1663 Half-Crown – Charles II First Bust

Charles II was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland. He was king of Scotland from 1649 until his deposition in 1651, and king of England, Scotland and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death.

The reign of Charles II is an interesting period for coin collectors. Charles issued many coins. When his father, King Charles I was executed, Charles II was forced into exile and Civil War raged in England. The first coins were those of Charles I, issued in the name of Charles II, minted around the country to pay armies. After the Reformation of the Monarchy, Charles II issued his own coins and from 1670 hammered coins were gradually replaced with milled coins.

The regnal years used on Charles II coins were:
1668:VICESIMO; 1669:VICESIMO PRIMO; 1670:VICESIMO SECVNDO; 1671:VICESIMO TERTIO; 1672:VICESIMO QVARTO; 1673:VICESIMO QVINTO; 1674:VICESIMO SEXTO; 1675:VICESIMO SEPTIMO; 1676:VICESIMO OCTAVO; 1677:VICESIMO NONO; 1678:TRICESIMO; 1679:TRICESIMO PRIMO; 1680:TRICESIMO SECVNDO; 1681:TRICESIMO TERTIO; 1682:TRICESIMO QVARTO; 1683:TRICESIMO QVINTO; 1684:TRICESIMO SEXTO.

Charles II coins usually use the latin spelling: Carolus II.
The half crown was a British coin which was valued at "2/6" (two shilling and sixpence) – 12½ pence in modern currency. It was literally half the value of the Crown.

Half crowns were first issued around 1549 in gold or silver. It was then issued by the majority of Monarchs (plus Oliver Cromwell) all the way through to Elizabeth II. The last standard mintage was in 1967 and the coin was officially demonetised in 1970, one year before full decimalisation. A proof half crown was released in 1970.

The halfcrown was a large coin, from 1816 to it’s final minting having a diameter of 32mm and weight of 14.1g. In pre-decimalised Britain when the Crown was essentially a commemorative coin, the half crown was the largest denomination coin in circulation and had considerable spending power.

Before 1920, half crowns were actual sterling (92.5%) silver. This was reduced to 50% silver and in 1947 no silver at all was used and cupro-nickel became standard.

Half crowns are beautiful coins to collect and due to their long history they are very popular. As pre-1920 coins are 92.5% silver even worn copies will have the intrinsic price of the metal but they are still very affordable to most people.The Royal Mint is the designated place for the UK to mint coins. It dates back well over 1000 years and is a Government-owned company. 

Formed in the reign of Alfred the Great about the year 886, during the period 1279-1812 it was generally referred to as The Tower Mint as it was housed at the Tower of London. The Master of The Royal Mint has included famous figures such as Sir Isaac Newton.

Since 2010 it has operated as Royal Mint Ltd, a company owned by HM Treasury, under an exclusive contract to supply all coinage for the UK although it also produces medals and coins for other countries. It is currently located at Llantrisant, Wales.
The United Kingdom (UK) is the Union of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is often refered to as Great Britain (GBR). It has a long, rich history.

The orignal coinage was Pounds, Shillings and Pence but since decimalisation on 15 February 1971, it is £1 = 100p, that is One Pound = 100 pence. The coinage of the UK is also a long history, the Royal Mint being established as long ago as 886AD when coins were hammered. Today there is perhaps 30 billion coins in circulation, and many (numismatic) collectors coins and sets are issued frequently in gold, silver and other metals.