Ryal: Elizabeth I in Ship (obverse); Rose over Radiate Sun (reverse)
Details
- Author / creator
- England, Elizabeth I, 1558-1603
- Object type
- Coin or medal
- Date or period
- 1583–84/85
- Dimensions summary
- Diameter: 3.4 cm
- Place of origin
- England
- Acquisition method
- Donation
- Credit line
- Gift of Sir Frederick Ashcombe, 1969
- Denomination
- Ryal
- Issuer / ruler
- Elizabeth I
- Mint
- London (Tower Mint)
- Metal
- Gold
- Weight (g)
- 7.67
- Diameter (mm)
- 34
- Image rights
- Public domain (CC0)
About this object
An excellent specimen of a very rare coin, the figure of the queen is full of minute detail. Elizabeth I is shown sailing on a ship; she holds an orb and scepter. A rose appears on the hull of the ship and an E on the banner located on the bow. Produced at the climax of her reign, the design was chosen to demonstrate England's superior naval power and colonization of what would become the United States of America.
Materials and technique
Gold
Signature and marks
Obverse: ELI ZAB; D; G; ANG; FR; ET. H IB REGINA (“Elizabeth by the Grace of God Queen of England, France and Ireland.”); Luke IV. 30, reverse: IHS; AVT; TRANSIENS. PER. MEDIV; ILLORVM. IBAT (“'as Jesus passed invisible and in most secret manner by the middest of the Pharisees, so gold was made by invisible and secret art amidst the ignorant'”)
Obverse
Elizabeth I in Ship
Reverse
Rose over Radiate Sun
