A CENTRE PIECE Nicholas Briot Milled Silver 6 Pence of King Charles 1st. No multitudes of deep adjustment marks on this coin. Best seen from that standpoint and very high grade. Briot fled to England in 1625, pursued by creditors, and offered his services and machinery to Charles 1st of England. He met with more success than in France, and in 1626 he was commissioned to make puncheons and dies for’certain pieces of largesse of gold and silver in memory of his Majesty’s coronation’, producing his successful Coronation Medal, the first of the sequence of medals for Charles I, in that year. This established his reputation, when he was given’power and authority to frame and engrave the first designs and effigies of the king’s image… To serve in coins of gold and silver’. He went on to produce a considerable number of dies and moulds for medals and coins in the following years. In 1633, he was sent to Scotland to prepare and coin the coronation pieces of Charles I, as well as the Scottish Coronation Medal (1633). His Coronation medals and the’Dominion of the Seas’ medal (1630) demonstrated his artistic skill and the technical superiority of the new coining machinery. On the death of Sir John Foulis, Master of the Mint in Scotland, Briot was appointed to the office in 1635, and superintended the Scottish coinage for several years. Briot was recalled to England by the king and was appointed chief engraver to the Royal Mint in 1633. On the outbreak of the English Civil War he followed Charles I to York and Oxford;’he took possession of the punches, roller instruments, and coining apparatus at the Tower, by order of his Majesty, and had them removed, trussed up in saddles, at the hazard of his life, for the purpose of continuing the coining operations in the cause of the King’. He travelled to France in 1641 and 1645, sending presses to his brother Isaac, now in a senior position at the Paris Mint. He died on Christmas Eve 1646. His dies for coins and medals have been called “gems of medallic art”. Please note that these are original photos I have taken with my iPhone Pro Max. They have not been copied from any other listing. The item “CENTREPIECE King Charles 1st Briot Milled 6 Pence Anchor Mintmark” is in sale since Monday, March 8, 2021. This item is in the category “Coins\Coins\British\Hammered (Pre-c.1662)\Stuart & Commonwealth Coins”. The seller is “mme.chanel” and is located in Corby. This item can be shipped worldwide.
- Period: Stuart & Commonwealth
- Country of Origin: Great Britain
- Country/Region of Manufacture: United Kingdom
- Denomination: Sixpence
- Metal: Silver
- Era: Charles I (1625-1649)