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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"British coinage" redirects here. For ancient British coinage, see Celtic coins.

Examples of the standard reverse designs minted until 2008. Designed by Christopher Ironside (£2 coin is not shown).

The standard circulating coinage of the United Kingdom, British Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories is denominated in pennies and pounds sterling (symbol "£", commercial GBP), and ranges in value from one penny sterling to two pounds. Since decimalisation, on 15 February 1971, the pound has been divided into 100 (new) pence. Before decimalisation, twelve pence made a shilling, and twenty shillings made a pound.

British coins are minted by the Royal Mint in Llantrisant, Wales. The Royal Mint also commissions the coins' designs.

In addition to the circulating coinage, the UK also mints commemorative decimal coins (crowns) in the denomination of five pounds. Ceremonial Maundy money and bullion coinage of gold sovereigns, half sovereigns, and gold and silver Britannia coins are also produced. Some territories outside the United Kingdom, which use the pound sterling, produce their own coinage, with the same denominations and specifications as the UK coinage but with local designs.

Currently circulating coinage

The current decimal coins consist of:

one penny and two pence in copper-plated steel

five pence and ten pence in nickel-plated steel

equilateral curve heptagonal twenty pence and fifty pence in cupronickel

bimetallic one pound and two pounds.

All circulating coins have an effigy of one of two monarchs on the obverse; various national, regional and commemorative designs on the reverse; and the denomination in numbers or words.

Elizabeth II

The obverse carries an abbreviated Latin inscription whose full form, ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA FIDEI DEFENSATRIX, translates to "Elizabeth II, by the grace of God, Queen and Defender of the Faith". The denomination is usually on the reverse.

Charles III

The obverse carries an abbreviated, anglicised Latin inscription whose full form, CHARLES III DEI GRATIA REX FIDEI DEFENSOR, translates to "Charles III, by the grace of God, King and Defender of the Faith". The denomination may be on either side.[1]

Denomination Obverse Reverse Diameter Thickness Mass Composition Edge Introduced

One penny Queen Elizabeth II Crowned portcullis with chains (1971–2008)

Segment of the Royal Arms (2008–present) 20.3 mm 1.52 mm 3.56 g Bronze (97% copper, 2.5% zinc, 0.5% tin) Smooth 1971

1.65 mm Copper-plated steel 1992

Two pence Plume of ostrich feathers within a coronet (1971–2008)

Segment of the Royal Arms (2008–present) 25.9 mm 1.85 mm 7.12 g Bronze 1971

2.03 mm Copper-plated steel 1992

Five pence[a] Queen Elizabeth II Crowned thistle (1968–2008)

Segment of the Royal Arms (2008–present) 18 mm 1.7 mm 3.25 g Cupronickel (3:1) Milled 1990

1.89 mm Nickel-plated steel 2012

Ten pence[a] Crowned lion (1968–2008)

Segment of the Royal Arms (2008–present) 24.5 mm 1.85 mm 6.5 g Cupronickel (3:1) 1992

2.05 mm Nickel-plated steel 2012

Twenty pence Crowned Tudor Rose 21.4 mm 1.7 mm 5 g Cupronickel (5:1) Smooth, Reuleaux heptagon 1982

Segment of the Royal Arms 2008

Fifty pence[a] Britannia and lion 27.3 mm 1.78 mm 8 g Cupronickel (3:1) Smooth, Reuleaux heptagon 1997

Various commemorative designs 1998

Segment of the Royal Arms 2008

King Charles III 1953 Queen's coronation commemoration December 2022[2]

One pound Queen Elizabeth II Rose, leek, thistle, and shamrock encircled by a coronet 23.03–23.43 mm 2.8 mm 8.75 g Inner: Nickel-plated alloy

Outer: Nickel-brass Alternately milled and plain (12-sided) 28 March 2017[3]

Two pounds[b] Abstract concentric design representing technological development 28.4 mm 2.5 mm 12 g Inner: Cupronickel

Outer: Nickel-brass Milled with variable inscription and/or decoration 1997 (issued 1998)

Various commemorative designs 1999

Britannia 2015

 The specifications and dates of introduction of the 5p, 10p, and 50p coins refer to the current versions. These coins were originally issued in larger sizes in 1968 and 1969 respectively.

 This coin was originally issued in a smaller size in a single metal in 1986 for special issues only. It was redesigned as a bi-metallic issue for general circulation in 1997.

Production and distribution

All genuine UK coins are produced by the Royal Mint. The same coinage is used across the United Kingdom: unlike banknotes, local issues of coins are not produced for different parts of the UK. The pound coin until 2016 was produced in regional designs, but these circulate equally in all parts of the UK (see UK designs, below).

Every year, newly minted coins are checked for size, weight, and composition at a Trial of the Pyx. Essentially the same procedure has been used since the 13th century. Assaying is now done by the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths on behalf of HM Treasury.

The 1p and 2p coins from 1971 are the oldest standard-issue coins still in circulation. Pre-decimal crowns are the oldest coins in general that are still legal tender, although they are in practice never encountered in general circulation.[4]

Coins from the British dependencies and territories that use sterling as their currency are sometimes found in change in other jurisdictions. Strictly, they are not legal tender in the United Kingdom; however, since they have the same specifications as UK coins, they are sometimes tolerated in commerce, and can readily be used in vending machines.

UK-issued coins are, on the other hand, generally fully accepted and freely mixed in other British dependencies and territories that use the pound.

An extensive coinage redesign was commissioned by the Royal Mint in 2005, and new designs were gradually introduced into the circulating British coinage from summer 2008. Except for the £1 coin, the pre-2008 coins remain legal tender and are expected to stay in circulation for the foreseeable future.

The estimated volume in circulation as at March 2016 is:[5]

Denomination Number of

pieces

(millions) Face value

(£m)

Two pounds 479 957.036

One pound 1,671 1,671.328

Fifty pence 1,053 526.153

Twenty-five pence 81 20

Twenty pence 3,004 600.828

Ten pence 1,713 171.312

Five pence 4,075 203.764

Two pence 6,714 134.273

One penny 11,430 114.299

Total 30,139 4,643.658

History of pre-decimal coinage

Because of trade links with Charlemagne's Frankish Empire, the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms copied the Frankish currency system of 12 deniers ("d", pennies) to the sou (shilling) and 240 deniers or 20 sous to the libra ("£", pound), the origin of the name of the current British currency. It referred to the literal weight of 240 penny coins, which at 30 grains each, weighed 1 tower pound of sterling (0.925 fine) silver. At this point and for centuries, pennies were the only coins struck; shillings and pounds were only units of account.[6]

The penny before 1500

See also: Penny (English coin) and Scottish coinage

The English silver penny first appeared in the 8th century CE in adoption of Western Europe's Carolingian monetary system wherein 12 pence made a shilling and 20 shillings made a pound. The weight of the English penny was fixed at 22+1⁄2 troy grains (about 1.46 grams) by Offa of Mercia, an 8th-century contemporary of Charlemagne; 240 pennies weighed 5,400 grains or a tower pound (different from the troy pound of 5,760 grains). The silver penny was the only coin minted for 500 years, from c. 780 to 1280.

From the time of Charlemagne until the 12th century, the silver currency of England was made from the highest purity silver available. But there were disadvantages to minting currency of fine silver, notably the level of wear it suffered, and the ease with which coins could be "clipped", or trimmed. In 1158 a new standard for English coinage was established by Henry II with the "Tealby Penny" — the sterling silver standard of 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper. This was a harder-wearing alloy, yet it was still a rather high grade of silver. It went some way towards discouraging the practice of "clipping", though this practice was further discouraged and largely eliminated with the introduction of the milled edge seen on coins today.

The weight of a silver penny stayed constant at above 22 grains until 1344; afterwards its weight was reduced to 18 grains in 1351, to 15 grains in 1412, to 12 grains in 1464, and to 101⁄2 grains in 1527.

The history of the Royal Mint stretches back to AD 886.[7] For many centuries production was in London, initially at the Tower of London, and then at premises nearby in Tower Hill in what is today known as Royal Mint Court. In the 1970s production was transferred to Llantrisant in South Wales.[8] Historically Scotland and England had separate coinage; the last Scottish coins were struck in 1709 shortly after union with England.[9]

The penny after 1500

During the reign of Henry VIII, the silver content was gradually debased, reaching a low of one-third silver. However, in Edward VI's reign in 1551, this debased coinage was discontinued in favor of a return to sterling silver with the penny weighing 8 grains. The first crowns and half-crowns were produced that year. From this point onwards till 1920, sterling was the rule.

Coins were originally hand-hammered — an ancient technique in which two dies are struck together with a blank coin between them. This was the traditional method of manufacturing coins in the Western world from the classical Greek era onwards, in contrast with Asia, where coins were traditionally cast. Milled (that is, machine-made) coins were produced first during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558–1603) and periodically during the subsequent reigns of James I and Charles I, but there was initially opposition to mechanisation from the moneyers, who ensured that most coins continued to be produced by hammering. All British coins produced since 1662 have been milled.

By 1601 it was decreed that one troy ounce or 480 grains of sterling silver be minted into 62 pennies (i.e. each penny weighed 7.742 grains). By 1696, the currency had been seriously weakened by an increase in clipping during the Nine Years' War[10] to the extent that it was decided to recall and replace all hammered silver coinage in circulation.[11] The exercise came close to disaster due to fraud and mismanagement,[12] but was saved by the personal intervention of Isaac Newton after his appointment as Warden of the Mint, a post which was intended to be a sinecure, but which he took seriously.[11] Newton was subsequently given the post of Master of the Mint in 1699. Following the 1707 union between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland, Newton used his previous experience to direct the 1707–1710 Scottish recoinage, resulting in a common currency for the new Kingdom of Great Britain. After 15 September 1709 no further silver coins were ever struck in Scotland.[13]

As a result of a report written by Newton on 21 September 1717 to the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury[14] the bimetallic relationship between gold coins and silver coins was changed by Royal proclamation on 22 December 1717, forbidding the exchange of gold guineas for more than 21 silver shillings.[15] Due to differing valuations in other European countries this unintentionally resulted in a silver shortage, as silver coins were used to pay for imports, while exports were paid for in gold, effectively moving Britain from the silver standard to its first gold standard, rather than the bimetallic standard implied by the proclamation.

The coinage reform of 1816 set up a weight/value ratio and physical sizes for silver coins. Each troy ounce of sterling silver was henceforth minted into 66 pence or 51⁄2 shillings.

In 1920, the silver content of all British coins was reduced from 92.5% to 50%, with some of the remainder consisting of manganese, which caused the coins to tarnish to a very dark colour after they had been in circulation for long. Silver was eliminated altogether in 1947, except for Maundy coinage, which returned to the pre-1920 92.5% silver composition.

The 1816 weight/value ratio and size system survived the debasement of silver in 1920, and the adoption of token coins of cupronickel in 1947. It even persisted after decimalisation for those coins which had equivalents and continued to be minted with their values in new pence. The UK finally abandoned it in 1992 when smaller, more convenient, "silver" coins were introduced.

History of decimal coinage

Decimalisation

Since decimalisation on 15 February 1971 the pound (symbol "£") has been divided into 100 pence. (Prior to decimalisation the pound was divided into 20 shillings, each of 12 [old] pence; thus, there were 240 [old] pence to the pound.) The pound remained as Britain's currency unit after decimalisation (unlike in many other British commonwealth countries, which dropped the pound upon decimalisation by introducing dollars or new units worth 10 shillings or 1⁄2 pound). The following coins were introduced with these reverse designs:

Half penny, 1971–1984: A crown, symbolising the monarch.

One penny, 1971–2007: A crowned portcullis with chains (the badge of the Houses of Parliament).

Two pence, 1971–2007: The Prince of Wales's feathers: a plume of ostrich feathers within a coronet.

Five pence, 1968–2007: The Badge of Scotland, a thistle royally crowned.

Ten pence, 1968–2007: The lion of England royally crowned.

Fifty pence, 1969–2007: Britannia and lion.

The first decimal coins – the five pence (5p) and ten pence (10p) — were introduced in 1968 in the run-up to decimalisation in order to familiarise the public with the new system. These initially circulated alongside the pre-decimal coinage and had the same size and value as the existing one shilling and two shilling coins respectively. The fifty pence (50p) coin followed in 1969, replacing the old ten shilling note. The remaining decimal coins – at the time, the half penny (1⁄2p), penny (1p) and two pence (2p) — were issued in 1971 at decimalisation. A quarter-penny coin, to be struck in aluminium, was proposed at the time decimalisation was being planned, but was never minted.

The new coins were initially marked with the wording NEW PENNY (singular) or NEW PENCE (plural). The word "new" was dropped in 1982. The symbol "p" was adopted to distinguish the new pennies from the old, which used the symbol "d" (from the Latin denarius, a coin used in the Roman Empire).

Updates 1982–1998

In the years since decimalisation, a number of changes have been made to the coinage; these new denominations were introduced with the following designs:

Twenty pence, 1982–2007: A crowned Tudor Rose, a traditional heraldic emblem of England (with incuse design and lettering).

One pound, 1983–2016: various designs; see One pound (British coin).

Two pounds, 1997–2014: An abstract design of concentric circles, representing technological development from the Iron Age to the modern-day electronic age.

Additionally:

The halfpenny was discontinued in 1984.

The composition of the 1p and 2p was changed in 1992 from bronze to copper-plated steel without changing the design.

The sizes of the 5p, 10p and 50p coins were reduced in 1990, 1992 and 1997, respectively, also without changing the design.

The twenty pence (20p) coin was introduced in 1982 to fill the gap between the 10p and 50p coins. The pound coin (£1) was introduced in 1983 to replace the Bank of England £1 banknote which was discontinued in 1984 (although the Scottish banks continued producing them for some time afterwards; the last of them, the Royal Bank of Scotland £1 note, is still issued in a small volume as of 2021). The designs on the £1 coin changed annually in a largely five-year cycle, until the introduction of the new 12-sided £1 coin in 2017.

The decimal halfpenny coin was demonetised in 1984 as its value was by then too small to be useful. The pre-decimal sixpence, shilling and two shilling coins, which had continued to circulate alongside the decimal coinage with values of 2+1⁄2p, 5p and 10p respectively, were finally withdrawn in 1980, 1990 and 1993 respectively. The double florin and crown, with values of 20p and 25p respectively, have technically not been withdrawn, but in practice are never seen in general circulation.

In the 1990s, the Royal Mint reduced the sizes of the 5p, 10p, and 50p coins. As a consequence, the oldest 5p coins in circulation date from 1990, the oldest 10p coins from 1992 and the oldest 50p coins come from 1997. Since 1997, many special commemorative designs of 50p have been issued. Some of these are found fairly frequently in circulation and some are rare. They are all legal tender.

In 1992 the composition of the 1p and 2p coins was changed from bronze to copper-plated steel. Due to their high copper content (97%), the intrinsic value of pre-1992 1p and 2p coins increased with the surge in metal prices of the mid-2000s, until by 2006 the coins would, if melted down, have been worth about 50% more than their face value.[16]

A circulating bimetallic two pound (£2) coin was introduced in 1998 (first minted in, and dated, 1997). There had previously been unimetallic commemorative £2 coins which did not normally circulate. This tendency to use the two pound coin for commemorative issues has continued since the introduction of the bimetallic coin, and a few of the older unimetallic coins have since entered circulation.

There are also commemorative issues of crowns. Until 1981, these had a face value of twenty-five pence (25p), equivalent to the five shilling crown used in pre-decimal Britain. However, in 1990 crowns were redenominated with a face value of five pounds (£5)[17] as the previous value was considered not sufficient for such a high-status coin. The size and weight of the coin remained exactly the same. Decimal crowns are generally not found in circulation as their market value is likely to be higher than their face value, but they remain legal tender.

Obverse designs

All modern British coins feature a profile of the current monarch's head on the obverse. Until 2022, there had been only one monarch since decimalisation, Queen Elizabeth II, and her head appeared on all decimal coins minted up to that date, facing to the right (see also Monarch's profile, below). Five different effigies were used, reflecting the Queen's changing appearance as she aged. They were created by Mary Gillick (for coins minted until 1968), Arnold Machin (1968–1984), Raphael Maklouf (1985–1997), Ian Rank-Broadley (1998–2015), and Jody Clark (from 2015).[18] In September 2022, the first portrait of Charles III was revealed, designed by Martin Jennings.[19]

Most current coins carry a Latin inscription whose full form is ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA FIDEI DEFENSATRIX, meaning "Elizabeth II, by the grace of God, Queen and Defender of the Faith". The inscription appears in any of several abbreviated forms, typically ELIZABETH II D G REG F D. Those minted and circulated after the accession of Charles III are inscribed with CHARLES III DEI GRATIA REX FIDEI DEFENSOR.

2008 redesign

The Royal Shield formed by six UK coins, with the £1 coin depicting the whole of the shield.

