Description

Charles I. 1625-1649. Silver Medal 1643, 5.38 g. Peace or War. By T. Rawlins. Bust, laureate, armoured and draped. CAROLVS . D:G . ANG . SCOT . FR . ET . HIB . REX. Rv. Sword and olive-branch, crossed, between the letters CR crowned. IN . VTRVMQVE . PARATVS . In exergue: 1643. Plain edge. 28.6 mm. Eimer 142. MI i 308/134. Vorzüglich / Extremely Fine. Kleiner Schrötlingsfehler am Rand / Tiny flan defect on edge.

Purchased from Spink Numismatic Circular, London, May 1996, lot 3092.

The First English Civil War took place in England and Wales from 1642 to 1646, and forms part of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. An estimated 15 to 20 percent of adult males in England and Wales served in the military at some point between 1639 and 1653, while around 4 percent of the total population died from war-related causes. These figures illustrate the widespread impact of the conflict on society, and the bitterness it engendered as a result.

This medal commemorates the Treaty of Oxford of 1643 which was an unsuccessful attempt by the Long Parliament and King Charles I to negotiate a peace treaty.