: Wealth & Income

Portrait of King Charles I

On the bitterly cold morning of 30 January 1649, following a long and brutal civil war between Crown and Parliament, King Charles I was beheaded in London and the monarchy was abolished.

Three years earlier, in 1646, Parliament had rid the Church of England of its bishops, and when the House of Lords was also abolished in March 1649, virtually the entire, centuries-old, basis of government in Britain had disappeared, seemingly for good. Little wonder people living at the time called it ‘a world turned upside down.’

In the end this uncertain Commonwealth period was to last only eleven years as the monarchy was restored in 1660, but the highly distinctive coins minted during this short stretch of time are sometimes unearthed by metal detectorists in Wales and reported via the

Coins for the Commonwealth

It is not surprising that the radically new form of government ushered in so bloodily with the end of the monarchy in 1649 should have caused an upheaval in another enduring aspect of national identity – the coinage. Prior to this all coins had been issued in the monarch’s name and contained his or her image. Even during the Civil Wars (1642-48), Parliament – which was in control of London and therefore also of the Tower Mint - had continued to strike coins in the traditional style as long as the outcome of the war was uncertain. But now that Britain was a republic the centuries-old design of coins with the monarch’s head and Latin legend was clearly inappropriate. A new design, emphasising the legitimacy of the new republican regime, was needed.

Why do they look different?

You don’t need to be a coin expert to notice the obvious difference between the new coins and those we are all more familiar with - there is no king’s head! Of course, when the real king’s head was removed from his shoulders, its likeness also had to be removed from the coinage. With the king gone, the House of Commons claimed that it now exercised sovereign power on behalf of the people, and that God had given his approval to this new state of affairs by allowing Parliament to defeat the king in battle. This bold claim was bolstered by the imagery and lettering used on the new coinage.

On the obverse (heads) side, replacing the traditional monarch’s crowned head, there now appeared a shield containing the cross of St George, representing England. This was surrounded by a wreath of laurel and palm, symbolising Parliament’s victory and the peace it claimed it had brought. On the reverse (tails) side were the conjoined shields of England and Ireland, the latter represented by an Irish harp, along with the date of issue and denomination. Scotland, then a separate nation with its own coinage, was not represented, nor was Wales, which was thought of as part of the kingdom of England and so covered by the cross of St George – as is still the case in the modern Union Jack.

There were also changes to the legends, or lettering, appearing around the edge of the coin’s faces. Traditionally these would have been in Latin, giving the name of the monarch and an abbreviated list of their titles (including a claim to France!) as well as a Latin motto, but this was now replaced with ‘THE COMMONWEALTH OF ENGLAND’ on the obverse and ‘GOD WITH US’ on the reverse. These simple statements not only did away with all references to royal power, they also replaced Catholic-sounding Latin with good Protestant English, and in true Puritan style laid claim to God’s favour and support.

Royalist reaction and the ‘Rump Parliament’

A seventeenth-century woodcut showing two men in a tavern, wearing the breeches said to resemble the conjoined shields of the Commonwealth coins. (Source: http://www.godecookery.com/mirth/mirth008.html)

Although Charles had been defeated and the monarchy abolished, there were still many people who had been against his execution and were fierce critics of the new republican regime, led by the so-called ‘Rump Parliament’ until 1653. Even the coins came in for ridicule, the royalists finding ways to attack the government by poking fun at the new designs. The wording of the legends on either side of the coins, for example, led royalists to observe that ‘God’ and ‘the Commonwealth’ were on opposite sides. The appearance of the conjoined shields of England and Ireland also caused amusement as they bore an uncanny resemblance to a pair of breeches, and were referred to in royalist circles as ‘breeches for the rump’, ‘rump’, being not only the name of the parliament but also a common term for someone’s backside.

Interestingly, in 1658 the government made an attempt to return to a more familiar design harking back to the royalist period. This featured the profile of the new head of state, Protector Oliver Cromwell, crowned with a laurel wreath on the obverse, and a coat of arms surmounted by – of all things – a crown on the reverse. Cromwell had earlier been offered the crown, but had refused it, so was it included in the new design in an attempt by the shaky government of the day to present an image of stability using the more familiar symbolism of times gone by? Cromwell died soon after this and the coins were never circulated so are not likely to be found by detectorists.