In 2008, UK coins underwent an extensive redesign which eventually changed the reverse designs of all coins, the first wholesale change to British coinage since the first decimal coins were introduced in April 1968.[20] The major design feature was the introduction of a reverse design shared across six coins (1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p, 50p), that can be pieced together to form an image of the Royal Shield. This was the first time a coin design had been featured across multiple coins in this way.[20] To summarize the reverse design changes made in 2008 and afterwards:

The 1p coin depicts the lower part of the first quarter and the upper part of the third quarter of the shield, showing the lions passant of England and the harp of Ireland respectively

The 2p coin depicts most of the second quarter of the shield, showing the lion rampant of Scotland

The 5p coin depicts the centre of the shield, showing the meeting and parts of the constituent parts of the shield

The 10p coin depicts most of the first quarter of the shield, containing the three lions passant of England

The 20p coin depicts the lower part of the second quarter and upper part of the fourth quarter, showing the lion rampant of Scotland and the lions passant of England respectively

The 50p coin depicts the point of the shield and the bottom portions of the second and third quarters showing the harp of Ireland and lions passant of England respectively

The round, nickel-brass £1 coin from 2008 to 2016 depicted the whole of the Royal Shield. From 2017 it was changed to a bimetallic 12-sided coin depicting a rose, leek, thistle and shamrock bound by a crown.

The £2 coin from 2015 depicts Britannia.

The original intention was to exclude both the £1 and £2 coins from the redesign because they were "relatively new additions" to the coinage, but it was later decided to include a £1 coin with a complete Royal Shield design from 2008 to 2016,[21] and the 2015 redesign of the £2 coin occurred due to complaints over the disappearance of Britannia's image from the 50p coin in 2008.[22]

On all coins, the beading (ring of small dots) around the edge of the obverses has been removed. The obverse of the 20p coin has also been amended to incorporate the year, which had been on the reverse of the coin since its introduction in 1982 (giving rise to an unusual issue of a mule version without any date at all). The orientation of both sides of the 50p coin has been rotated through 180 degrees, meaning the bottom of the coin is now a corner rather than a flat edge. The numerals showing the decimal value of each coin, previously present on all coins except the £1 and £2, have been removed, leaving the values spelled out in words only.

The redesign was the result of a competition launched by the Royal Mint in August 2005, which closed on 14 November 2005. The competition was open to the public and received over 4,000 entries.[20] The winning entry was unveiled on 2 April 2008, designed by Matthew Dent.[20] The Royal Mint stated the new designs were "reflecting a twenty-first century Britain". An advisor to the Royal Mint described the new coins as "post-modern" and said that this was something that could not have been done 50 years previously.[23]

The redesign was criticised by some for having no specifically Welsh symbol (such as the Welsh Dragon), because the Royal Shield does not include a specifically Welsh symbol. Wrexham Member of Parliament (MP) Ian Lucas, who was also campaigning to have the Welsh Dragon included on the Union Flag, called the omission "disappointing", and stated that he would be writing to the Queen to request that the Royal Standard be changed to include Wales.[24] The Royal Mint stated that "the Shield of the Royal Arms is symbolic of the whole of the United Kingdom and as such, represents Wales, Scotland, England and Northern Ireland."[24] Designer Dent stated "I am a Welshman and proud of it, but I never thought about the fact we did not have a dragon or another representation of Wales on the design because as far as I am concerned Wales is represented on the Royal Arms. This was never an issue for me."[24]

The Royal Mint's choice of an inexperienced coin designer to produce the new coinage was criticised by Virginia Ironside, daughter of Christopher Ironside who designed the previous UK coins. She stated that the new designs were "totally unworkable as actual coins", due to the loss of a numerical currency identifier, and the smaller typeface used.[25]

The German news magazine Der Spiegel claimed that the redesign signalled the UK's intention "not to join the euro any time soon".[26]

Changes after 2008

As of 2012, 5p and 10p coins have been issued in nickel-plated steel, and much of the remaining cupronickel types withdrawn, in order to retrieve more expensive metals. The new coins are 11% thicker to maintain the same weight.[27][28] There are heightened nickel allergy concerns over the new coins. Studies commissioned by the Royal Mint found no increased discharge of nickel from the coins when immersed in artificial sweat. However, an independent study found that the friction from handling results in four times as much nickel exposure as from the older-style coins. Sweden already plans to desist from using nickel in coins from 2015.[29]

In 2016, the £1 coin's composition was changed from a single-metal round shape to a 12-sided bi-metal design, with a slightly larger diameter, and with multiple past designs discontinued in favor of a single, unchanging design. Production of the new coins started in 2016,[30] with the first, dated 2016, entering circulation 28 March 2017.[31]

In February 2015, the Royal Mint announced a new design for the £2 coin featuring Britannia by Antony Dufort, with no change to its bimetallic composition.[32]

Edge inscriptions on British coins used to be commonly encountered on round £1 coins of 1983–2016, but are nowadays found only on £2 coins. The standard-issue £2 coin from 1997 to 2015 carried the edge inscription STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS. The redesigned coin since 2015 has a new edge inscription QUATUOR MARIA VINDICO, Latin for "I will claim the four seas", an inscription previously found on coins bearing the image of Britannia. Other commemorative £2 coins have their own unique edge inscriptions or designs.

2023 redesign

In October 2023 the Royal Mint announced new designs for the circulating coinage, which were to be released by the end of the year. [33] [34] The new designs feature a portrait of King Charles III facing left on the obverse, with a small Tudor Crown privy mark behind the Kings’ neck. The reverses are divided vertically, the leftmost third comprising a background of three interlocking “C”s, reminiscent of the interlocking C’s on the coins of King Charles II, and a large number indicating the value, countering criticism of the 2008 redesign’s lack of numeric values. The rightmost two-thirds of each design features an animal or plant representing each of the four nations:

1p depicts the hazel dormouse.

2p depicts the red squirrel.

5p depicts an oak tree leaf.

10p depicts a capercaillie, the largest species of grouse.

20p depicts a puffin.

50p depicts a salmon.

£1 depicts two bees.

£2 depicts the four heraldic flowers of the United Kingdom, rose, thistle, daffodil, and shamrock, with the edge inscription IN SERVITIO OMNIUM, Latin for “In the service of all”, taken from the Kings’ inaugural address on 9th September 2022.

Obsolete denominations

The following decimal coins have been withdrawn from circulation and have ceased to be legal tender.

Denomination Obverse Reverse Diameter Thickness Mass Composition Edge Introduced Withdrawn

Half Penny Queen Elizabeth II St Edward's Crown 17.4 mm 1 mm 1.78 g Bronze Smooth 1971 1984

Five pence* Queen Elizabeth II Crowned Thistle 23.59 mm 1.7 mm 5.65 g Cupronickel Milled 1968 1990

Ten pence* Crowned Lion 28.5 mm 1.85 mm 11.31 g 1992

Fifty pence* Seated Britannia alongside a Lion 30.0 mm 2.5 mm 13.5 g Smooth, Reuleaux heptagon 1969 1997

Various commemorative designs 1973

One Pound† Queen Elizabeth II Numerous different designs 22.5 mm 3.15 mm 9.5 g Nickel-brass Milled with variable inscription and/or decoration 1983 15 October 2017

Royal Shield 2008

Two pounds No standard reverse design 28.4 mm ~3 mm 15.98 g Nickel-brass 1986 1998

* The specifications and dates of 5p, 10p, and 50p coins refer to the larger sizes issued since 1968.

† The specification refers to the round coin issued from 1983 to 2016. Although obsolete, this coin is still redeemable at banks and the British railway systems,[citation needed] and is still legal tender on the Isle of Man.

Commemorative issues

Circulating commemorative designs

Circulating fifty pence and two pound coins have been issued with various commemorative reverse designs, typically to mark the anniversaries of historical events or the births of notable people.

Three commemorative designs were issued of the large version of the 50p: in 1973 (the EEC), 1992–3 (EC presidency) and 1994 (D-Day anniversary). Commemorative designs of the smaller 50p coin have been issued (alongside the Britannia standard issue) in 1998 (two designs), 2000, and from 2003 to 2007 yearly (two designs in 2006). For a complete list, see Fifty pence (British decimal coin).

Prior to 1997, the two pound coin was minted in commemorative issues only – in 1986, 1989, 1994, 1995 and 1996. Commemorative £2 coins have been regularly issued since 1999, alongside the standard-issue bi-metallic coins which were introduced in 1997. One or two designs have been minted each year, with the exception of none in 2000, and four regional 2002 issues marking the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester. As well as a distinct reverse design, these coins have an edge inscription relevant to the subject. The anniversary themes are continued until at least 2009, with two designs announced. For a complete list, see Two pounds (British decimal coin).

From 2018 to 2019 a series of 10p coins with 26 different designs was put in circulation "celebrating Great Britain with The Royal Mint's Quintessentially British A to Z series of coins".[35]

Non-circulating denominations

1981 commemorative twenty-five pence coin, celebrating the marriage of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer.

Coins are sometimes issued as special collectible commemorative versions, sold at a value higher than their face value. They are usually legal tender, but worth only their face value to pay debts. For example, in 2023 a 50 pence piece was announced, the first coin depicting King Charles III, and celebrating the fictional wizard Harry Potter. The standard version sells for £11 and a colour version for £20. Other versions range up to a gold coin of £200 face value, selling for £5,215.[36]

The following are special-issue commemorative coins, seldom encountered in normal circulation due to their precious metal content or collectible value, but are still considered legal tender.

Twenty-five pence or crown (25p; £0.25), 1972–1981

Five pounds or crown (£5), 1990–present [1]

Twenty pounds (£20), 2013–present

Fifty pounds (£50), 2015–2016

One hundred pounds (£100), 2015–2016

Denomination Obverse Reverse Diameter Thickness Mass Composition Edge Introduced

25 pence Queen Elizabeth II No standard reverse design 38.61 mm 2.89 mm 28.28 g Cupronickel or silver Milled, with variable inscription 1972

5 pounds 1990

20 pounds 27.0 mm Unknown 15.71 g Silver Milled 2013

50 pounds Britannia 34.0 mm 31 g 2015

100 pounds Elizabeth Tower 'Big Ben' 40.0 mm 62.86 g

Legal tender status of commemorative coins

Further information: Legal tender § United Kingdom

The prolific issuance since 2013 of silver commemorative £20, £50 and £100 coins at face value has led to attempts to spend or deposit these coins, prompting the Royal Mint to clarify the legal tender status of these silver coins as well as the cupronickel £5 coin.[37][38][39] Legal tender has a very narrow legal meaning, related to paying into a court to satisfy a debt, and nobody is obliged to accept any particular form of payment (whether legal tender or not), including commemorative coins. Royal Mint guidelines advise that, although these coins were approved as legal tender, they are considered limited edition collectables not intended for general circulation.

Maundy money

Maundy money is a ceremonial coinage traditionally given to the poor, and nowadays awarded annually to deserving senior citizens. There are Maundy coins in denominations of one, two, three and four pence. They bear dates from 1822 to the present and are minted in very small quantities. Though they are legal tender in the UK, they are rarely or never encountered in circulation. The pre-decimal Maundy pieces have the same legal tender status and value as post-decimal ones, and effectively increased in face value by 140% upon decimalisation. Their numismatic value is much greater.

Maundy coins still bear the original portrait of the Queen as used in the circulating coins of the first years of her reign.

Bullion coinage

The traditional bullion coin issued by Britain is the gold sovereign, formerly a circulating coin worth 20 shillings (or one pound) and with 0.23542 troy ounces (7.322 g) of fine gold, but now with a nominal value of one pound. The Royal Mint continues to produce sovereigns, as well as quarter sovereigns (introduced in 2009), half sovereigns, double sovereigns and quintuple sovereigns.

Between 1987 and 2012 a series of bullion coins, the Britannia, was issued, containing 1 troy ounce (31.1 g), 1⁄2 ounce, 1⁄4 ounce and 1⁄10 ounce of fine gold at a millesimal fineness of 916 (22 carat) and with face values of £100, £50, £25, and £10.

Since 2013 Britannia bullion contains 1 troy ounce of fine gold at a millesimal fineness of 999 (24 carat).

Between 1997 and 2012 silver bullion coins have also been produced under the name "Britannias". The alloy used was Britannia silver (millesimal fineness 958). The silver coins were available in 1 troy ounce (31.1 g), 1⁄2 ounce, 1⁄4 ounce and 1⁄10 ounce sizes. Since 2013 the alloy used is silver at a (millesimal fineness 999).

In 2016 the Royal Mint launched a series of 10 Queen's Beasts bullion coins,[40] one for each beast available in both gold and silver.

The Royal Mint also issues silver, gold and platinum proof sets of the circulating coins, as well as gift products such as gold coins set into jewellery.

Non-UK coinage

The British Islands (red) and overseas territories (blue) using the Pound or their local issue.

Outside the United Kingdom, the British Crown Dependencies of Jersey and Guernsey use the pound sterling as their currencies. However, they produce local issues of coinage in the same denominations and specifications, but with different designs. These circulate freely alongside UK coinage and English, Northern Irish, and Scottish banknotes within these territories, but must be converted in order to be used in the UK. The island of Alderney also produces occasional commemorative coins. (See coins of the Jersey pound, coins of the Guernsey pound, and Alderney pound for details.). The Isle of Man is a unique case among the Crown Dependencies, issuing its own currency, the Manx pound.[citation needed] While the Isle of Man recognises the Pound Sterling as a secondary currency, coins of the Manx pound are not legal tender in the UK.

The pound sterling is also the official currency of the British overseas territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands,[41] British Antarctic Territory[42] and Tristan da Cunha.[43] South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands produces occasional special collectors' sets of coins.[44] In 2008, British Antarctic Territory issued a £2 coin commemorating the centenary of Britain's claim to the region.[45]

The currencies of the British overseas territories of Gibraltar, the Falkland Islands and Saint Helena/Ascension — namely the Gibraltar pound, Falkland Islands pound and Saint Helena pound — are pegged one-to-one to the pound sterling but are technically separate currencies. These territories issue their own coinage, again with the same denominations and specifications as the UK coinage but with local designs, as coins of the Gibraltar pound, coins of the Falkland Islands pound and coins of the Saint Helena pound.

The other British overseas territories do not use sterling as their official currency.

Pre-decimal coinage

Half crown, 1953

Two shilling coin, or florin, 1949

Shilling, 1956, showing English and Scottish reverses

For further information about the history of pre-decimal coinage, see Pound sterling and Decimal Day.

System

Before decimalisation in 1971, the pound was divided into 240 pence rather than 100, though it was rarely expressed in this way. Rather it was expressed in terms of pounds, shillings and pence, where:

£1 = 20 shillings (20s).

1 shilling = 12 pence (12d).

Thus: £1 = 240d. The penny was further subdivided at various times, though these divisions vanished as inflation made them irrelevant:

1 penny = 2 halfpennies and (earlier) 4 farthings (half farthing, a third of a farthing, and quarter farthing coins were minted in the late 19th century, and into the early 20th century in the case of the third farthing, but circulated only in certain British colonies and not in the UK).

Using the example of five shillings and sixpence, the standard ways of writing shillings and pence were:

5s 6d

5/6

5/- for 5 shillings only, with the dash to stand for zero pennies.

The sum of 5/6 would be spoken as "five shillings and sixpence" or "five and six".

The abbreviation for the old penny, d, was derived from the Roman denarius, and the abbreviation for the shilling, s, from the Roman solidus. The shilling was also denoted by the slash symbol, also called a solidus for this reason, which was originally an adaptation of the long s.[46] The symbol "£", for the pound, is derived from the first letter of the Latin word for pound, libra.[47]

A similar pre-decimal system operated in France, also based on the Roman currency, consisting of the livre (L), sol or sou (s) and denier (d). Until 1816 another similar system was used in the Netherlands, consisting of the gulden (G), stuiver (s; 1⁄20 G) and duit, (d; 1⁄8 s or 1⁄160 G).

Denominations

For an extensive list of historical pre-decimal coin denominations, see List of British banknotes and coins.

In the years just prior to decimalisation, the circulating British coins were:

Denomination Obverse Reverse Diameter Thickness Mass Composition Edge Introduced Withdrawn

Farthing (1⁄4d) Various Monarchs Wren (Britannia on early mintages) 20.19 mm 2.83 g Bronze Smooth 1860 1961

Half penny (1⁄2d) Golden Hind (Britannia on early mintages) 25.48 mm 5.67 g 1969

Penny (1d) Britannia 31 mm 9.45 g 1971

Threepence (3d) King George VI 1937–1952

Queen Elizabeth II 1953–1971 Thrift until 1952 Crowned portcullis with chains 21.0–21.8 mm 2.5 mm 6.8 g Nickel-brass Plain (12-sided) 1937 1971

Sixpence (6d) King George VI 1946–1952

Queen Elizabeth II 1953–1971 Crowned royal cypher until 1952 Floral design – Four Home Nations 19.41 mm 2.83 g Cupronickel Milled 1947 1980

Shilling (1/-) Crowned lion on Tudor crown or Crowned lion standing on Scottish crown until 1952 Coat of Arms of England or Scotland 23.60 mm 1.7 mm 5.66 g 1990

Florin (2/-) Crowned rose flanked by a thistle and shamrock until 1952 Rose encircled by thistle, leek and shamrock 28.5 mm 1.85 mm 11.31 g 1992

Half crown (2/6) Royal Shield flanked by crowned royal cypher until 1952 Crowned Royal Shield 32.31 mm 14.14 g 1969

Crown (5/-) Various commemorative designs 38 mm 2.89 mm 28.28 g 1951 Present

The farthing (1⁄4d) had been demonetised on 1 January 1961, whilst the crown (5/-) was issued periodically as a commemorative coin but rarely found in circulation.

