Laurel: James I (obverse); Shield of Arms (reverse) (1619–1620): Art, History and Details

Laurel: James I (obverse); Shield of Arms (reverse) (1619–1620) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

In 1611 the value of all gold coins, which had previously been down-rated, was now raised by ten percent. Previously the gold coins had circulated at inconvenient fractional values, such as 33 shilling; 16 shillings and 6 pence; 4 shillings and 4 pence three farthings; and so forth. To obviate this a new unit of 20 shillings value was introduced, of which this is a specimen. Showing the king wearing a laurel wreath, it quickly became known as a "Laurel."

Object facts

• Title: Laurel: James I (obverse); Shield of Arms (reverse)
• Date: 1619–1620
• Culture: England, James I, 1603-1625
• Type: Coins
• Technique: gold
• Dimensions: Diameter: 3.7 cm (1 7/16 in.)
• Collection: MED - Numismatics
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1969.191

A detail from the museum

The king is shown dressed as a Roman Emperor wearing armor.

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.