Charles I, halfcrown

Chester mint is indicated by the mint mark of three garbs, or sheaves of grain (from the Chester coat of arms) and CHST between the feet of the horse. In 1644, after Marston Moor, the king lost the mint at York and was cut off from Oxford. Cheshire being a loyal county, the king came here in 1645. The need for an emergency mint in this part of the country would be pressing,

The date of the coin will be between the date of the instruction to begin minting coins at Chester, 31 January 1645, and the surrender of Chester by Lord Byron to the Parliamentary besiegers under Sir William Brereton on 3 February 1646; a period of one year and three days. Due to this short minting period, Charles’s Chester coins are rare.