The crown, half crown, florin, shilling, and sixpence were cupronickel coins (in historical times silver or silver alloy); the penny, halfpenny, and farthing were bronze; and the threepence was a twelve-sided nickel-brass coin (historically it was a small silver coin).

Some of the pre-decimalisation coins with exact decimal equivalent values continued in use after 1971 alongside the new coins, albeit with new names (the shilling became equivalent to the 5p coin, with the florin equating to 10p), and the others were withdrawn almost immediately. The use of florins and shillings as legal tender in this way ended in 1991 and 1993 when the 5p and 10p coins were replaced with smaller versions. Indeed, while pre-decimalisation shillings were used as 5p coins, for a while after decimalisation many people continued to call the new 5p coin a shilling, since it remained 1⁄20 of a pound, but was now counted as 5p (five new pence) instead of 12d (twelve old pennies). The pre-decimalisation sixpence, also known as a sixpenny bit or sixpenny piece, was equivalent to 2+1⁄2p, but was demonetised in 1980.

Pre-decimal coins of the pound sterling

Five pounds Double sovereign Sovereign Crown Half crown Florin Shilling Sixpence Groat Threepence Penny Halfpenny Farthing Half farthing Third farthing Quarter farthing

Five pounds 1 2+1⁄2 5 20 40 50 100 200 300 400 1200 2400 4800 9600 14400 19200

Double sovereign 2⁄5 1 2 8 16 20 40 80 120 160 480 960 1920 3840 5760 7680

Sovereign 1⁄5 1⁄2 1 4 8 10 20 40 60 80 240 480 960 1920 2880 3840

Crown 1⁄20 1⁄8 1⁄4 1 2 2+1⁄2 5 10 15 20 60 120 240 480 720 960

Half crown 1⁄40 1⁄16 1⁄8 1⁄2 1 1+1⁄4 2+1⁄2 5 7+1⁄2 10 30 60 120 240 360 480

Florin 1⁄50 1⁄20 1⁄10 2⁄5 4⁄5 1 2 4 6 8 24 48 96 192 288 384

Shilling 1⁄100 1⁄40 1⁄20 1⁄5 2⁄5 1⁄2 1 2 3 4 12 24 48 96 144 192

Sixpence 1⁄200 1⁄80 1⁄40 1⁄10 1⁄5 1⁄4 1⁄2 1 1+1⁄2 2 6 12 24 48 72 96

Groat 1⁄300 1⁄120 1⁄60 1⁄15 2⁄15 1⁄6 1⁄3 2⁄3 1 1+1⁄3 4 8 16 32 48 64

Threepence 1⁄400 1⁄160 1⁄80 1⁄20 1⁄10 1⁄8 1⁄4 1⁄2 3⁄4 1 3 6 12 24 36 48

Penny 1⁄1200 1⁄480 1⁄240 1⁄60 1⁄30 1⁄24 1⁄12 1⁄6 1⁄4 1⁄3 1 2 4 8 12 16

Halfpenny 1⁄2400 1⁄960 1⁄480 1⁄120 1⁄60 1⁄48 1⁄24 1⁄12 1⁄8 1⁄6 1⁄2 1 2 4 6 8

Farthing 1⁄4800 1⁄1920 1⁄960 1⁄240 1⁄120 1⁄96 1⁄48 1⁄24 1⁄16 1⁄12 1⁄4 1⁄2 1 2 3 4

Half farthing 1⁄9600 1⁄3840 1⁄1920 1⁄480 1⁄240 1⁄192 1⁄96 1⁄48 1⁄36 1⁄24 1⁄8 1⁄4 1⁄2 1 1+1⁄2 2

Third farthing 1⁄14400 1⁄5760 1⁄2880 1⁄720 1⁄360 1⁄288 1⁄144 1⁄72 1⁄48 1⁄36 1⁄12 1⁄6 1⁄3 2⁄3 1 1+1⁄3

Quarter farthing 1⁄19200 1⁄7680 1⁄3840 1⁄960 1⁄480 1⁄384 1⁄192 1⁄96 1⁄72 1⁄48 1⁄16 1⁄8 1⁄4 1⁄2 3⁄4 1

Visualisation of some British currency terms before decimalisation

Slang and everyday usage

Some pre-decimalisation coins or denominations became commonly known by colloquial and slang terms, perhaps the most well known being bob for a shilling, and quid for a pound. A farthing was a mag, a silver threepence was a joey and the later nickel-brass threepence was called a threepenny bit (/ˈθrʌpni/ or /ˈθrɛpni/ bit, i.e. thrup'ny or threp'ny bit – the apostrophe was pronounced on a scale from full "e" down to complete omission); a sixpence was a tanner, the two-shilling coin or florin was a two-bob bit. Bob is still used in phrases such as "earn/worth a bob or two",[48][better source needed] and "bob‐a‐job week". The two shillings and sixpence coin or half-crown was a half-dollar, also sometimes referred to as two and a kick. A value of two pence was universally pronounced /ˈtʌpəns/ tuppence, a usage which is still heard today, especially among older people. The unaccented suffix "-pence", pronounced /pəns/, was similarly appended to the other numbers up to twelve; thus "fourpence", "sixpence-three-farthings", "twelvepence-ha'penny", but "eighteen pence" would usually be said "one-and-six".

Quid remains as popular slang for one or more pounds to this day in Britain in the form "a quid" and then "two quid", and so on. Similarly, in some parts of the country, bob continued to represent one-twentieth of a pound, that is five new pence, and two bob is 10p.[49]

The introduction of decimal currency caused a new casual usage to emerge, where any value in pence is spoken using the suffix pee: e.g. "twenty-three pee" or, in the early years, "two-and-a-half pee" rather than the previous "tuppence-ha'penny". Amounts over a pound are normally spoken thus: "five pounds forty". A value with less than ten pence over the pound is sometimes spoken like this: "one pound and a penny", "three pounds and fourpence". The slang term "bit" has almost disappeared from use completely, although in Scotland a fifty pence is sometimes referred to as a "ten bob bit". Decimal denomination coins are generally described using the terms piece or coin, for example, "a fifty-pee piece", a "ten-pence coin".

Monarch's profile

All coins since the late[50] 17th century have featured a profile of the current monarch's head. The direction in which they face changes with each successive monarch, a pattern that began with the Stuarts, as shown in the table below:

Facing left Facing right

Cromwell 1653–1658[51] Charles II 1660–1685  

James II 1685–1688 William and Mary 1689–1694

William III 1694–1702

Anne 1702–1714 George I 1714–1727

George II 1727–1760 George III 1760–1820

George IV 1820–1830 William IV 1830–1837

Victoria 1837–1901 Edward VII 1901–1910

George V 1910–1936

Edward VIII 1936 (uncirculated issues)

George VI 1936–1952 Elizabeth II 1952–2022

Charles III 2022–present

For the Tudors and the Stuarts up to and including Charles II,[52] both left- and right-facing portrait images were minted within the reign of a single monarch (left-facing images were more common), together with equestrian portraits on certain coins and (earlier) full face portrait images.[53] In the Middle Ages, portrait images tended to be full face.

There was a small quirk in this alternating pattern when Edward VIII became king in January 1936 and was portrayed facing left, the same as his predecessor George V. This was because Edward thought his left side to be better than his right.[54] However, Edward VIII abdicated in December 1936 and his coins were never put into general circulation. When George VI came to the throne, he had his coins struck with him facing the left, as if Edward VIII's coins had faced right (as they should have done according to tradition). Thus, in a timeline of circulating British coins, George V and VI's coins both feature left-facing portraits, although they follow directly chronologically.[55]

Regal titles

A 1937 George VI penny

From a very early date, British coins have been inscribed with the name of the ruler of the kingdom in which they were produced, and a longer or shorter title, always in Latin; among the earliest distinctive English coins are the silver pennies of Offa of Mercia, which were inscribed with the legend OFFA REX "King Offa". As the legends became longer, words in the inscriptions were often abbreviated so that they could fit on the coin; identical legends have often been abbreviated in different ways depending upon the size and decoration of the coin. Inscriptions which go around the edge of the coin generally have started at the center of the top edge and proceeded in a clockwise direction. A very lengthy legend would be continued on the reverse side of the coin. All monarchs used Latinised names, save Edward III and Edward VI,[56] both Elizabeths, and Charles III (which would have been EDWARDUS, ELIZABETHA, and CAROLUS respectively).

Examples of coinage legends

Latin text English text Notes

EDWARD DEI GRA REX ANGL Z FRANC D HYB(E) Edward III, by the grace of God King of England and France, Lord of Ireland

EDWARD DEI GRA REX ANGL DNS HYB Z ACQ Edward, by the grace of God King of England, Lord of Ireland and Aquitaine Used after the Treaty of Brétigny (1360) when Edward III temporarily gave up his claim to the French throne.

EDWARD DEI G REX ANG Z FRA DNS HYB Z ACT Edward, by the grace of God King of England and France, Lord of Ireland and Aquitaine. Used after Anglo-French relations broke down and Edward III resumed his claim.

HENRICUS VII DEI GRATIA REX ANGLIÆ & FRANCIÆ Henry VII by the Grace of God, King of England and France France had been claimed by the English continuously since 1369.

HENRICUS VIII DEI GRATIA REX ANGLIÆ & FRANCIÆ Henry VIII by the Grace of God, King of England and France The Arabic numeral 8 was also used instead of the Roman VIII.

HENRICUS VIII DEI GRATIA ANGLIÆ FRANCIÆ & HIBERNIÆ REX Henry VIII by the Grace of God, Of England, France and Ireland, King Used after Henry VIII made Ireland a kingdom in 1541. The Arabic numeral 8 was also used instead of the Roman VIII.

PHILIPPUS ET MARIA DEI GRATIA REX & REGINA Philip and Mary by the Grace of God, King and Queen The names of the realms were omitted from the coin for reasons of space.

ELIZABETH DEI GRATIA ANGLIÆ FRANCIÆ ET HIBERNIÆ REGINA Elizabeth, by the Grace of God, of England, France, and Ireland, Queen

IACOBUS DEI GRATIA MAGNÆ BRITANNIÆ FRANCIÆ ET HIBERNIÆ REX James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King James, King of Scotland, by succeeding to the English throne united the two kingdoms in his person; he dubbed the combination of the two kingdoms "Great Britain" (the name of the whole island) though they remained legislatively distinct for more than a century afterwards.

CAROLUS DEI GRATIA MAGNÆ BRITANNIÆ FRANCIÆ ET HIBERNIÆ REX Charles, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King

OLIVARIUS DEI GRATIA REIPUBLICÆ ANGLIÆ SCOTIÆ HIBERNIÆ & CETERORUM PROTECTOR Oliver, by the Grace of God, of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, Ireland etc., Protector Cromwell ruled as a monarch but did not claim the title of king.

CAROLUS II DEI GRATIA MAGNÆ BRITANNIÆ FRANCIÆ ET HIBERNIÆ REX Charles II, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King

IACOBUS II DEI GRATIA MAGNÆ BRITANNIÆ FRANCIÆ ET HIBERNIÆ REX James II, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King

GULIELMUS ET MARIA DEI GRATIA MAGNÆ BRITANNIÆ FRANCIÆ ET HIBERNIÆ REX ET REGINA William and Mary by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King and Queen The spouses William and Mary ruled jointly.

GULIELMUS III DEI GRATIA MAGNÆ BRITANNIÆ FRANCIÆ ET HIBERNIÆ REX William III by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King William continued to rule alone after his wife's death.

ANNA DEI GRATIA MAGNÆ BRITANNIÆ FRANCIÆ ET HIBERNIÆ REGINA Anne by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, Queen

GEORGIUS DEI GRATIA MAGNÆ BRITANNIÆ FRANCIÆ ET HIBERNIÆ REX FIDEI DEFENSOR BRUNSVICENSIS ET LUNEBURGENSIS DUX SACRI ROMANI IMPERII ARCHITHESAURARIUS ET ELECTOR George by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, of Brunswick and Lüneburg Duke, of the Holy Roman Empire Archtreasurer and Elector George I added the titles he already possessed as Elector of Hanover. He also added the title "Defender of the Faith", which had been borne by the English kings since Henry VIII, but which had previously only rarely appeared on coins.

GEORGIUS II DEI GRATIA MAGNÆ BRITANNIÆ FRANCIÆ ET HIBERNIÆ REX FIDEI DEFENSOR BRUNSVICENSIS ET LUNEBURGENSIS DUX SACRI ROMANI IMPERII ARCHITHESAURARIUS ET ELECTOR George II by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, of Brunswick and Lüneburg Duke, of the Holy Roman Empire Archtreasurer and Elector

GEORGIUS III DEI GRATIA MAGNÆ BRITANNIÆ FRANCIÆ ET HIBERNIÆ REX FIDEI DEFENSOR BRUNSVICENSIS ET LUNEBURGENSIS DUX SACRI ROMANI IMPERII ARCHITHESAURARIUS ET ELECTOR George III by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, of Brunswick and Lüneburg Duke, of the Holy Roman Empire Archtreasurer and Elector

GEORGIUS III DEI GRATIA BRITANNIARUM REX FIDEI DEFENSOR George III, by the Grace of God, of the Britains King, Defender of the Faith The Acts of Union united Great Britain and Ireland into a single kingdom, represented on the coinage by the Latin genitive plural Britanniarum ("of the Britains", often abbreviated BRITT). At the same time, the claim to the throne of France was dropped and other titles were omitted from the coinage.

GEORGIUS IIII (IV) DEI GRATIA BRITANNIARUM REX FIDEI DEFENSOR George IV, by the Grace of God, of the Britains King, Defender of the Faith The Roman numeral "4" is represented by both IIII and IV in different issues.

GULIELMUS IIII DEI GRATIA BRITANNIARUM REX FIDEI DEFENSOR William IV, by the Grace of God, of the Britains King, Defender of the Faith

VICTORIA DEI GRATIA BRITANNIARUM REGINA FIDEI DEFENSOR Victoria, by the Grace of God, of the Britains Queen, Defender of the Faith

VICTORIA DEI GRATIA BRITANNIARUM REGINA FIDEI DEFENSOR INDIÆ IMPERATRIX Victoria, by the Grace of God, of the Britains Queen, Defender of the Faith, Empress of India Queen Victoria was granted the title "Empress of India" in 1876.

EDWARDUS VII DEI GRATIA BRITANNIARUM OMNIUM REX FIDEI DEFENSOR INDIÆ IMPERATOR Edward VII, by the Grace of God, of all the Britains King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India Edward VII's coins added OMNIUM ("all") after "Britains" to imply a rule over the British overseas colonies as well as the United Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.

GEORGIUS V DEI GRATIA BRITANNIARUM OMNIUM REX FIDEI DEFENSOR INDIÆ IMPERATOR George V, by the Grace of God, of all the Britains King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India

EDWARDUS VIII DEI GRATIA BRITANNIARUM OMNIUM REX FIDEI DEFENSOR INDIÆ IMPERATOR Edward VIII, by the Grace of God, of all the Britains King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India Although Edward VIII abdicated, his coins never properly entered circulation but it can be assumed his coins had these words.

GEORGIUS VI DEI GRATIA BRITANNIARUM OMNIUM REX FIDEI DEFENSOR INDIÆ IMPERATOR George VI, by the Grace of God, of all the Britains King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India

GEORGIUS VI DEI GRATIA BRITANNIARUM OMNIUM REX FIDEI DEFENSOR George VI, by the Grace of God, of all the Britains King, Defender of the Faith The title "Emperor of India" was relinquished in 1948, after the independence of India and Pakistan.

ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA BRITANNIARUM OMNIUM REGINA FIDEI DEFENSOR[57] Elizabeth II, by the Grace of God, of all the Britains Queen, Defender of the Faith

ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA FIDEI DEFENSOR[58] Elizabeth II, by the Grace of God, Queen, Defender of the Faith The "of all the Britains" was dropped from the coinage in 1954, and current coins do not name any realm.

CHARLES III DEI GRATIA REX FIDEI DEFENSOR[59] Charles III, by the Grace of God, King, Defender of the Faith

Coins in the colonies

Some coins made for circulation in the British colonies are considered part of British coinage because they have no indication of what country it was minted for and they were made in the same style as contemporary coins circulating in the United Kingdom.

A three halfpence (1+1⁄2 pence, 

1

/

160

 of a pound) coin was circulated mainly in the West Indies and Ceylon in the starting in 1834. Jamaicans referred to the coin as a "quatty".[60]

The half farthing (

1

/

8

 of a penny, 

1

/

1920

 of a pound) coin was initially minted in 1828 for use in Ceylon, but was declared legal tender in the United Kingdom in 1842.[61]

The third farthing (

1

/

12

 of a penny, 

1

/

2880

 of a pound) coin was minted for use in Malta, starting in 1827.[61]

The quarter farthing (

1

/

16

 of a penny, 

1

/

3840

 of a pound) coin was minted for use in Ceylon starting in 1839.[61]

Mottos

In addition to the title, a Latin or French motto might be included, generally on the reverse side of the coin. These varied between denominations and issues; some were personal to the monarch, others were more general. Some of the mottos were:

POSUI DEUM ADIUTOREM MEUM "I have made God my helper". Coins of Henry VII, Henry VIII, Elizabeth I. Possibly refers to Psalm 52:7, Ecce homo qui non-posuit Deum adjutorem suum "Behold the man who did not make God his helper".

