 million today, II, unknown artist; King William III, after Sir Peter Lely; counting coins. but only the first Sir Isaac Newton by Sir Godfrey Kneller, BT © National Portrait Gallery, London installment was ever paid... Illustrations by Tim Archbold

Exhibition curator Megan Gooch Background notes The history of the Mint offers durability than for their valued content. an engaging way to explore the However, for centuries, coins were made from precious metals such as gold, silver or copper concepts of currency, value and alloy. Consequently, a coin’s size was the main exchange. indicator of its monetary value. Larger coins (in either thickness or diameter) were worth An introduction Today, we take for granted that money is more because they contained more gold or exchanged in the form of banknotes, coins and, silver. Coin users would have been familiar to the value of increasingly, electronic payments. However, with the various sizes in circulation and would history has shown that money can come in a have recognised a shilling or sixpence, for coins number of guises. Different cultures in the past example, by sight rather than by reading the have used various items as units of exchange: denominations. for example, cows, goats, peppercorns and grain have all been used as money. Cowrie The range of coin sizes, weights and values shells, valued for their beauty and rarity, were were fixed by an official mint, which was one of the most widely and longest used where the quality of the country’s coinage was currencies in history having been used in Africa, controlled in the name of the monarch. The China and India. Money can be any object that involvement of royal authority in coin-making is generally accepted as payment for goods and was crucial, as it made a coin something more services and for the repayment of debts. than simply a piece of silver or gold bullion. Describing coins Coins were minted (and still are) with portraits (useful defining features) Coins were the principal form of money of British kings or queens as a symbol of the throughout Britain and Europe for centuries. monarch’s authority, and as a sign that the coins • A coin is an object with two Durability and portability meant coins usefully were ‘legal tender’. Tampering with coinage, sides. performed the common functions of money therefore, became a state matter and could • Coins are small and easy to required in a market-based economy. People carry severe penalties. Backed by the monarch’s carry. realised that, compared to other assets, coins authority, such measures and controls helped • UK coins have the monarch’s were easy to save and allowed them to store establish public trust and confidence in the portrait on one side. wealth. Coins were also a convenient medium country’s coins, an essential ingredient in a • Most coins have inscriptions as of exchange and became the expected way functioning economy. It is also why the mint is well as designs. to pay for goods. Further, they were useful as known today as the Royal Mint. • Coins often depict symbols a measure of value. People could use them to that say something about the make value comparisons between different monarch or the country. goods, such as cattle and grain. • Coins are used by everyone to buy everyday things. Importantly, coins were valued because they were made from a sought-after commodity: precious metal. Today, coins are made of For a short introduction to coins, see: hardwearing metals, chosen more for their Andrew Burnett, Interpreting the Past: Coins, Coins & Kings British Museum, 1991. Schools resources • Bullion (in precious metal or coins) arrives at the Mint • An assay sample of metal is How coins taken to test purity of the bullion were made at Hammering • Metal is melted, alloyed and cast into ingots the Tower of • Ingots are rolled or flattened into sheets London • Blanks are cut For centuries, coins were • Edges of the blanks are made by manually hammering smoothed • Coins are struck with a a coin blank between two dies. hammer • Coins are blanched (cleaned Producing coins in bulk made Edward I groat, 1279 using a mild acid wash) it possible for the Mint to • Coins are checked for generate a profit (which went fineness, size, striking quality to the monarch). The difference • Coins are tallied and given to between the face value of a client or buyer coin and its production cost was called ‘seigniorage’.

• Bullion arrives at the Mint Charles II In the 1660s, under Charles II, • Metal is melted down Petition Crown, Milling 1663 the Mint adopted new methods • An assay sample is taken already in use on the Continent. • Ingots are cast in sand moulds Hand-operated screw presses • Metal is rolled flat using horse could make beautiful coins very power quickly. • Blanks are cut • Edges of coin are decorated The machine-struck coins were using new technology intended to foil counterfeiters. Mint thicker and more regular than employees swear an oath of the old hammered ones, which secrecy not to reveal details of helped combat counterfeiters the invention and clippers, alongside other • Blanks are weighed and tested innovations such as specialist • Coins are struck with screw edge marking. press • Blanks are blanched, cleaned and dried with sawdust Coins & Kings • Coins are counted, scrutinised Schools resources and weighed Coins & Kings How to read old coins Schools resources Inscription Date or Heads (or obverse) is ‘King of Great Symbols Britain, France mintmark the traditional place Shields, regal and Ireland’, Dates were not to find information animals (thus written in Latin. written on coins ‘tails’) or other The monarch’s until the Tudor about the monarch symbols often title is a display period. Previously featured. Lions of authority. The coins used who issued a were symbols reverse of older mintmarks, little of English coins (dating back symbols which coin, including royalty; ships to the Tudors) identified who the portrait and signified military typically held a made a coin and prowess; crowns religious Latin when. The marks titles. represented motto such as ‘I were important kingship and have made God so that makers of crosses signified my helper’. faulty coins could religious be brought to devotion. account.

William III sixpence 1696

Legend The monarch’s Regnal Latin name Portrait number appears on all All medieval The regnal number British coins (save kings had the of monarchs Tails (reverse) for some early same portrait. only appears medieval coins). The image wasn’t from Henry VIII reveals details about This was very naturalistic, but onwards. important as it a symbol of royal where or when a indicates under power. By the coin was made and whose authority Renaissance, a coin was made. monarchs were more information The inscription represented by reads ‘William III more naturalistic about the titles and by the Grace of portraits. God’. beliefs of the monarch.