The Restoration and beyond

The republican experiment ultimately failed and the monarchy was restored under Charles II in 1660. Those who had signed his father’s death warrant, known as the regicides, were rounded up and executed; even the corpse of Oliver Cromwell was exhumed and hung in chains. A similar lack of mercy was shown to the Commonwealth coinage. It was suppressed and called in for recoining between 1661 and 1663, with an estimated two-thirds out of the total minted since 1649 being recovered. But what happened to the rest?

Most will have been taken abroad and some was hoarded, although the coins recovered by detectorists in Wales, which are all of the smaller denominations of penny and half-groat, suggest that some were accidentally lost. The wear and tear suffered by most of these finds may be a result of use or of subsequent damage while in the ground, although one found by Gwyn Rees near Wenvoe, South Glamorgan, in 2012, which has been bent and pierced with a hole at the top, seems to have been reused as a love token, possibly to have been suspended from a chain or ribbon. Was this discarded coin an accidental loss, or is it evidence of a failed relationship? Another Commonwealth half groat, also found near Wenvoe by Mr Rees in 2015, has been pierced in the centre, probably to demonetise it and take it out of circulation in the early 1660s. It is possible that the Restoration government did not bother to recall all the smaller denomination coins, which may therefore have continued in circulation beyond the early 1660s.

Historical significance

Although collectors see them as relatively uninteresting because of the plainness of the design and its uniformity across the denominations, Commonwealth coins are fascinating from a historical and archaeological point of view. In circulation for such a short period of time they are survivors of a troubled period in British history, when a bloody and divisive war was followed first by the shock of the king’s execution and then by years of political and religious upheaval as the country tried to find an acceptable alternative to monarchical rule. Just as all the political alternatives failed in turn, the new coins’ design was also shortlived – Charles II reverting to the familiar, centuries-old monarch’s head format, which continues in use today. The radical changes in design show how the new republican government tried to heal the ruptures of the Civil Wars and bolster its legitimacy in the absence of the king. Are they best seen as signs of life continuing much as it always had, or relics of a world turned upside down?

Oliver Cromwell, pattern half crown, 1658

Gwendoline (1882–1951) and Margaret Davies (1884–1963), two sisters from mid-Wales, were among the first people in Britain to collect French Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. They bequeathed their magnificent art collection to Amgueddfa Cymru, completely transforming the range and quality of Wales’s national art collection.

The Davies sisters were the greatest benefactors of the Museum’s first hundred years. Their idealism and generosity had a remarkable impact generally on cultural and intellectual life in Wales and is still with us today.

The industrial legacy of David Davies

Gwendoline and Margaret were the granddaughters of David Davies of Llandinam, one of the greatest entrepreneurs of the 19th century. He built much of the railway system in mid-Wales and was a pioneer of the coal industry in south Wales.

David Davies created a massive fortune. After his death in 1890, his son Edward succeeded him. In turn, Gwendoline, Margaret and their brother David, later 1st Lord Davies, inherited the estate.

Their upbringing and childhood

The sisters had a childhood dominated by the strict religious beliefs of Calvinistic Methodism. They were taught that it was their Christian duty to use well the great wealth they would inherit.

After a good and progressive education, they developed a passion for the arts and music. Art history was in its infancy in Britain, so the sisters travelled widely in Europe, studying art in Germany and Italy before beginning their art collecting.

Their sophisticated knowledge of art history was unusual for women of this period and their background.

Beginning the collection

In 1908, the sisters began collecting art in earnest. Their early purchases included landscapes by Corot, peasant scenes by Millet and also Turner’s The Storm and Morning after the Storm.

In the first six years of collecting, they amassed nearly a hundred paintings and sculptures. Their early taste was quite traditional, but in 1912 they turned to buying Impressionism.

Impressionism

Their Impressionist purchases were generally less expensive than the works they had been acquiring by artists such as Turner and Corot.

In 1913, Gwendoline acquired her most important painting, La Parisienne, for £5,000.