RUTILANS ROSA SINE SPINA "A dazzling rose without a thorn". Coins of Henry VIII and Edward VI. Initially on the unsuccessful and very rare Crown of the Rose of Henry VIII and continued on subsequent small gold coinage into the reign of Edward VI.

POSUIMUS DEUM ADIUTOREM NOSTRUM "We have made God our helper". Coins of Philip and Mary. The same as above, but with a plural subject.

FACIAM EOS IN GENTEM UNAM "I shall make them into one nation". Coins of James I, signifying his desire to unite the English and Scottish nations. Refers to Ezekiel 37:22 in the Vulgate Bible.

CHRISTO AUSPICE REGNO "I reign with Christ as my protector". Coins of Charles I.

EXURGAT DEUS DISSIPENTUR INIMICI "May God rise up, may [his] enemies be scattered". Coins of Charles I, during the Civil War. Refers to Psalm 67:1 in the Vulgate Bible (Psalm 68 in English Bible numbering).

PAX QUÆRITUR BELLO "Peace is sought by war". Coins of the Protectorate; personal motto of Oliver Cromwell.

BRITANNIA "Britain". Reign of Charles II to George III. Found on pennies and smaller denominations.

HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE. "Shamed be he who thinks ill of it." Sovereigns of George III. Motto of the Order of the Garter.

DECUS ET TUTAMEN. "An ornament and a safeguard." Some pound coins of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and some crown coins including some of Victoria and George V. Refers to the inscribed edge as a protection against the clipping of precious metal, as well as being a complimentary reference to the monarch and the monarchy.

Minting errors reaching circulation

Coins with errors in the minting process that reach circulation are often seen as valuable items by coin collectors.

In 1983, the Royal Mint mistakenly produced some two pence pieces with the old wording "New Pence" on the reverse (tails) side, when the design had been changed from 1982 to "Two Pence".

In 2016, a batch of double-dated £1 coins was released into circulation. These coins had the main date on the obverse stating '2017', but the micro-engraving having '2016' on it. it is not known how many exist and are in circulation, but the amount is fewer than half a million.

In June 2009, the Royal Mint estimated that between 50,000 and 200,000 dateless 20 pence coins had entered circulation, the first undated British coin to enter circulation in more than 300 years. It resulted from the accidental combination of old and new face tooling in a production batch, creating what is known as a mule, following the 2008 redesign which moved the date from the reverse (tails) to the obverse (heads) side.[62]

See also

icon Money portal

Numismatics portal

flag United Kingdom portal

Banknotes of the pound sterling

List of British banknotes and coins

Mark (money)

Non-decimal currency

One hundred pounds (British coin)

Roman currency

Twenty pounds (British coin)

References

 Davies, Caroline (8 December 2022). "First coinage featuring King Charles III released". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 February 2023.

 "First King Charles 50p coins enter circulation". BBC. 8 December 2022. Archived from the original on 8 December 2022.

 "New 12-sided pound coin to enter circulation in March". BBC News. 1 January 2017. Archived from the original on 31 March 2017. Retrieved 29 March 2017.

 "How can I dispose of commemorative crowns? And why do some have a higher face value than others?". The Royal Mint Museum. Archived from the original on 13 April 2020. Retrieved 22 November 2019.

 "Mintage Figures". The Royal Mint. Archived from the original on 17 May 2013.

 "A Brief History of Coinage in Britain". Chards. 3 December 2018. Retrieved 24 July 2023.

 "Coins – Collector Gold & Silver Coins & Limited Edition Gifts". The Royal Mint. Archived from the original on 10 February 2005.

 "Llantrisant". Royal Mint. 2012. Archived from the original on 16 November 2011. Retrieved 28 January 2012. In April 1967 it was announced that the new Royal Mint would be built at Llantrisant in South Wales.

 "National Museums of Scotland – Balance and scales (detail)". Archived from the original on 9 April 2009.

 The 1696 Recoinage (1696–1699) Archived 14 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine, Richard Kleer, University of Regina, The Literary Encyclopedia

 Newton and the Counterfeiter, Thomas Levenson, Faber & Faber, ISBN 978-0-571-22992-5

 The Scottish Mint after the recoinage, 1709–1836 Archived 22 August 2009 at Wikiwix, Athol L Murray, Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 1999

 Sir Isaac Newton and the Scottish recoinage, 1707–10 Archived 21 August 2009 at Wikiwix, Athol L Murray, Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 1997

 On the Value of Gold and Silver in European Currencies and the Consequences on the World-wide Gold- and Silver-Trade Archived 28 January 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Sir Isaac Newton, 21 September 1717.

 By The King, A Proclamation Declaring the Rates at which Gold shall be current in Payments reproduced in the numismatic chronicle and journal of the Royal Numismatic Society, Vol V., April 1842 – January 1843

 McVeigh, Karen (12 May 2006). "Why coppers are rising in value". The Times. Retrieved 19 June 2022.

 "Corporate FAQs". Royal Mint. Archived from the original on 11 November 2007.

 The Fifth Definitive Coinage Portrait First Edition Archived 3 March 2015 at the Wayback Machine Royal Mint (www.royalmint.com). Retrieved on 2015-03-03.

 Peachey, Kevin (30 September 2022). "King Charles: New coins featuring monarch's portrait unveiled". BBC News. Retrieved 1 October 2022.

 "Royal Mint unveils coin designs". BBC News. 2 April 2008. Archived from the original on 25 June 2009. Retrieved 15 September 2009.

 New Coin Designs FAQ Archived 6 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine, Royal Mint

 "Birmingham MP's crusade to bring back Britannia on coins" Archived 8 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Birmingham Post, 9 February 2009

 "Your Change is Changing". Bulletin. Royal Mint (107): 6. 2008. [Stephen Raw said] "We couldn't have had post-modern designs like this 50 years ago – the public simply wouldn't have accepted them

 "Wales short-changed by new coin designs" Archived 13 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine, Daily Post (North Wales), 3 April 2008

 Ironside, Virginia (6 April 2008). "I hate the new coins. My father must be turning in his grave". The Independent. Retrieved 6 May 2020.

 "Make Way for Britain's New Coin Designs". Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 17 May 2008.

 "Cupro Nickel Replacement Programme". Archived from the original on 10 July 2014. Retrieved 1 September 2014.

 "Treasury 'should foot coin change bill'". BBC News. 5 November 2011. Archived from the original on 5 November 2011. Retrieved 5 November 2011.

 Lacey, Anna (22 June 2013). "A bad penny? New coins and nickel allergy". BBC Health Check. Archived from the original on 7 August 2013. Retrieved 25 July 2013.

 "Royal Mint starts new £1 coin production". TheGuardian.com. 31 March 2016.

 "£1 Coin | the Royal Mint".

 "£2 Coin Designs and Specifications | the Royal Mint".

 "By Royal Approval: The United Kingdom's New Definitive Coins".

 Mabel Banfield-Nwachi. "Royal Mint unveils new coin design inspired by King Charles". Retrieved 12 October 2023.

 "The Great British Coin Hunt 2018 – Quintessentially British a to Z Sterling Silver Coins".

 "Harry Potter coin collection: Dumbledore 50p first to feature King's portrait". BBC News. 16 February 2023.

 "Legal Tender Guidelines". The Royal Mint.

 "How the Royal Mint is Attempting to Redefine "Legal Tender" for Collector Coins". 27 March 2016.

 Barker, Simon (14 January 2020). "Are £5 Coins Legal Tender?". CostlyCoins.

 "The Queen's Beasts are brought to life in a new bullion coin range", Royal Mint Blog, 31 March 2016, archived from the original on 2 April 2016, retrieved 1 April 2016

 "Foreign and Commonwealth Office country profiles: South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands". fco.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 22 April 2009. Retrieved 9 May 2018.

 "Foreign and Commonwealth Office country profiles: British Antarctic Territory". fco.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 21 November 2008. Retrieved 9 May 2018.

 "Foreign and Commonwealth Office country profiles: Tristan da Cunha". fco.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 30 June 2010. Retrieved 9 May 2018.

 "Government of South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands". Archived from the original on 12 November 2002.

 The British Antarctic Territory Currency Archived 19 April 2010 at the Wayback Machine, Antarctic Heritage Trust

 Quine, W. V. (1987). Quiddities: An Intermittently Philosophical Dictionary. Harvard University Press. p. 126. ISBN 9780674042438.

 "Ask Oxford". Archived from the original on 29 March 2007.

 ""bob or two" – Google Search".

 David Jones (7 April 2008). "Two Bob Trouble". Blogspot.

 https://www.britnumsoc.org/publications/Digital%20BNJ/pdfs/1919_BNJ_15_9.pdf

 Coins with Cromwell's image were first minted in 1656 by Pierre Blondeau.

 Although the left/right alternation is now considered to have begun with Charles II, coins of both types were manufactured during his reign. See https://www.britnumsoc.org/publications/Digital%20BNJ/pdfs/1919_BNJ_15_9.pdf and https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/items/61525

 https://www.britnumsoc.org/publications/Digital%20BNJ/pdfs/1919_BNJ_15_9.pdf

 "Rare Edward VIII coin showing profile of monarch's 'better side' goes on display". BT.com. Retrieved 13 October 2019.

 Simonetti, Isabella (9 September 2022). "Why King Charles's profile may face left on British coins, and why it matters". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 10 September 2022.

 http://www.psdetecting.com/Inscriptions-EdwardVI-&-MaryI.html

 "Page 3023 | Supplement 39873, 26 May 1953 | London Gazette | the Gazette".

 "Page 3023 | Supplement 39873, 26 May 1953 | London Gazette | the Gazette".

 "King Charles: New coins featuring monarch's portrait unveiled". BBC News. 29 September 2022.

 Chalmers, Robert (1893). A History of Currency in the British Colonies. London, UK: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. p. 110. Retrieved 15 November 2014.

 "Fractional Farthings". The Royal Mint Museum.

 Bingham, John (29 June 2009). "Mix-up at Royal Mint creates dateless 20p pieces worth £50". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2 July 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2009.

External links

Clayton, Tony: Coins of England and Great Britain

Chard, Juliana: Common Names of British Coin Denominations

UK Coin Designs and Specifications from the Royal Mint's website

Coin Designs — Royal Mint competition designs

United Kingdom: Coins Issued and Used – list of all UK coins, with photos and descriptions

Old Money Converter – converts £sd to decimal currency

Old Money Converter 2 – converts decimal currency to £sd

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Edward VII

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Edward VII (disambiguation).

Edward VII

Studio photograph of King Edward VII

Portrait by W. & D. Downey, 1900s

King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions

Emperor of India

Reign 22 January 1901 – 6 May 1910

Coronation 9 August 1902

Imperial Durbar 1 January 1903

Predecessor Victoria

Successor George V

Born 9 November 1841

Buckingham Palace, London, England

Died 6 May 1910 (aged 68)

Buckingham Palace, London, England

Burial 20 May 1910

Royal Vault, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle

28 November 1925

Albert Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel

22 April 1927

South Aisle, St George's Chapel

Spouse Alexandra of Denmark

​(m. 1863)​

Issue

Detail

Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale

George V

Louise, Princess Royal

Princess Victoria

Maud, Queen of Norway

Prince Alexander John of Wales

Names

Albert Edward

House Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Father Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Mother Queen Victoria

Religion Protestant

Signature Signature of Edward VII

Education

Christ Church, Oxford

Trinity College, Cambridge

Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910.

The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and nicknamed "Bertie", Edward was related to royalty throughout Europe. He was Prince of Wales and heir apparent to the British throne for almost 60 years. During the long reign of his mother, he was largely excluded from political influence and came to personify the fashionable, leisured elite. He married Princess Alexandra of Denmark in 1863, and the couple had six children. As Prince of Wales, Edward travelled throughout Britain performing ceremonial public duties and represented Britain on visits abroad. His tours of North America in 1860 and of the Indian subcontinent in 1875 proved popular successes, but despite public approval, his reputation as a playboy prince soured his relationship with his mother.

As king, Edward played a role in the modernisation of the British Home Fleet and the reorganisation of the British Army after the Second Boer War of 1899–1902. He re-instituted traditional ceremonies as public displays and broadened the range of people with whom royalty socialised. He fostered good relations between Britain and other European countries, especially France, for which he was popularly called "Peacemaker", but his relationship with his nephew, the German Emperor Wilhelm II, was poor. The Edwardian era, which covered Edward's reign and was named after him, coincided with the start of a new century and heralded significant changes in technology and society, including steam turbine propulsion and the rise of socialism. He died in 1910 in the midst of a constitutional crisis that was resolved the following year by the Parliament Act 1911, which restricted the power of the unelected House of Lords. Edward was succeeded by his only surviving son, George V.

Early life and education

Portrait by Franz Xaver Winterhalter, 1846

Edward was born at 10:48 a.m. on 9 November 1841 in Buckingham Palace.[1] He was the eldest son and second child of Queen Victoria and her husband, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He was christened Albert Edward at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, on 25 January 1842.[a] He was named Albert after his father and Edward after his maternal grandfather, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn. He was known as Bertie to the royal family throughout his life.[3]

As the eldest son of the British sovereign, he was automatically Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay at birth. As a son of Prince Albert, he also held the titles of Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Duke of Saxony. He was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester on 8 December 1841, Earl of Dublin on 17 January 1850,[4][5][b] a Knight of the Garter on 9 November 1858, and a Knight of the Thistle on 24 May 1867.[4] In 1863, he renounced his succession rights to the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in favour of his younger brother Prince Alfred.[7]

The Queen and Prince Albert were determined that their eldest son should have an education that would prepare him to be a model constitutional monarch. At age seven, Edward embarked on a rigorous educational programme devised by Albert, and supervised by several tutors. Unlike his elder sister Victoria, he did not excel in his studies.[8] He tried to meet the expectations of his parents, but to no avail. Although Edward was not a diligent student—his true talents were those of charm, sociability and tact—Benjamin Disraeli described him as informed, intelligent and of sweet manner.[9] After the completion of his secondary-level studies, his tutor Frederick Waymouth Gibbs was replaced by Robert Bruce as his personal governor.[10]

After an educational trip to Rome, undertaken in the first few months of 1859, Edward spent the summer of that year studying at the University of Edinburgh under, among others, the chemist Lyon Playfair. In October, he matriculated as an undergraduate at Christ Church, Oxford.[11] Now released from the educational strictures imposed by his parents, he enjoyed studying for the first time and performed satisfactorily in examinations.[12] In 1861, he transferred to Trinity College, Cambridge,[13] where he was tutored in history by Charles Kingsley, Regius Professor of Modern History.[14] Kingsley's efforts brought forth the best academic performances of Edward's life, and Edward actually looked forward to his lectures.[15]

Early adulthood

Edward and his staff at Niagara Falls, 1860

In 1860, Edward undertook the first tour of North America by a Prince of Wales. His genial good humour and confident bonhomie made the tour a great success.[16] He inaugurated the Victoria Bridge, Montreal, across the St Lawrence River, and laid the cornerstone of Parliament Hill, Ottawa. He watched Charles Blondin traverse Niagara Falls by highwire, and stayed for three days with President James Buchanan at the White House. Buchanan accompanied the Prince to Mount Vernon, to pay his respects at the tomb of George Washington. Vast crowds greeted him everywhere. He met Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. Prayers for the royal family were said in Trinity Church, New York, for the first time since 1776.[16] The four-month tour throughout Canada and the United States considerably boosted Edward's confidence and self-esteem, and had many diplomatic benefits for Great Britain.[17]

Edward had hoped to pursue a career in the British Army, but his mother vetoed an active military career.[18] He had been gazetted colonel on 9 November 1858[19]—to his disappointment, as he had wanted to earn his commission by examination.[12] In September 1861, Edward was sent to Germany, supposedly to watch military manoeuvres, but actually in order to engineer a meeting between him and Princess Alexandra of Denmark, the eldest daughter of Prince Christian of Denmark and his wife Louise. The Queen and Prince Albert had already decided that Edward and Alexandra should marry. They met at Speyer on 24 September under the auspices of his elder sister, Victoria, who had married the Crown Prince of Prussia in 1858.[20] Edward's sister, acting upon instructions from their mother, had met Alexandra at Strelitz in June; the young Danish princess made a very favourable impression. Edward and Alexandra were friendly from the start; the meeting went well for both sides, and marriage plans advanced.[21]

Edward gained a reputation as a playboy. Determined to get some army experience, he attended manoeuvres in Ireland, during which he spent three nights with an actress, Nellie Clifden, who was hidden in the camp by his fellow officers.[22] Prince Albert, though ill, was appalled and visited Edward at Cambridge to issue a reprimand. Albert died in December 1861 just two weeks after the visit. Queen Victoria was inconsolable, wore mourning clothes for the rest of her life and blamed Edward for his father's death.[23] At first, she regarded her son with distaste as frivolous, indiscreet and irresponsible. She wrote to her eldest daughter, "I never can, or shall, look at him without a shudder."[24]

Marriage

Main article: Wedding of Prince Albert Edward and Princess Alexandra

The marriage of the Prince of Wales and Princess Alexandra of Denmark, Windsor, 10 March 1863

Once widowed, Queen Victoria effectively withdrew from public life. Shortly after Prince Albert's death, she arranged for Edward to embark on an extensive tour of the Middle East, visiting Egypt, Jerusalem, Damascus, Beirut and Istanbul.[25] The British Government wanted Edward to secure the friendship of Egypt's ruler, Said Pasha, to prevent French control of the Suez Canal if the Ottoman Empire collapsed. It was the first royal tour on which an official photographer, Francis Bedford, was in attendance. As soon as Edward returned to Britain, preparations were made for his engagement, which was sealed at Laeken in Belgium on 9 September 1862.[26] Edward married Alexandra of Denmark at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, on 10 March 1863. He was 21; she was 18.

