Half Guinea: Anne (obverse); Shields and Rose (reverse)
Unknown Artist
1703
Medium
gold
Dimensions
diam. 2.1 cm
Classification
Coins
Department
Medieval Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
The Norweb Collection
Accession Number
1969.205
About this artwork
The coinage of Anne's reign remained fairly constant after the inaugural design in 1662. Before the Act of Union with Scotland (1706), the arms of England and Scotland remained separate, as shown. After the act the two arms were conjoined on one shield. The word Vigo indicates the coins were struck from gold captured from the Spanish at the Battle of Vigo Bay (1702). Although silver coins bearing the Vigo inscription are less rare, the three gold denominations bearing the symbol are all extremel...