View source for Triple Unite (English coin)

{{Short description|English gold coin produced between 1642 and 1644}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:trip unite.jpg|thumb|right|400px|1644 Triple Unite of Charleis I.]] -->
{{Css Image Crop|Image = England (Great Britain) 1644 Triple Unite of Charles I.jpg|bSize = 400|cWidth = 200|cHeight = 200|oTop = 0|oLeft = 0|Location = right|Description = {{center|1644 Triple Unite (obverse)}}}}
{{Css Image Crop|Image = England (Great Britain) 1644 Triple Unite of Charles I.jpg|bSize = 400|cWidth = 200|cHeight = 200|oTop = 0|oLeft = 197|Location = right|Description = {{center|1644 Triple Unite (reverse)}}}}
The '''Triple [[Unite (English coin)|Unite]]''', valued at sixty [[English shilling|shillings]], or three [[pounds sterling]], was the highest [[England|English]] denomination to be produced in the era of the [[hammered coinage]]. It was only produced during the [[English Civil War]], at King [[Charles I of England|Charles I]]'s mints at [[Oxford]] (between 1642 and 1644) and, rarely, at [[Shrewsbury]] in 1642. It weighed 421 grains (27.3 grams, or just over {{frac|7|8}} [[Troy weight|troy ounce]]).

The gold coins show the king holding a sword and an olive branch on the obverse, signifying his wish for peace rather than war.

The extremely rare Shrewsbury-produced coin shows, on the obverse, a plume behind the kings' head surrounded by the legend <small>CAROLUS DG MAG BRIT FRAN ET HIBER REX</small> &ndash; ''Charles [[by the grace of God]], of Great Britain, France and Ireland King''. The reverse shows the legend <small>RELIG PROT LEG ANG LIBER PAR</small> in three lines &ndash; ''The Protestant religion, the laws of England, the liberty of Parliament'', with three plumes and the value numeral {{roman numeral|III}} above the declaration and the year 1642 below it, the whole being surrounded by the legend <small>EXURGAT DEUS DISSIPENTUR INIMICI</small> ("Let God arise and His enemies be scattered", from [[Psalm 68]]).

The Oxford issues are very similar to the Shrewsbury one, except that the legend on the reverse appears in three lines rather than two, and the obverse legend appears as <small>CAROLVS D G MAG BRI FRA ET HIBER REX</small>. Oxford coins appear with slight design differences in each year of 1642, 1643, and 1644.

==References==
*{{cite book|first=Herbert|last=Grueber|title=Handbook of the Coins of Great Britain and Ireland in the British Museum|place=London|year=1899|page=xli|url=https://archive.org/details/handbookofcoinso00brituoft/handbookofcoinso00brituoft/page/xl/mode/2up}} (reprint 1970 {{ISBN|1-4021-1090-1}})

==External links==
{{Portal|Money}}
{{commons|Guinea coins}}
* [http://www.londoncoins.co.uk/?page=Pastresults&searchterm=!Triple+Unite&category=7&searchtype=1 Triple Unite Sales Archive] &ndash; A gallery of Triple Unite pictures, varieties and values.

{{Coins of England}}

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[[Category:Coins of England]]
[[Category:English gold coins]]
[[Category:English Civil War]]
[[Category:1642 in England]]
[[Category:1640s introductions]]
[[Category:1642 beginnings]]