Edward and Alexandra on their wedding day, 1863

The couple established Marlborough House as their London residence and Sandringham House in Norfolk as their country retreat. They entertained on a lavish scale. Their marriage met with disapproval in certain circles because most of Queen Victoria's relations were German, and Denmark was at loggerheads with Germany over the territories of Schleswig and Holstein. When Alexandra's father inherited the throne of Denmark in November 1863, the German Confederation took the opportunity to invade and annex Schleswig-Holstein. The Queen was of two minds as to whether it was a suitable match, given the political climate.[27] After the marriage, she expressed anxiety about their socialite lifestyle and attempted to dictate to them on various matters, including the names of their children.[28]

London Bridge on the Night of the Marriage of the Prince and Princess of Wales, by William Holman Hunt (1864)

Edward had mistresses throughout his married life. He socialised with actress Lillie Langtry; Lady Randolph Churchill;[c] Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick; actress Sarah Bernhardt; noblewoman Lady Susan Vane-Tempest; singer Hortense Schneider; prostitute Giulia Beneni (known as "La Barucci"); wealthy humanitarian Agnes Keyser; and Alice Keppel. At least fifty-five liaisons are conjectured.[30][31] How far these relationships went is not always clear. Edward always strove to be discreet, but this did not prevent society gossip or press speculation.[32] Keppel's great-granddaughter Camilla Parker Bowles became the mistress and subsequent wife of King Charles III, Edward's great-great-grandson. It was rumoured that Camilla's grandmother Sonia Keppel was fathered by Edward, but she was "almost certainly" the daughter of George Keppel, whom she resembled.[33] Edward never acknowledged any illegitimate children.[34] Alexandra was aware of his affairs, and seems to have accepted them.[35]

In 1869, Sir Charles Mordaunt, a British Member of Parliament, threatened to name Edward as co-respondent in his divorce suit. Ultimately, he did not do so but Edward was called as a witness in the case in early 1870. It was shown that Edward had visited the Mordaunts' house while Sir Charles was away sitting in the House of Commons. Although nothing further was proven and Edward denied he had committed adultery, the suggestion of impropriety was damaging.[12][36]

Heir apparent

During Queen Victoria's widowhood, Edward pioneered the idea of royal public appearances as they are understood today—for example, opening the Thames Embankment in 1871, the Mersey Tunnel in 1886, and Tower Bridge in 1894[37]—but his mother did not allow him an active role in the running of the country until 1898.[38][39] He was sent summaries of important government documents, but she refused to give him access to the originals.[12] Edward annoyed his mother, who favoured the Germans, by siding with Denmark on the Schleswig-Holstein Question in 1864 and in the same year annoyed her again by making a special effort to meet Giuseppe Garibaldi, the Italian general and revolutionary, who was a leader in the movement for Italian unification.[40] Liberal Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone sent him papers secretly.[12] From 1886, Foreign Secretary Lord Rosebery sent him Foreign Office despatches, and from 1892 some Cabinet papers were opened to him.[12]

In 1870 republican sentiment in Britain was given a boost when the French emperor, Napoleon III, was defeated in the Franco-Prussian War and the French Third Republic was declared.[41] However, in the winter of 1871, a brush with death led to an improvement in both Edward's popularity with the public and his relationship with his mother. While staying at Londesborough Lodge, near Scarborough, North Yorkshire, Edward contracted typhoid fever, the disease that was believed to have killed his father. There was great national concern, and one of his fellow guests (Lord Chesterfield) died. Edward's recovery was greeted with almost universal relief.[12] Public celebrations included the composition of Arthur Sullivan's Festival Te Deum. Edward cultivated politicians from all parties, including republicans, as his friends, and thereby largely dissipated any residual feelings against him.[42]

Edward (front left) in India, 1875–76

On 26 September 1875, Edward set off for India on an extensive eight-month tour; on the way, he visited Malta, Brindisi and Greece. His advisors remarked on his habit of treating all people the same, regardless of their social station or colour. In letters home, he complained of the treatment of the native Indians by the British officials: "Because a man has a black face and a different religion from our own, there is no reason why he should be treated as a brute."[43] Consequently, Lord Salisbury, the Secretary of State for India, issued new guidance and at least one resident was removed from office.[12] He returned to England on 11 May 1876, after stopping off at Portugal.[44] At the end of the tour, Queen Victoria was given the title Empress of India by Parliament, in part as a result of the tour's success.[45]

Edward was regarded worldwide as an arbiter of men's fashions.[46][47] He made wearing tweed, Homburg hats and Norfolk jackets fashionable, and popularised the wearing of black ties with dinner jackets, instead of white tie and tails.[48] He pioneered the pressing of trouser legs from side to side in preference to the now normal front and back creases,[49] and was thought to have introduced the stand-up turn-down shirt collar, created for him by Charvet.[50] A stickler for proper dress, he is said to have admonished Lord Salisbury for wearing the trousers of an Elder Brother of Trinity House with a Privy Councillor's coat. Deep in an international crisis, Salisbury informed the Prince that it had been a dark morning, and that "my mind must have been occupied by some subject of less importance."[51] The tradition of men not buttoning the bottom button of waistcoats is said to be linked to Edward, who supposedly left his undone because of his large girth.[12][52] His waist measured 48 inches (122 cm) shortly before his coronation.[53] He introduced the practice of eating roast beef and potatoes with horseradish sauce and Yorkshire pudding on Sundays, a meal that remains a staple British favourite for Sunday lunch.[54] He was a lifelong heavy smoker, but not a heavy drinker, though he did drink champagne and, occasionally, port.[55]

Edward was a patron of the arts and sciences and helped found the Royal College of Music. He opened the college in 1883 with the words, "Class can no longer stand apart from class ... I claim for music that it produces that union of feeling which I much desire to promote."[45] At the same time, he enjoyed gambling and country sports and was an enthusiastic hunter. He ordered all the clocks at Sandringham to run half an hour ahead to provide more daylight time for shooting. This tradition of so-called Sandringham Time continued until 1936, when it was abolished by Edward VIII.[56] He also laid out a golf course at Windsor. By the 1870s the future king had taken a keen interest in horseracing and steeplechasing. In 1896, his horse Persimmon won both the Derby Stakes and the St Leger Stakes. In 1900, Persimmon's brother, Diamond Jubilee, won five races (Derby, St Leger, 2,000 Guineas Stakes, Newmarket Stakes and Eclipse Stakes)[57] and another of Edward's horses, Ambush II, won the Grand National.[58]

Edward (right) with his mother (centre); his niece Empress Alexandra of Russia (far left); her husband, Tsar Nicholas II; and their daughter Olga, 1896

In 1891 Edward was embroiled in the royal baccarat scandal, when it was revealed he had played an illegal card game for money the previous year. The Prince was forced to appear as a witness in court for a second time when one of the participants unsuccessfully sued his fellow players for slander after being accused of cheating.[59] In the same year Edward was involved in a personal conflict, when Lord Charles Beresford threatened to reveal details of Edward's private life to the press, as a protest against Edward interfering with Beresford's affair with Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick. The friendship between the two men was irreversibly damaged, and their bitterness would last for the remainder of their lives.[60] Usually, Edward's outbursts of temper were short-lived, and "after he had let himself go ... [he would] smooth matters by being especially nice".[61]

In late 1891, Edward's eldest son, Albert Victor, was engaged to Princess Victoria Mary of Teck. Just a few weeks later, in early 1892, Albert Victor died of pneumonia. Edward was grief-stricken. "To lose our eldest son", he wrote, "is one of those calamities one can never really get over". Edward told Queen Victoria, "[I would] have given my life for him, as I put no value on mine".[62] Albert Victor was the second of Edward's children to die. In 1871, his youngest son, Alexander John, had died just 24 hours after being born. Edward had insisted on placing Alexander John in a coffin personally with "the tears rolling down his cheeks".[63]

On his way to Denmark through Belgium on 4 April 1900, Edward was the victim of an attempted assassination when fifteen-year-old Jean-Baptiste Sipido shot at him in protest over the Second Boer War. Sipido, though obviously guilty, was acquitted by a Belgian court because he was underage.[64] The perceived laxity of the Belgian authorities, combined with British disgust at Belgian atrocities in the Congo, worsened the already poor relations between the United Kingdom and the Continent. However, in the next ten years, Edward's affability and popularity, as well as his use of family connections, assisted Britain in building European alliances.[65]

Reign

Accession

Edward in coronation robes holding a sceptre. A crown and orb are on the table to his right.

Portrait by Sir Luke Fildes, 1901

When Queen Victoria died on 22 January 1901, Edward became King of the United Kingdom, Emperor of India and, in an innovation, King of the British Dominions.[66] He chose to reign under the name of Edward VII, instead of Albert Edward—the name his mother had intended for him to use[d]—declaring that he did not wish to "undervalue the name of Albert" and diminish the status of his father with whom the "name should stand alone".[67] The numeral VII was occasionally omitted in Scotland, even by the national church, in deference to protests that the previous Edwards were English kings who had "been excluded from Scotland by battle".[12] J. B. Priestley recalled, "I was only a child when he succeeded Victoria in 1901, but I can testify to his extraordinary popularity. He was in fact the most popular king England had known since the earlier 1660s."[68]

Caricature in Puck magazine, 1901

Edward donated his parents' house, Osborne on the Isle of Wight, to the state and continued to live at Sandringham.[69] He could afford to be magnanimous; his private secretary, Sir Francis Knollys, claimed that he was the first heir to succeed to the throne in credit.[70] Edward's finances had been ably managed by Sir Dighton Probyn, Comptroller of the Household, and had benefited from advice from Edward's financier friends, some of whom were Jewish, such as Ernest Cassel, Maurice de Hirsch and the Rothschild family.[71] At a time of widespread antisemitism, Edward attracted criticism for openly socialising with Jews.[72][73]

Edward's coronation had originally been scheduled for 26 June 1902. However, two days before, he was diagnosed with appendicitis.[74] The disease was generally not treated operatively. It carried a high mortality rate, but developments in anaesthesia and antisepsis in the preceding 50 years made life-saving surgery possible.[75] Sir Frederick Treves, with the support of Lord Lister, performed a then-radical operation of draining a pint of pus from the infected abscess through a small incision (through 4+1⁄2-inch thickness of belly fat and abdomen wall); this outcome showed that the cause was not cancer.[76] The next day, Edward was sitting up in bed, smoking a cigar.[77] Two weeks later, it was announced that he was out of danger. Treves was honoured with a baronetcy (which the King had arranged before the operation)[78] and appendix surgery entered the medical mainstream.[75] Edward was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 9 August 1902 by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Frederick Temple.[74]

Edward refurbished the royal palaces, reintroduced the traditional ceremonies, such as the State Opening of Parliament, that his mother had foregone, and founded new honours, such as the Order of Merit, to recognise contributions to the arts and sciences.[79] In 1902, the Shah of Persia, Mozzafar-al-Din, visited England expecting to receive the Order of the Garter. The King refused to bestow the honour on the Shah because the order was meant to be in his personal gift and the Foreign Secretary, Lord Lansdowne, had promised it without his consent. He also objected to inducting a Muslim into a Christian order of chivalry. His refusal threatened to damage British attempts to gain influence in Persia,[80] but Edward resented his ministers' attempts to reduce his traditional powers.[81] Eventually, he relented and Britain sent a special embassy to the Shah with a full Order of the Garter the following year.[82]

"Uncle of Europe"

Relaxing at Balmoral Castle, photograph by Queen Alexandra

As king, Edward's main interests lay in the fields of foreign affairs and naval and military matters. Fluent in French and German, he reinvented royal diplomacy by numerous state visits across Europe.[83] He took annual holidays in Biarritz and Marienbad.[56] One of his most important foreign trips was an official visit to France in May 1903 as the guest of President Émile Loubet. Following a visit to Pope Leo XIII in Rome, this trip helped create the atmosphere for the Anglo-French Entente Cordiale, an agreement delineating British and French colonies in North Africa, and ruling out any future war between the two countries. The Entente was negotiated in 1904 between the French foreign minister, Théophile Delcassé, and the British foreign secretary, Lord Lansdowne. It marked the end of centuries of Anglo-French rivalry and Britain's splendid isolation from Continental affairs, and attempted to counterbalance the growing dominance of the German Empire and its ally, Austria-Hungary.[84]

Edward was related to nearly every other European monarch, and came to be known as the "uncle of Europe".[38] German Emperor Wilhelm II and Emperor Nicholas II of Russia were his nephews; Queen Victoria Eugenia of Spain, Crown Princess Margaret of Sweden, Crown Princess Marie of Romania, Crown Princess Sophia of Greece, and Empress Alexandra of Russia were his nieces; King Haakon VII of Norway was both his nephew and his son-in-law; kings Frederick VIII of Denmark and George I of Greece were his brothers-in-law; kings Albert I of Belgium, Ferdinand of Bulgaria, and Charles I and Manuel II of Portugal were his second cousins. Edward doted on his grandchildren, and indulged them, to the consternation of their governesses.[85] However, there was one relation whom Edward did not like: Wilhelm II. His difficult relationship with his nephew exacerbated the tensions between Germany and Britain.[86]

In April 1908, during Edward's annual stay at Biarritz, he accepted the resignation of British Prime Minister Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman. In a break with precedent, Edward asked Campbell-Bannerman's successor, H. H. Asquith, to travel to Biarritz to kiss hands. Asquith complied, but the press criticised the action of the King in appointing a prime minister on foreign soil instead of returning to Britain.[87] In June 1908, Edward became the first reigning British monarch to visit the Russian Empire, despite refusing to visit in 1906, when Anglo-Russian relations were strained in the aftermath of the Russo-Japanese War, the Dogger Bank incident, and the Tsar's dissolution of the Duma.[88] The previous month, he visited the Scandinavian countries, becoming the first British monarch to visit Sweden.[89]

Political opinions

Portrait in naval uniform by Vanity Fair magazine, 1902

Edward VII on British 1-penny stamp of 1902

While Prince of Wales, Edward had to be dissuaded from breaking with constitutional precedent by openly voting for W. E. Gladstone's Representation of the People Bill (1884) in the House of Lords.[12][90] On other matters, he was more conservative; for example, he did not favour giving votes to women,[12][91] although he did suggest that the social reformer Octavia Hill serve on the Commission for Working Class Housing.[92] He was also opposed to Irish Home Rule, instead preferring a form of dual monarchy.[12]

As Prince of Wales, Edward had come to enjoy warm and mutually respectful relations with Gladstone, whom his mother detested.[93] But the statesman's son, Home Secretary Herbert Gladstone, angered the King by planning to permit Roman Catholic priests in vestments to carry the Host through the streets of London, and by appointing two ladies, Lady Frances Balfour and May Tennant, wife of H. J. Tennant, to serve on a Royal Commission on reforming divorce law—Edward thought divorce could not be discussed with "delicacy or even decency" before ladies. Edward's biographer Philip Magnus-Allcroft suggests that Gladstone may have become a whipping-boy for the King's general irritation with the Liberal government. Gladstone was sacked in the reshuffle the following year and the King agreed, with some reluctance, to appoint him Governor-General of South Africa.[94]

Edward involved himself heavily in discussions over army reform, the need for which had become apparent with the failings of the Second Boer War.[95] He supported the redesign of army command, the creation of the Territorial Force, and the decision to provide an Expeditionary Force supporting France in the event of war with Germany.[96] Reform of the Royal Navy was also suggested, partly due to the ever-increasing Naval Estimates, and because of the emergence of the Imperial German Navy as a new strategic threat.[97] Ultimately a dispute arose between Admiral Lord Charles Beresford, who favoured increased spending and a broad deployment, and the First Sea Lord Admiral Sir John Fisher, who favoured efficiency savings, scrapping obsolete vessels, and a strategic realignment of the Royal Navy relying on torpedo craft for home defence backed by the new dreadnoughts.[98][99]

The King lent support to Fisher, in part because he disliked Beresford, and eventually Beresford was dismissed. Beresford continued his campaign outside of the navy and Fisher ultimately announced his resignation in late 1909, although the bulk of his policies were retained.[100] The King was intimately involved in the appointment of Fisher's successor as the Fisher-Beresford feud had split the service, and the only truly qualified figure known to be outside of both camps was Sir Arthur Wilson, who had retired in 1907.[101] Wilson was reluctant to return to active duty, but Edward persuaded him to do so, and Wilson became First Sea Lord on 25 January 1910.[102]

