(and queens)

Imageson coins from the Mint at the Tower of London

This activity… Suggestions for use Supports: Before mass media, monarchs had KS3 History, Unit 7 fewer ways to reach large audiences. Images of an age: what Coins provided a durable medium, and can we learn from portraits one that promised to pass through 1500-1750? many hands. This activity asks pupils to Helps pupils to: investigate coins as historical sources and think about how monarchs wished Key Stage 3 Develop an understanding to be seen. History of propaganda and how monarchs were careful to Unit 7 control their images. Use this activity to: This activity is designed to follow a Analyse and ask questions Ask pupils in pairs or groups to examine visit to the of historical sources. different coins and consider an initial Coins & Kings investigation such as ‘What can we learn exhibition or Develop speaking and the KS3 lesson: about this ?’ before advancing listening skills. Monarchs and to the higher level question ‘How did the Mint Reinforce and develop monarchs wish to be seen?’ their knowledge of monarchs 1500-1750. Model close observation of an image and encourage pupils to annotate coins with Requires: observations, facts and questions. PowerPoint projector or interactive whiteboard. Practice evaluating historical sources to understand their obvious message, but Printing pupil worksheets also to read deeper and make inferences. and relevant slides, ideally in colour. Encourage groups to report on their chosen monarch’s coin. Brainstorm as a class to consider what pupils already know about each monarch.

Coins & Kings Schools resources After an initial investigation, provide pupils with more information about Useful web links symbolism and the hidden messages on Tower of London school visits: coins. Ask them to consider: ‘How did A teacher’s guide monarchs wish to be seen?’ History at the Tower

Encourage pupils to reflect on their Royal Mint Museum education & learning evidence and to group questions and facts, eg, those to do with clothes, symbols of kingship etc. What is most useful for answering each investigation Go further with the Mint... question? Monarchs and the Mint: Making the nation’s coins at the Tower Reflect on what pupils learnt about each Introduction resource monarch from looking at the coins. This PowerPoint resource helps you Explore and discuss how monarchs have tell the story of the appeared on coins. Ask why they have Mint at the Tower so been represented in these ways. Explore your pupils have a the impression these images give. good understanding before they arrive. Introduce the concept of propaganda and discuss whether pupils think monarchs used coins in this way. Do they More Key Stage 3 case studies: think monarchs considered it important Edward I’s the way they were portrayed? If the coinage crisis concept is introduced at the end of the activity, this could include a final written Unit 2 task where each pupil answers ‘How did Pupils help the monarchs wish to be seen?’ based on bring England’s their gathered evidence. currency problems under control.

Power See slide notes for and the Point background on Great Debasement notes each monarch’s Unit 5 coin and its Pupils advise the symbolism. Queen as she tackles the country’s coinage Extension ideas crisis.

Use this activity to introduce and explore More than money? the nature of historical sources and how Unit 8 they need to be treated skeptically. How far were coins used as propaganda Examine the Commonwealth Unite in the aftermath of (included with PowerPoint resource) as England’s civil wars? a class. Discuss why there is no monarch on the coin. London Gallery, Portrait © National artist King Charles II, unknown artist; Queen Elizabeth I, unknown Philippe Boitard; Louis I by King Edward Find all resources at hrp.org.uk/towerlearning

Coins & Kings © Historic Royal Palaces and the Royal Mint Museum Schools resources Coin design and propaganda stamped with words, images and (usefully) Background notes Coins were more than just money. The fact they dates. Coins are also durable and plentiful. were valuable, durable and passed through many hands meant they were also an ideal way • Large numbers of coins have survived of spreading a political message, particularly in because their value meant they were often Monarchs, the days before newspapers or mass media. stored securely or hidden away. Designs on coins served a dual purpose. The • Coins are one of the most easily datable coins and monetary purpose of the monarch’s images and archaeological artefacts, in part because of inscriptions aimed to encourage confidence their inscriptions and the large number that and loyalty in coin users, which kept coins survive. propaganda circulating smoothly. The monarch’s imagery also implied a threat of punishment if the coin • As coinage was officially produced by the was abused. state, coin designs and inscriptions are Notes on coins an important source of information about Coin design also had a political role: the politics, religion and culture from different monarch’s image allowed the state to periods of history. as historical symbolically impose its authority on all the country’s monetary transactions. • Coins help us learn about economies in the sources past, particularly where there is less written The coin designs were also a reflection of the evidence. state itself. Coins were officially produced which meant the choice of design revealed a certain • Coins can supplement study where amount about that regime’s self-expression and documentary evidence doesn’t exist or is its political aspirations or concerns. not fully informative.

Looking at coins produced over a longer time • The invention of newspapers and other period can help highlight continuity and change forms of communication made the in the ways the wished to represent propaganda value of coins less significant. itself. Propaganda • Coins eventually began to play a lesser A type of political communication Coins as primary sources role in the economic activity of modern that tries to tell you what to think. states due to new forms of money, such as banknotes and credit cards. • Coins can give us information about life and culture in different periods of history: for example, they can tell us about the way an important building might have looked, or the For a short introduction to understanding coins as historical sources, see: Andrew Burnett, Interpreting way people dressed. the Past: Coins, British Museum, 1991. Coins & Kings • Unlike other artefacts, coins are often Schools resources Coins & Kings How to read old coins Schools resources Inscription Date or Heads (or obverse) is ‘King of Great Symbols Britain, 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 signified military typically held a made a coin and the portrait 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.