Halfcrown: Elizabeth I (obverse); Crowned Shield of Arms (reverse) (1560–61): Art, History and Details

Halfcrown: Elizabeth I (obverse); Crowned Shield of Arms (reverse) (1560–61) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

A rare coin, the portrait of the queen is very well executed. There are two types of this coin that feature a bust of the queen. They vary considerably, this one being less ornate than the second, 1969.184. Elizabeth I chose a Latin phrase, SCVTVM FIDEI PROTEGET EAM, translated as The Shield of Faith Shall Protect Her to appear on the reverse of some of her coins, befitting her precarious position.

Object facts

• Title: Halfcrown: Elizabeth I (obverse); Crowned Shield of Arms (reverse)
• Date: 1560–61
• Culture: England, Elizabeth I, 1558-1603
• Type: Coins
• Technique: gold
• Dimensions: Diameter: 1.7 cm (11/16 in.)
• Collection: MED - Numismatics
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1969.182

A detail from the museum

This small coin, a halfcrown, would have been more accessible to ordinary citizens and their chance to see a portrait of the queen.

Collection credit

The Norweb Collection

Further reading listed by the museum

• Cleveland Museum of Art, and Emery May Norweb. English Gold Coins, Ancient to Modern Times, On Loan to the Cleveland Museum of Art from the Norweb Collection. [Catalog. 1968.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.