Edward was rarely interested in politics, although his views on some issues were notably progressive for the time. During his reign, he said use of the word "nigger" was "disgraceful", despite it then being in common parlance.[103] In 1904, during an Anglo-German summit in Kiel between Wilhelm II and Edward, Wilhelm with the Russo-Japanese War in mind started to go on about the "Yellow Peril", which he called "the greatest peril menacing ... Christendom and European civilisation. If the Russians went on giving ground, the yellow race would, in twenty years time, be in Moscow and Posen".[104] Wilhelm went on to attack his British guests for supporting Japan against Russia, suggesting that the British were committing "race treason". In response, Edward stated that he "could not see it. The Japanese were an intelligent, brave and chivalrous nation, quite as civilised as the Europeans, from whom they only differed by the pigmentation of their skin".[104] Although Edward lived a life of luxury often far removed from that of the majority of his subjects, they expected it, and his personal charm with all levels of society and his strong condemnation of prejudice went some way to assuage republican and racial tensions building during his lifetime.[12]

Constitutional crisis

Bust by Francis Derwent Wood

Profile of Edward VII on a halfpenny, 1902

In the last year of his life, Edward became embroiled in a constitutional crisis when the Conservative majority in the House of Lords refused to pass the "People's Budget" proposed by the Liberal government of Prime Minister Asquith. The crisis eventually led—after Edward's death—to the removal of the Lords' right to veto legislation. The King was displeased at Liberal attacks on the peers, which included a polemical speech by David Lloyd George at Limehouse.[105] Cabinet minister Winston Churchill publicly demanded a general election, for which Asquith apologised to the King's adviser Lord Knollys and rebuked Churchill at a Cabinet meeting. Edward was so dispirited at the tone of class warfare—although Asquith told him that party rancour had been just as bad over the First Home Rule Bill in 1886—that he introduced his son to Secretary of State for War Richard Haldane as "the last King of England".[106] After the King's horse Minoru won the Derby on 26 July 1909, he returned to the racetrack the following day, and laughed when a man shouted: "Now, King. You've won the Derby. Go back home and dissolve this bloody Parliament!"[107]

In vain, the King urged Conservative leaders Arthur Balfour and Lord Lansdowne to pass the Budget, which Lord Esher had advised him was not unusual, as Queen Victoria had helped to broker agreements between the two Houses over Irish disestablishment in 1869 and the Third Reform Act in 1884.[108] On Asquith's advice, however, he did not offer them an election (at which, to judge from recent by-elections, they were likely to gain seats) as a reward for doing so.[109]

The Finance Bill passed the Commons on 5 November 1909, but was rejected by the Lords on 30 November; they instead passed a resolution of Lord Lansdowne's stating that they were entitled to oppose the bill as it lacked an electoral mandate. The King was annoyed that his efforts to urge passage of the budget had become public knowledge[110] and had forbidden Knollys, who was an active Liberal peer, from voting for the budget, although Knollys had suggested that this would be a suitable gesture to indicate royal desire to see the Budget pass.[111] In December 1909, a proposal to create peers (to give the Liberals a majority in the Lords) or give the prime minister the right to do so was considered "outrageous" by Knollys, who thought the King should abdicate rather than agree to it.[112]

Talk of removing the Lords' veto played a major role in the January 1910 election. Early in the election campaign Lloyd George talked of "guarantees" and Asquith of "safeguards" that would be necessary before forming another Liberal government, but such talk ceased after the King informed Asquith that he would not be willing to contemplate creating peers until after a second general election.[12][113] Balfour refused to be drawn on whether or not he would be willing to form a Conservative government, but advised the King not to promise to create peers until he had seen the terms of any proposed constitutional change.[114] During the campaign the leading Conservative Walter Long had asked Knollys for permission to state that the King did not favour Irish Home Rule, but Knollys refused on the grounds that it was not appropriate for the monarch's views to be known in public.[115]

The election resulted in a hung parliament, with the Liberal government dependent on the support of the third largest party, the nationalist Irish Parliamentary Party. The King suggested a compromise whereby only 50 peers from each side would be allowed to vote, which would also obviate the large Conservative majority in the Lords, but Lord Crewe, Liberal leader in the Lords, advised that this would reduce the Lords' independence, as only peers who were loyal party supporters would be picked.[115] Pressure to remove the Lords' veto now came from the Irish nationalist MPs, who wanted to remove the Lords' ability to block the introduction of Home Rule. They threatened to vote against the Budget unless they had their way (an attempt by Lloyd George to win their support by amending whiskey duties was abandoned as the Cabinet felt this would recast the Budget too much). Asquith now revealed that there were no "guarantees" for the creation of peers. The Cabinet considered resigning and leaving it up to Balfour to try to form a Conservative government.[116]

The King's Speech from the Throne on 21 February made reference to introducing measures restricting the Lords' power of veto to one of delay, but Asquith inserted a phrase "in the opinion of my advisers" so the King could be seen to be distancing himself from the planned legislation.[117] The Commons passed resolutions on 14 April that would form the basis for the Parliament Act 1911: to remove the power of the Lords to veto money bills, to replace their veto of other bills with a power to delay, and to reduce the term of Parliament from seven years to five (the King would have preferred four[114]). But in that debate Asquith hinted—to ensure the support of the nationalist MPs—that he would ask the King to break the deadlock "in that Parliament" (i.e. contrary to Edward's earlier stipulation that there be a second election). The Budget was passed by both Commons and Lords in April.[118]

By April the Palace was having secret talks with Balfour and Randall Davidson, Archbishop of Canterbury, who both advised that the Liberals did not have sufficient mandate to demand the creation of peers. The King thought the whole proposal "simply disgusting" and that the government was "in the hands of Redmond & Co". Lord Crewe announced publicly that the government's wish to create peers should be treated as formal "ministerial advice" (which, by convention, the monarch must accept) although Lord Esher argued that the monarch was entitled in extremis to dismiss the government rather than take their "advice".[119] Esher's view has been called "obsolete and unhelpful".[120]

Death

Main article: Death and state funeral of Edward VII

The body of the King in his deathbed, May 1910

Duration: 3 minutes and 51 seconds.3:51

Funeral procession of Edward VII, London, 1910

Edward habitually smoked twenty cigarettes and twelve cigars a day. In 1907, a rodent ulcer, a type of cancer affecting the skin next to his nose, was cured with radium.[121] Towards the end of his life he increasingly suffered from bronchitis.[12] He suffered a momentary loss of consciousness during a state visit to Berlin in February 1909.[122] In March 1910, he was staying at Biarritz when he collapsed. He remained there to convalesce, while in London Asquith tried to get the Finance Bill passed. The King's continued ill health was unreported, and he attracted criticism for staying in France while political tensions were so high.[12] On 27 April he returned to Buckingham Palace, still suffering from severe bronchitis. Alexandra returned from visiting her brother, George I of Greece, in Corfu a week later on 5 May.

On 6 May, Edward suffered several heart attacks, but refused to go to bed, saying, "No, I shall not give in; I shall go on; I shall work to the end."[123] Between moments of faintness, his son the Prince of Wales (shortly to be King George V) told him that his horse, Witch of the Air, had won at Kempton Park that afternoon. The King replied, "Yes, I have heard of it. I am very glad": his final words.[12] At 11:30 p.m. he lost consciousness for the last time and was put to bed. He died 15 minutes later.[123]

Alexandra refused to allow Edward's body to be moved for eight days afterwards, though she allowed small groups of visitors to enter his room.[124] On 11 May, the late king was dressed in his uniform and placed in a massive oak coffin, which was moved on 14 May to the throne room, where it was sealed and lay in state, with a guardsman standing at each corner of the bier. Despite the time that had elapsed since his death, Alexandra noted the King's body remained "wonderfully preserved".[125] On the morning of 17 May, the coffin was placed on a gun carriage and drawn by black horses to Westminster Hall, with the new king, his family and Edward's favourite dog, Caesar, walking behind. Following a brief service, the royal family left, and the hall was opened to the public; over 400,000 people filed past the coffin over the next two days.[126] As Barbara Tuchman noted in The Guns of August, his funeral, held on 20 May 1910, marked "the greatest assemblage of royalty and rank ever gathered in one place and, of its kind, the last." A royal train conveyed the King's coffin from London to Windsor Castle, where Edward was buried at St George's Chapel.[127]

Legacy

Further information: Cultural depictions of Edward VII and Royal eponyms in Canada

Statue in Queen Victoria Gardens, Melbourne

Statue outside Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh

Statue of Edward VII, Bangalore, India

Statues of Edward can be found throughout the former empire.

Before his accession to the throne, Edward was the longest-serving heir apparent in British history. He was surpassed by his great-great-grandson Charles III on 20 April 2011.[128] The title Prince of Wales is not automatically held by the heir apparent; it is bestowed by the reigning monarch at a time of his or her choosing.[129] Edward was the longest-serving holder of that title until surpassed by Charles on 9 September 2017.[130] Edward was Prince of Wales between 8 December 1841 and 22 January 1901 (59 years, 45 days); Charles held the title between 26 July 1958 and 8 September 2022 (64 years, 44 days).[129][131][132]

As king, Edward VII proved a greater success than anyone had expected,[133] but he was already past the average life expectancy and had little time left to fulfil the role. In his short reign, he ensured that his second son and heir, George V, was better prepared to take the throne. Contemporaries described their relationship as more like affectionate brothers than father and son,[134] and on Edward's death George wrote in his diary that he had lost his "best friend and the best of fathers ... I never had a [cross] word with him in my life. I am heart-broken and overwhelmed with grief".[135]

Edward has been recognised as the first truly constitutional British sovereign and the last sovereign to wield effective political power.[136] Though lauded as "Peacemaker",[137] he had been afraid that German Emperor Wilhelm II, who was one of his nephews, would tip Europe into war.[138] Four years after Edward's death, the First World War broke out. The naval reforms he had supported and his part in securing the Triple Entente between Britain, France, and Russia, as well as his relationships with his extended family, fed the paranoia of the German Emperor, who blamed Edward for the war.[139] Publication of the official biography of Edward was delayed until 1927 by its author, Sidney Lee, who feared German propagandists would select material to portray Edward as an anti-German warmonger.[140] Lee was also hampered by the extensive destruction of Edward's personal papers; Edward had left orders that all his letters should be burned on his death.[141] Subsequent biographers have been able to construct a more rounded picture of Edward by using material and sources that were unavailable to Lee.[142]

Historian R. C. K. Ensor, writing in 1936, praised the King's political personality:

...he had in many respects great natural ability. He knew how to be both dignified and charming; he had an excellent memory; and his tact in handling people was quite exceptional. He had a store of varied, though unsystematized, knowledge gathered at first-hand through talking to all sorts of eminent men. His tastes were not particularly elevated, but they were thoroughly English; and he showed much (though not unfailing) comprehension for the common instincts of the people over whom he reigned. This was not the less remarkable because, though a good linguist in French and German, he never learned to speak English without a German accent.[143]

Ensor rejects the widespread notion that the King exerted an important influence on British foreign policy, believing he gained that reputation by making frequent trips abroad, with many highly publicized visits to foreign courts. Ensor thought surviving documents showed "how comparatively crude his views on foreign policy were, how little he read, and of what naïve indiscretions he was capable."[144] Edward received criticism for his apparent pursuit of self-indulgent pleasure, but he received great praise for his affable manners and diplomatic tact. As his grandson Edward VIII wrote, "his lighter side ... obscured the fact that he had both insight and influence."[145] "He had a tremendous zest for pleasure but he also had a real sense of duty", wrote J. B. Priestley.[146] Lord Esher wrote that Edward VII was "kind and debonair and not undignified—but too human".[147]

Honours

British honours[5]

KG: Royal Knight of the Garter, 9 November 1858[148]

GCSI: Extra Knight Companion of the Star of India, 25 June 1861;[149] Extra Knight Grand Commander, 24 May 1866[150]

FRS: Fellow of the Royal Society, 12 February 1863

PC: Member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, 8 December 1863

GCB: Knight Grand Cross of the Bath (military), 10 February 1865;[151] Great Master, 22 June 1897[152]

KT: Extra Knight of the Thistle, 24 May 1867[153]

KP: Extra Knight of St. Patrick, 18 March 1868[154]

PC(I): Member of the Privy Council of Ireland, 21 April 1868

GCStJ: Knight of Justice of St. John, 1876;[155] Grand Prior, 1888[156]

GCMG: Extra Knight Grand Cross of St Michael and St George, 31 May 1877[157]

GCIE: Extra Knight Grand Commander of the Indian Empire, 21 June 1887[158]

GCVO: Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, 6 May 1896[159]

Albert Medal of the Royal Society of Arts, 1901[160]

Founder and Sovereign of the Order of Merit, 26 June 1902[161]

Founder and Sovereign of the Imperial Service Order, 8 August 1902[162]

Founder of the Royal Victorian Chain, 1902[163]

Foreign honours

Armorial achievement of the Spanish Army 62nd Regiment of Infantry "Arapiles".

King Edward's cypher and the name of the British Army unit that played a prominent role in the Battle of Salamanca were added at the beginning of the Peninsular War Centenary (1908).[164]

Saxony: Knight of the Rue Crown, 1844[165]

Russia:[166]

Knight of St. Andrew, with Collar, 1844

Knight of St. Alexander Nevsky, 1844

Knight of the White Eagle, 1844

Knight of St. Anna, 1st Class, 1844

Knight of St. Stanislaus, 1st Class, 1844

Knight of St. Vladimir, 3rd Class, 1881

Netherlands: Grand Cross of the Netherlands Lion, 1849[166]

Spain:

Knight of the Golden Fleece, 7 May 1852[167]

Grand Cross of the Order of Charles III, with Collar, 6 May 1876[168]

Portugal:[169]

Grand Cross of the Tower and Sword, 25 November 1858

Grand Cross of the Sash of the Two Orders, 7 June 1865; Three Orders, 8 February 1901

Prussia:[170]

Knight of the Black Eagle, 22 December 1858; with Collar, 1869

Grand Cross of the Red Eagle, 2 March 1874

Grand Commander's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern, 11 March 1878

Knight of the Royal Crown Order, 3rd Class with Red Cross on White Field on Commemorative Band, 4 April 1881

Knight of Honour of the Johanniter Order, 19 May 1884

Belgium: Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold (civil), 11 January 1859[171]

Sardinia: Knight of the Annunciation, 20 February 1859[172]

Ernestine duchies: Grand Cross of the Saxe-Ernestine House Order, December 1859[173]

Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach: Grand Cross of the White Falcon, 17 April 1860[174]

Baden:[175]

Knight of the House Order of Fidelity, 1861

Grand Cross of the Zähringer Lion, 1861

Ottoman Empire:

Order of Osmanieh, 1st Class, 25 May 1862[176]

Hanedan-i-Ali-Osman, June 1902[177]

Greece: Grand Cross of the Redeemer, 29 May 1862[178]

Hesse and by Rhine:[179]

Grand Cross of the Ludwig Order, 8 October 1862

Grand Cross of the Merit Order of Philip the Magnanimous, with Swords, 18 February 1878

Knight of the Golden Lion, 18 June 1882

France: Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, 15 March 1863[180]

Denmark:[181]

Knight of the Elephant, 16 November 1863

Cross of Honour of the Order of the Dannebrog, 14 October 1864

Commemorative Medal for the Golden Wedding of King Christian IX and Queen Louise, 1892

Grand Commander of the Dannebrog, 9 September 1901

Sweden:

Knight of the Seraphim, with Collar, 27 September 1864[182]

Knight of the Order of Charles XIII, 21 December 1868[183]

Commander Grand Cross of the Order of Vasa, with Collar, 26 April 1908[184]

Hanover:[185]

Grand Cross of the Royal Guelphic Order, 1864

Knight of St. George, 1865

Mecklenburg: Grand Cross of the Wendish Crown, with Crown in Ore, 13 August 1865[186]

Nassau: Knight of the Gold Lion of Nassau, August 1865[187]

Austria-Hungary: Grand Cross of the Royal Hungarian Order of St. Stephen, 13 June 1867[188]

Brazil: Grand Cross of the Southern Cross, 11 July 1871[188]

Ethiopia:

Grand Cross of the Seal of Solomon, 1874[189]

Grand Cross of the Star of Ethiopia, 9 October 1901[190]

Norway: Grand Cross of St. Olav, with Collar, 3 October 1874[191]

Oldenburg: Grand Cross of the Order of Duke Peter Friedrich Ludwig, with Golden Crown, 24 February 1878[192]

Siam:

Knight of the Order of the Royal House of Chakri, 1880[166]

Grand Cross of the White Elephant, 1887[188]

Military Order of Malta: Knight, 14 June 1881;[188] Bailiff Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion[193]

Hawaii: Grand Cross of the Order of Kalākaua, with Collar, July 1881[194]

Romania:

Grand Cross of the Star of Romania, 1882[166]

Collar of the Order of Carol I, 1906[195]

Württemberg: Grand Cross of the Württemberg Crown, 1883[196]

Japan: Grand Cordon of the Order of the Chrysanthemum, 20 September 1886; Collar, 13 April 1902[197]

Bavaria: Knight of St. Hubert, 19 March 1901[188]

Monaco: Grand Cross of St. Charles, 25 June 1902[198]

San Marino: Grand Cross of the Order of San Marino, August 1902[199]

Montenegro: Grand Cross of the Order of Prince Danilo I, 1902[200]

Persia: Order of the Aqdas, 1st Class, 1904[201]