The impact of the First World War

The War transformed the lives of Gwendoline and Margaret. They worked as volunteers with the Red Cross in France. However, they still managed to add to their collection during these years. They bought works by Daumier, Carrière, Renoir, Manet and Monet. In 1916 Gwendoline Davies also spent £2,350 on ten oil paintings and a drawing by Augustus John.

In 1918, Gwendoline bought her two celebrated landscapes by Cézanne, The François Zola Dam and Provençal Landscape, which are among her most important and visionary purchases.

Collecting after the First Word War

In 1920, Gwendoline acquired perhaps her finest works, Cézanne’s Still-Life with Teapot for £2,000 and Van Gogh’s Rain – Auvers for £2,020.

They also spent large sums on Old Masters, including Botticelli’s Virgin and Child with a Pomegranate.

Then their collecting suddenly reduced. Gwendoline wrote in 1921 that they could not continue to purchase so much ‘in the face of the appalling need everywhere’.

They still spent over £2,000 on Turner’s Beacon Light in 1922 and £6,000 on a Workshop of El Greco Disrobing of Christ in 1923. In 1926, Gwendoline stopped collecting altogether.

Gregynog: a centre for the arts, music and crafts

The Davies sisters championed many social, economic, educational and cultural initiatives in Wales during the 1920s and 1930s.

In 1920, they bought Gregynog Hall, which they established as a centre for music and the arts in Wales. They also set up the Gregynog Press in 1922, which produced some of the finest books ever illustrated in Britain between the two world wars. Gregynog Hall complemented the Arts and Crafts Museum the sisters had already helped create at Aberystwyth.

Gregynog hosted the popular Festivals of Music and Poetry up until the outbreak of war in 1939, when the sisters again turned their attention to the war effort.

The end of an era

When Gwendoline died in 1951 Margaret kept up such activities as she was able to during her final years. However, without Gwendoline, its ‘chief creator and inspirer’, Gregynog’s heyday was never to be revived. In the year before she died, Margaret gave the house and its grounds to the University of Wales for use as a residential conference centre.

From personal to public collection

In October 1951, Amgueddfa Cymru announced the arrival of ‘the late Miss Gwendoline Davies’ bequest. This was one of the most valuable donations in recent years to any public collection in Britain.

Margaret continued to collect art until just before her death in 1963, focusing on work by modern British artists, many of whom were Welsh. Her works were also destined for the Museum and many of her later acquisitions were made with the Museum in mind.

In 1963 Margaret’s bequest of 152 objects joined that of Gwendoline. Together, the sisters’ collections completely transformed the Welsh national art collection.

A guide to the paintings

Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot

(1796–1875), Castel Gandolfo, dancing Tyrolean shepherds by Lake Albano, oil on canvas, 1855–60

In 1909 Gwendoline paid £6,350 for this painting, described at the time as one of Corot’s masterpieces. Earlier that year, Margaret recorded seeing ‘several charming pictures by Corot’ at the Louvre.

Amgueddfa Cymru, Bequest of Gwendoline Davies, 1951) NMW A 2443

Jean-François Millet

(1814–1875), The Goose Girl at Gruchy, oil on canvas, 1854–6

Gwendoline and Margaret Davies bought a number of works by Barbizon School artists in the early years of their collecting. Millet was one of the sisters’ favourites.

Amgueddfa Cymru (Bequest of Gwendoline Davies, 1951) NMW A 2479

J.M.W. Turner

(1775–1851), The Morning after the Storm, oil on canvas, about 1840–5

Gwendoline purchased this work in November 1908 for £8,085, while Margaret acquired its companion The Storm. Both paintings were apparently inspired by the great storm of 21 November 1840.

Amgueddfa Cymru (Bequest of Gwendoline Davies, 1952) NMW A 434.

Claude Monet

(1840–1926), San Giorgio Maggiore by Twilight, oil on canvas, 1908

The sisters visited Venice in 1908 and 1909. The subject is the Palladian church of San Giorgio Maggiore, shown as a purple silhouette at twilight. Gwendoline acquired this work for £1,000 in October 1912.

Amgueddfa Cymru (Bequest of Gwendoline Davies, 1951) NMW A 2485.