Honorary foreign military appointments

1870: Honorary Colonel of the Guard Hussar Regiment (Denmark)[202]

1883: Field Marshal (Generalfeldmarschall) of the German Army[203]

5 February 1901: Honorary Colonel of the 27th (King Edward's) Regiment of Dragoons of Kiev[204]

26 June 1902: Admiral of the Fleet (Großadmiral) à la suite of the Imperial German Navy[203]

Honorary Captain General of the Spanish Army[205]

Honorary Admiral of the Spanish Navy[205]

Colonel-in-Chief of the German regiment 5th (Pomeranian) Hussars "Prince Blücher of Wahlstatt"[203]

Colonel-in-Chief 1st Guards Dragoons "Queen of Great Britain and Ireland"[203]

Honorary Colonel of the Infantry Regiment "Zamora" No. 8 (Spain)[205]

1905: Honorary Admiral of the Swedish Navy[206]

1908: Honorary General of the Swedish Army[207]

Honorary Admiral of the Greek Navy[193]

Honorary General of the Norwegian Army[193]

Arms

Shortly after Edward's accession, he proposed an alternative version of the Royal Standard for use by the Sovereign, defaced in the centre with a purple oval containing the cypher and crown of the reigning monarch. However, he was persuaded that such a proposal was impractical.[208]

Edward's coat of arms as the Prince of Wales was the royal arms differenced by a label of three points argent, and an inescutcheon of the Duchy of Saxony, representing his paternal arms. When he acceded as King, he gained the royal arms undifferenced.[209]

Coat of arms as Prince of Wales, 1841–1901

Royal coat of arms outside Scotland

Royal coat of arms in Scotland

Royal cypher

Issue

Name Birth Death Marriage/notes

Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale 8 January 1864 14 January 1892 (aged 28) engaged 1891, to Princess Victoria Mary of Teck

George V 3 June 1865 20 January 1936 (aged 70) 1893, Princess Victoria Mary of Teck; had issue including Edward VIII and George VI

Louise, Princess Royal 20 February 1867 4 January 1931 (aged 63) 1889, Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife; had issue

Princess Victoria 6 July 1868 3 December 1935 (aged 67) never married and without issue

Princess Maud 26 November 1869 20 November 1938 (aged 68) 1896, Prince Carl of Denmark (King of Norway as Haakon VII from 1905); had issue including Prince Alexander (later Olav V)

Prince Alexander John of Wales 6 April 1871 7 April 1871 born and died at Sandringham House

Ancestry

Ancestors of Edward VII[210][211][212]

See also

"love chair" (siege d'amour)

Household of Edward VII and Alexandra

Edward the Seventh, a 1975 television miniseries.

Notes

 His godparents were the King of Prussia, his paternal step-grandmother the Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (for whom the Duchess of Kent, his maternal grandmother, stood proxy), his great-uncle the Duke of Cambridge, his step-great-grandmother the Dowager Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Altenburg (for whom the Duchess of Cambridge, his great-aunt, stood proxy), his great-aunt Princess Sophia (for whom Princess Augusta of Cambridge, his first cousin once-removed, stood proxy) and his great-uncle Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.[2]

 Gazetted on 10 September 1849.[6]

 Letters written by Edward to Lady Randolph may have "signified no more than a flirtation" but were "[w]ritten in a strain of undue familiarity".[29]

 No English or British sovereign has ever reigned under a double name.

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Bibliography

Bentley-Cranch, Dana (1992), Edward VII: Image of an Era 1841–1910, London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, ISBN 978-0-11-290508-0

Ensor, R. C. K. (1936), England, 1870–1914, Oxford: Clarendon Press

Hattersley, Roy (2004), The Edwardians, London: Little, Brown, ISBN 978-0-316-72537-8

Heffer, Simon (1998), Power and Place: The Political Consequences of King Edward VII, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, ISBN 978-0-297-84220-0

Hough, Richard (1992), Edward & Alexandra: Their Private and Public Lives, London: Hodder & Stoughton, ISBN 978-0-340-55825-6

Lee, Sidney (1927), King Edward VII: A Biography, vol. II, London: Macmillan

Magnus, Philip (1964), King Edward The Seventh, London: John Murray

Middlemas, Keith (1972), Antonia Fraser (ed.), The Life and Times of Edward VII, London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, ISBN 978-0-297-83189-1

Priestley, J. B. (1970), The Edwardians, London: Heinemann, ISBN 978-0-434-60332-9

Ridley, Jane (2012), Bertie: A Life of Edward VII, London: Chatto & Windus, ISBN 978-0-7011-7614-3

Shaw, William Arthur; Burtchaell, George Dames (1906), The knights of England; a complete record from the earliest time to the present day of the knights of all the orders of chivalry in England, Scotland, and Ireland, and of knights bachelors, London: Central chancery of the orders of knighthood, Sherratt and Hughes

Windsor, HRH The Duke of (1951), A King's Story, London: Cassell and Co

Further reading

Andrews, Allen (1975), The Follies of King Edward VII, Lexington, ISBN 978-0-904312-15-7

Beer, Peter (2016), Playboy Princes: The Apprentice Years of Edward VII and VIII, Peter Owen

Buckner, Phillip (2003), "Casting daylight upon magic: Deconstructing the royal tour of 1901 to Canada", Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 31 (2): 158–189, doi:10.1080/03086530310001705656, S2CID 162347515

Butler, David (1975), Edward VII, Prince of Hearts, Littlehampton Book Services Ltd, ISBN 978-0-297-76897-5

Cornwallis, Kinahan (2009) [1860], Royalty in the New World: Or, the Prince of Wales in America, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-1-108-00298-1

Cowles, Virginia (1956), Edward VII and his Circle, H. Hamilton

Farrer, James Anson (1912), England Under Edward VII, Allen & Unwin

Glencross, Matthew (2016), The State Visits of Edward VII: Reinventing Royal Diplomacy for the Twentieth Century, Palgrave Macmillan

Hibbert, Christopher (2007), Edward VII: The Last Victorian King, Palgrave Macmillan, ISBN 978-1-4039-8377-0

Neilson, Francis (1957), "Edward VII and the Entente Cordiale, I.", American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 16 (4): 353–368, doi:10.1111/j.1536-7150.1957.tb00197.x, JSTOR 3484884

Plumptre, George (1997), Edward VII, Trafalgar Square Publishing, ISBN 978-1-85793-846-3

Ponsonby, Frederick (1951), Recollections of Three Reigns, London: Eyre & Spottiswoode

Ridley, Jane (2013), "'The Sport of Kings': Shooting and The Court of Edward VII", The Court Historian, 18 (2): 189–205, doi:10.1179/cou.2013.18.2.004, S2CID 159750104

Ridley, Jane (2016), "Bertie Prince of Wales: Prince Hal and the Widow of Windsor", Royal Heirs and the Uses of Soft Power in Nineteenth-Century Europe, London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 123–138

Roby, Kinley E. (1975), The King, the Press and the People: A Study of Edward VII, Barrie and Jenkins, ISBN 978-0-214-20098-4

Ryan, A. P. (1953), "The Diplomacy of Edward VII", History Today, vol. 3, no. 5, pp. 352–360

St Aubyn, Giles (1979), Edward VII, Prince and King, Atheneum, ISBN 978-0-689-10937-9

Tuchman, Barbara (1964), The Guns of August, New York: Macmillan

Walker, Richard (1988), The Savile Row Story: An Illustrated History, London: Prion, ISBN 978-1-85375-000-7

Watson, Alfred Edward Thomas (1911), King Edward VII. as a sportsman, Longmans, Green and Company

Weintraub, Stanley (2001), Edward the Caresser: The Playboy Prince Who Became Edward VII, Free Press, ISBN 978-0-684-85318-5

External links

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Edward VII

House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Cadet branch of the House of Wettin

Born: 9 November 1841 Died: 6 May 1910

Regnal titles

Preceded by

Victoria

King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions

Emperor of India

22 January 1901 – 6 May 1910 Succeeded by

George V

British royalty

Vacant

Title last held by

George (IV) Prince of Wales

Duke of Cornwall

Duke of Rothesay

1841–1901 Succeeded by

George (V)

Military offices

Preceded by

The Earl Beauchamp

Colonel of the 10th (Prince of Wales's Own Royal) Hussars

1863–1901 Succeeded by

Lord Ralph Drury Kerr

Masonic offices

Preceded by

The Marquess of Ripon

Grand Master of the United

Grand Lodge of England

1874–1901 Succeeded by

The Duke of Connaught and Strathearn

Honorary titles

Vacant

Title last held by

The Prince Consort Great Master of the Bath

1897–1901 Succeeded by

The Duke of Connaught and Strathearn

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Edward VII

King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, Emperor of India (1901–1910)

Family

Alexandra of Denmark (wife)Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale (son)George V (son)Louise, Princess Royal (daughter)Princess Victoria (daughter)Maud, Queen of Norway (daughter)Queen Victoria (mother)Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (father)Victoria, German Empress (sister)Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine (sister)Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (brother)Helena, Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein (sister)Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll (sister)Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (brother)Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany (brother)Beatrice, Princess Henry of Battenberg (sister)

Events

WeddingRoyal baccarat scandalCoronation HonoursMedalPolice MedalCoronation casesDeath and state funeral

Reign

Edwardian eraEdwardian architecturePrime ministersHousehold

Namesakes

King Edward VII LandKing Edward VII-class battleshipHMS King Edward VIIHospitals LondonFalkland IslandsSheffieldSchools King Edward VII AcademyKing Edward VII and Queen Mary School King Edward VII School, LythamKing Edward VII School, SheffieldKing Edward VII School, Melton MowbrayKing Edward VII School, JohannesburgKing Edward VII School, TaipingHigher Education King Edward Medical UniversityEduardo VII ParkPrince AlbertKing Edward VII Stakes

Depictions

Film and television

The Coronation of Edward VII (1902)"Guest of Honour" (1972)Fall of Eagles (1974)Jennie: Lady Randolph Churchill (1974)Edward the Seventh (1975)The Duchess of Duke Street (1976)Lillie (1978)Mrs Brown (1997)The Lost Prince (2003)Victoria & Abdul (2017)

Statues and

memorials

King Edward VII MemorialEdward VII MonumentBangalore statueBootle statue

Portraits

The Christening of the Prince of Wales

Books

The Edwardians (1930)And Having Writ... (1978)Flashman and the Tiger (1999)

Stamps

Edward VII 2d Tyrian plum

Mistresses

Agnes KeyserAlice KeppelDaisy GrevilleHortense SchneiderLady Susan Vane-TempestLillie LangtryNellie ClifdenPatsy Cornwallis-West

Honours

Royal Family OrderKnights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian OrderKnights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order

Related

Arthur SassoonOlga de MeyerLady Randolph ChurchillSarah BernhardtHomburg hatCaesar (dog)King Edward VII's Town CoachMarlborough House setLove chair

← VictoriaGeorge V →

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English, Scottish and British monarchs

Monarchs of England until 1603 Monarchs of Scotland until 1603

Alfred the GreatEdward the ElderÆlfweardÆthelstanEdmund IEadredEadwigEdgar the PeacefulEdward the MartyrÆthelred the UnreadySweynEdmund IronsideCnutHarold HarefootHarthacnutEdward the ConfessorHarold GodwinsonEdgar ÆthelingWilliam IWilliam IIHenry IStephenMatildaHenry IIHenry the Young KingRichard IJohnLouisHenry IIIEdward IEdward IIEdward IIIRichard IIHenry IVHenry VHenry VIEdward IVEdward VRichard IIIHenry VIIHenry VIIIEdward VIJaneMary I and PhilipElizabeth I

Kenneth I MacAlpinDonald IConstantine IÁedGiricEochaidDonald IIConstantine IIMalcolm IIndulfDubCuilénAmlaíbKenneth IIConstantine IIIKenneth IIIMalcolm IIDuncan IMacbethLulachMalcolm IIIDonald IIIDuncan IIEdgarAlexander IDavid IMalcolm IVWilliam IAlexander IIAlexander IIIMargaretJohnRobert IDavid IIEdward BalliolRobert IIRobert IIIJames IJames IIJames IIIJames IVJames VMary IJames VI

Monarchs of England and Scotland after the Union of the Crowns from 1603

James I and VICharles IThe Protectorate Oliver CromwellRichard CromwellCharles IIJames II and VIIWilliam III and II and Mary IIAnne

British monarchs after the Acts of Union 1707

AnneGeorge IGeorge IIGeorge IIIGeorge IVWilliam IVVictoriaEdward VIIGeorge VEdward VIIIGeorge VIElizabeth IICharles III

Debatable or disputed rulers are in italics.

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British princes

The generations indicate descent from George I, who formalised the use of the titles prince and princess for members of the British royal family.

1st generation

King George II

2nd generation

Frederick, Prince of WalesPrince George WilliamPrince William, Duke of Cumberland

3rd generation

King George IIIPrince Edward, Duke of York and AlbanyPrince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and EdinburghPrince Henry, Duke of Cumberland and StrathearnPrince Frederick

4th generation

King George IVPrince Frederick, Duke of York and AlbanyKing William IVPrince Edward, Duke of Kent and StrathearnKing Ernest Augustus of HanoverPrince Augustus Frederick, Duke of SussexPrince Adolphus, Duke of CambridgePrince OctaviusPrince AlfredPrince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh

5th generation

Prince Albert1King George V of HanoverPrince George, Duke of Cambridge

6th generation

King Edward VIIPrince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and of Saxe-Coburg and GothaPrince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and StrathearnPrince Leopold, Duke of AlbanyPrince Ernest Augustus

7th generation

Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and AvondaleKing George VPrince Alexander John of WalesAlfred, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and GothaPrince Arthur of ConnaughtPrince Charles Edward, Duke of Albany and of Saxe-Coburg and GothaPrince George William of HanoverPrince Christian of HanoverPrince Ernest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick

8th generation

King Edward VIIIKing George VIPrince Henry, Duke of GloucesterPrince George, Duke of KentPrince JohnAlastair, 2nd Duke of Connaught and StrathearnJohann Leopold, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and GothaPrince Hubertus of Saxe-Coburg and GothaPrince Ernest Augustus of HanoverPrince George William of Hanover

9th generation

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh2Prince William of GloucesterPrince Richard, Duke of GloucesterPrince Edward, Duke of KentPrince Michael of Kent

10th generation

King Charles IIIPrince Andrew, Duke of YorkPrince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh

11th generation

William, Prince of WalesPrince Harry, Duke of SussexJames Mountbatten-Windsor, Earl of Wessex

12th generation

Prince George of WalesPrince Louis of WalesPrince Archie of Sussex

1 Not a British prince by birth, but created Prince Consort. 2 Not a British prince by birth, but created a Prince of the United Kingdom.

Princes whose titles were removed and eligible people who do not use the title are shown in italics.

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Princes of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Forefather

Duke Francis I*

1st generation

Duke Ernest I*Prince Ferdinand*King Leopold I of the Belgians*

2nd generation

Ducal

Duke Ernest II*Albert, Prince Consort of the United Kingdom*

Koháry

King Ferdinand II of Portugal and the Algarves*Prince August*Prince Leopold*

Belgium

Crown Prince Louis PhilippeKing Leopold IIPrince Philippe

3rd generation

United Kingdom

King Edward VIIDuke Alfred IPrince ArthurPrince Leopold

Portugal

King Pedro VKing Luís IInfante JoãoInfante FernandoInfante Augusto

Koháry

Prince PhilippPrince Ludwig AugustTsar Ferdinand I of the Bulgarians

Belgium

Prince LeopoldPrince BaudouinKing Albert I

4th generation

United Kingdom

Prince Albert VictorKing George VHereditary Prince AlfredPrince ArthurDuke Charles Edward I

Portugal

King Carlos IInfante Afonso

Koháry

Prince Leopold ClementPrince Pedro AugustoPrince August LeopoldPrince Joseph FerdinandPrince Ludwig Gaston

Bulgaria

Tsar Boris IIIPrince Kiril

Belgium

King Leopold IIIPrince Charles

5th generation

United Kingdom

King Edward VIIIKing George VIPrince HenryPrince GeorgePrince JohnPrince Alastair

Ducal

Hereditary Prince Johann LeopoldPrince HubertusPrince Friedrich Josias

Portugal

Prince Luís FilipeKing Manuel II

Koháry

Prince RainerPrince Philipp

Bulgaria

Tsar Simeon II

Belgium

King Baudouin IKing Albert IIPrince Alexandre

6th generation

Ducal

Prince Andreas

Koháry

Prince Johannes Heinrich

Bulgaria

Prince KardamPrince Kyril

Belgium

King Philippe IPrince Laurent

7th generation

Bulgaria

Prince Boris

Belgium

Prince GabrielPrince EmmanuelPrince NicolasPrince Aymeric

*Titled as Princes of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld before 11 February 1826

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Princes of Wales

Edward (1301–1307)Edward (1343–1376)Richard (1376–1377)Henry (1399–1413)Edward (1454–1471)Richard (1460; disputed)Edward (1471–1483)Edward (1483–1484)Arthur (1489–1502)Henry (1504–1509)Edward (1537–1547)Henry (1610–1612)Charles (1616–1625)Charles (1641–1649)James (1688)George (1714–1727)Frederick (1728–1751)George (1751–1760)George (1762–1820)Albert Edward (1841–1901)George (1901–1910)Edward (1910–1936)Charles (1958–2022)William (2022–present)

See also: Principality of Wales

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Dukes of Cornwall

Edward (1337–1376)Richard (1376–1377)Henry (1399–1413)Henry (1421–1422)Edward (1453–1471)Richard (1460; disputed)Edward (1470–1483)Edward (1483–1484)Arthur (1486–1502)Henry (1502–1509)Henry (1511)Edward (1537–1547)Henry Frederick (1603–1612)Charles (1612–1625)Charles (1630–1649)James (1688–1701/2)George (1714–1727)Frederick (1727–1751)George (1762–1820)Albert Edward (1841–1901)George (1901–1910)Edward (1910–1936)Charles (1952–2022)William (2022–present)

Cornwall Portal

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Dukes of Rothesay

David (1398–1402)James (1402–1406)Alexander (1430)James (1430–1437)James (1452–1460)James (1473–1488)James (1507–1508)Arthur (1509–1510)James (1512–1513)James (1540–1541)James (1566–1567)Henry Frederick (1594–1612)Charles (1612–1625)Charles James (1629)Charles (1630–1649)James (1688–1689)George (1714–1727)Frederick (1727–1751)George (1762–1820)Albert Edward (1841–1901)George (1901–1910)Edward (1910–1936)Charles (1952–2022)William (2022–present)

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Great Masters of the Order of the Bath

John Montagu, 2nd Duke of Montagu (1725–1749)Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany (1767–1827)Prince William, Duke of Clarence and St Andrews (1827–1830)Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex (1837–1843)Albert, Prince Consort (1843–1861)Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (1897–1901)Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (1901–1942)Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester (1942–1974)Charles, Prince of Wales (1974–2022)

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United Grand Lodge of England

Grand Masters

19th century

The Duke of Sussex (1813–1843)The Earl of Zetland (1844–1870)The Marquess of Ripon (1870–1874)The Prince of Wales (1874–1901)

20th century

The Duke of Connaught (1901–1939)The 1st Duke of Kent (1939–1942)The Earl of Harewood (1942–1947)The Duke of Devonshire (1947–1950)The Earl of Scarbrough (1951–1967)The 2nd Duke of Kent (1967–present)

Related articles

History of FreemasonryPremier Grand Lodge of EnglandAntient Grand Lodge of EnglandFreemasons' Hall, LondonMark Masons' Hall, LondonRoyal Masonic Benevolent InstitutionProvincial Grand Lodges (UGLE)Lectures of the Three Degrees in Craft MasonryEmulation Lodge of ImprovementQuatuor Coronati Lodge

Appendant bodies

Trinitarian

Societas Rosicruciana in AngliaRoyal Order of ScotlandAncient and Accepted RiteRoyal Order of EriOrder of Knights Templar and Knights of MaltaOrder of the Red Cross of ConstantineOrder of Holy WisdomOrder of Holy Royal Arch Knight Templar PriestsOrder of St Thomas of AconOrder of Knights Beneficent of the Holy City

non-Trinitarian

Order of the Holy Royal ArchOrder of Mark Master MasonsOrder of the Secret MonitorOrder of AthelstanOrder of the Allied Masonic DegreesOrder of Royal and Select MastersOrder of Knight MasonsFraternity of Royal Ark MarinersOrder of the Scarlet Cord

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1907

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1907JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember

Millennium: 2nd millennium

Centuries:

19th century20th century 21st century

Decades:

1880s1890s1900s 1910s1920s

Years:

1904190519061907 190819091910

1907 by topic

Subject

ArchaeologyArchitectureArtAviationAwardsFilmLiterature PoetryMeteorologyMusic JazzRail transportRadioScienceSportsFootballTelevision

By country

AfghanistanAustraliaBelgiumBrazilBulgariaCanadaChinaDenmarkFranceGermanyIndiaIrelandIranItalyJapanNew ZealandNorwayOttoman SyriaPhilippinesPortugalRussiaSouth AfricaSpainSwedenUnited KingdomUnited States

Lists of leaders

Sovereign statesSovereign state leaders

Territorial governorsReligious leadersLaw

Birth and death categories

BirthsDeaths

Establishments and disestablishments categories

EstablishmentsDisestablishments

Works category

WorksIntroductions

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1907 in various calendars

Gregorian calendar 1907

MCMVII

Ab urbe condita 2660

Armenian calendar 1356

ԹՎ ՌՅԾԶ

Assyrian calendar 6657

Baháʼí calendar 63–64

Balinese saka calendar 1828–1829

Bengali calendar 1314

Berber calendar 2857

British Regnal year 6 Edw. 7 – 7 Edw. 7

Buddhist calendar 2451

Burmese calendar 1269

Byzantine calendar 7415–7416

Chinese calendar 丙午年 (Fire Horse)

4603 or 4543

    — to —

丁未年 (Fire Goat)

4604 or 4544

Coptic calendar 1623–1624

Discordian calendar 3073

Ethiopian calendar 1899–1900

Hebrew calendar 5667–5668

Hindu calendars

 - Vikram Samvat 1963–1964

 - Shaka Samvat 1828–1829

 - Kali Yuga 5007–5008

Holocene calendar 11907

Igbo calendar 907–908

Iranian calendar 1285–1286

Islamic calendar 1324–1325

Japanese calendar Meiji 40

(明治40年)

Javanese calendar 1836–1837

Julian calendar Gregorian minus 13 days

Korean calendar 4240

Minguo calendar 5 before ROC

民前5年

Nanakshahi calendar 439

Thai solar calendar 2449–2450

Tibetan calendar 阳火马年

(male Fire-Horse)

2033 or 1652 or 880

    — to —

阴火羊年

(female Fire-Goat)

2034 or 1653 or 881

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1907.

1907 (MCMVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar, the 1907th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 907th year of the 2nd millennium, the 7th year of the 20th century, and the 8th year of the 1900s decade. As of the start of 1907, the Gregorian calendar was 13 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.

Events

January

January 14: Earthquake in Jamaica

January 14 – 1907 Kingston earthquake: A 6.5 Mw earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica, kills between 800 and 1,000.

February

February 7 – The "Mud March", the first large procession organized by the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS), takes place in London.

February 11 – The French warship Jean Bart sinks off the coast of Morocco.

February 12 – The steamship Larchmont collides with the Harry Hamilton in Long Island Sound; 183 lives are lost.

February 16 – SKF, a worldwide mechanical parts manufacturing brand (mainly, bearing and seal), is founded in Gothenburg, Sweden.[1]

February 21 – The English mail steamship Berlin is wrecked off the Hook of Holland; 142 lives are lost.

February 24 – The Austrian Lloyd steamship Imperatrix, from Trieste to Bombay, is wrecked on Cape of Crete and sinks; 137 lives are lost.

March

March

The steamship Congo collides at the mouth of the Ems River with the German steamship Nerissa; 7 lives are lost.

The 1907 Romanian Peasants' Revolt results in possibly as many as 11,000 deaths.

The Diamond Sūtra, a woodblock printed Buddhist scripture dated 868, is discovered by Aurel Stein in the Mogao Caves in China; it is "the earliest complete survival of a dated printed book".[2]

Pablo Picasso completes his painting Les Demoiselles d'Avignon.

March 5 – At the opening of the new State Duma in Saint Petersburg, Russia, 40,000 demonstrators are dispersed by Russian troops.

March 11 – The Prime Minister of Bulgaria, Dimitar Petkov, is assassinated by an anarchist in Sofia.

March 15–16 – Elections to the new Parliament of Finland are the first in the world for a national assembly with woman candidates, as well as the first elections in Europe where universal suffrage is applied; 19 women are elected.

March 22 – The first taxicabs with taximeters begin operating in London.

March 25 – The first university sports federation in Europe is established in Hungary, with the participation or support of the associations of ten universities and colleges.[3]

c. March 28 – The volcano Ksudach erupts, in the Kamchatka Peninsula.

April

April 7 – Hershey Park opens in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

April 17

The first Minas Geraes-class battleship is laid down for Brazil, by Armstrong Whitworth on the River Tyne, in England, triggering the South American dreadnought race.

Today is the all-time busiest day of immigration to the United States through Ellis Island;[4] this will be the busiest year ever seen here, with 1.1 million immigrants arriving.[5]

April 24 – Al Ahly SC is founded in Cairo by Omar Lotfi, as a gathering place for Egyptian students' unions in the struggle against colonization; it is the first association football club officially founded in Egypt or Africa.[6]

May

May 13 – The 5th Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party convenes in secret in London.

June

June 5 – Shastri Yagnapurushdas consecrates the murtis of both Sahajanand Swami and Gunatitanand Swami in a single central shrine, thus establishing the Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, later a United Nations affiliate organization.

June 6 – Persil laundry detergent is first marketed by Henkel of Düsseldorf, Germany, the first to combine bleach with detergent commercially.[7]

June 10–August 10 – The Peking to Paris motor race is won by Prince Scipione Borghese, driving a 7-litre 35/45 hp Itala.

June 15 – The Second Hague Peace Conference opens at The Hague.

June 22 – The London Underground's Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway opens.

June 26 – Tiflis bank robbery: Bolsheviks attack a cash-filled bank coach in the centre of Tiflis, Georgia, killing 40 people.

July

July 1 – The Orange River Colony gains autonomy, as the Orange Free State.

July 6 – Guardians of the Irish Crown Jewels notice that they have been stolen.

July 15 – The London Electrobus Company started running the first ever service of battery-electric buses between London's Victoria Station and Liverpool Street.

July 21 – The SS Columbia sinks after colliding with the lumber schooner San Pedro, off Shelter Cove, California, resulting in 88 deaths.

July 24 – The Japan–Korea Treaty of 1907 brings the government and military of the protectorate of Korea more firmly under Japanese control.

August

August 24–31 – The International Anarchist Congress of Amsterdam meets in the Netherlands.

August 28 – UPS is founded by James E. (Jim) Casey in Seattle, Washington.

August 29 – The partially completed superstructure of the Quebec Bridge collapses entirely, claiming the lives of 76 workers.

August 31 – Count Alexander Izvolsky and Sir Arthur Nicolson sign the Anglo-Russian Entente in Saint Petersburg, bringing a pause in The Great Game in Central Asia, and establishing the Triple Entente.

September

September 7 – British passenger liner RMS Lusitania sets out on her maiden voyage, from Liverpool (England) to New York City.

September 26 – New Zealand and Newfoundland become dominions of the British Empire.

October

October – A committee of the Delegation for the Adoption of an International Auxiliary Language, made up of academics including Otto Jespersen, Wilhelm Ostwald and Roland Eötvös, meet in Paris to select a language for international use. The committee ultimately decides to reform Esperanto.

October 8 – Edvard Grieg's Olaf Trygvason, his only opera, is produced posthumously in Christiania, Norway.

October 17 – Guglielmo Marconi initiates commercial transatlantic radio communications between his high power longwave wireless telegraphy stations in Clifden, Ireland, and Glace Bay, Nova Scotia.

October 18 – The Hague Convention is revised by the (second) Hague Peace Conference (effective 26 January 1910).

October 24 – A major United States financial crisis is averted when J. P. Morgan, E. H. Harriman, James Stillman, Henry Clay Frick and other Wall Street financiers create a $25,000,000 pool to invest in the shares on the plunging New York Stock Exchange, ending the bank panic of 1907.[8]

October 27 – Černová massacre: Fifteen people are shot during the consecration of a Catholic church in Hungary (modern-day Slovakia).

October 31 – The Parliament of Finland approves the Prohibition Act, but the law is not implemented because it is not ratified by Tsar Nicholas II of Russia.[9][10]

November

November 4 – Russian immigrant bakers Perry and Ben Feigenson begin transforming their cake frosting flavors into The Feigenson Brothers Bottling Works soft drink recipe, later shortened to Faygo.

November 16

British passenger liner RMS Mauretania, the world's largest and fastest at this date, sets out on her maiden voyage from Liverpool to New York.

President Theodore Roosevelt proclaims that Oklahoma has become the 46th state in the United States.

November 21 – Washington State College defeats the University of Washington 10-5 in the Apple Cup in college football, played in Seattle.[11]

November 25

The Church of God in Christ, which becomes the fifth-largest African-American Pentecostal-Holiness Christian denomination in the United States, is founded by Bishop Charles Harrison Mason in Memphis, Tennessee.

Edeka, a major retailer group in Europe, is founded in Germany.[citation needed]

December

December 6 – Monongah Mining disaster: A coal mine explosion kills 362 workers in Monongah, West Virginia.

December 8 – Upon the death of Oscar II, he is succeeded by his son Gustaf V, as king of Sweden.

December 14 – The largest sailing ship ever built, the 7-masted U.S.-owned Thomas W. Lawson, is wrecked in the Isles of Scilly.

December 16 – The American Great White Fleet begins its circumnavigation of the world.

December 17 – Ugyen Wangchuck becomes the first Druk Gyalpo (king of Bhutan).

December 19 – An explosion in a coal mine in Jacobs Creek, Pennsylvania kills 239.

December 21 – Santa María School massacre: In Chile, soldiers fire at striking mineworkers gathered in the Santa María School in Iquique; over 2,000 are killed.

December 31 – The first ever "ball drop" is held in Times Square, in New York City.

Date unknown

Indiana, in the United States, becomes the world's first legislature to place laws permitting compulsory sterilization for eugenic purposes on the statute book.

The triode thermionic amplifier invented by Lee de Forest, starting the development of electronics as a practical technology.

The Autochrome Lumière is the first commercial color photography process.

James Murray Spangler invents the first Hoover vacuum cleaner.

The Moine Thrust Belt in Scotland is identified, one of the first to be discovered anywhere.[12]

The Landsforbundet for Kvinders Valgret, a Danish national association for women's suffrage, is founded.

Anino ng Kahapon, a Tagalog-language novel is published.[13]

Henri Matisse begins to teach at the Académie Matisse in Paris, a private and non-commercial art school.

A statue of J. E. B. Stuart, Confederate general, is dedicated on Richmond, Virginia's Monument Avenue.

Staviteľský robotník, a Slovak language biweekly newspaper ends publication.[14]

Births

January

Ray Milland

Pierre Mendès France

January 1 – Aftab Ali, Bengali politician, social reformer (d. 1972)

January 3 – Ray Milland, Welsh actor, film director (d. 1986)

January 5 – Volmari Iso-Hollo, Finnish athlete (d. 1969)

January 8 – Keizō Hayashi, Japanese civil servant, military official (d. 1991)

January 11 – Pierre Mendès France, French politician, 142nd Prime Minister of France (d. 1982)

January 12 – Sergei Korolev, Russian rocket scientist (d. 1966)

January 16 – Alexander Knox, Canadian actor, novelist (d. 1995)

January 17 – Henk Badings, Dutch composer (d. 1987)

January 18 – Lina Haag, German World War II resistance fighter (d. 2012)

January 20

Manfred von Ardenne, German research and applied physicist, inventor (d. 1997)

Paula Wessely, Austrian actress (d. 2000)

January 22 – Dixie Dean, English football player (d. 1980)

January 23 – Hideki Yukawa, Japanese physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1981)

January 24

Maurice Couve de Murville, Prime Minister of France (d. 1999)

Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah, King of Malaysia (d. 1979)

January 27 – Joyce Compton, American actress (d. 1997)

January 29 – Bil Dwyer, American cartoonist and humorist (d. 1987)

February

Cesar Romero

Robert Young

Milton Caniff

February 1 – Günter Eich, German writer (d. 1972)

February 5

Birgit Dalland, Norwegian politician (d. 2007)

Pierre Pflimlin, French politician (d. 2000)

Sergio Méndez Arceo, Roman Catholic bishop of Cuernavaca, Mexico 1953–1983 (d. 1992)

February 6 – Russell Gleason, American actor (d. 1945)

February 9

Pierre Aliker, French-Martinican politician (d. 2013)

Trường Chinh, President of Vietnam (d. 1988)

February 12 – Clifton C. Edom, American photojournalism educator (d. 1991)

February 15

Jean Langlais, French composer, organist (d. 1991)[15]

Cesar Romero, American actor (d. 1994)

February 18 – Oscar Brodney, American screenwriter (d. 2008)

February 21 – W. H. Auden, English poet (d. 1973)[16]

February 22

Sheldon Leonard, American actor, writer, director, and producer (d. 1997)

Robert Young, American actor (d. 1998)

February 25 – Kathryn Wasserman Davis, American philanthropist (d. 2013)

February 26

Dub Taylor, American actor (d. 1994)

Rosebud Yellow Robe, Native American folklorist, educator, and author (d. 1992)

February 27 – Mildred Bailey, American singer (d. 1951)[17]

February 28 – Milton Caniff, American cartoonist (d. 1988)

March

Konstantinos Karamanlis

March 4 – Maria Branyas Morera, Spanish supercentenarian, oldest living person

March 8 – Konstantinos Karamanlis, Greek politician (d. 1998)

March 9 – Mircea Eliade, Romanian religious historian, writer (d. 1986)

March 12

Arthur Hewlett, British actor (d. 1997)

Dorrit Hoffleit, American astronomer (d. 2007)

March 15 – Zarah Leander, Swedish actress, singer (d. 1981)

March 16

Frances Fuller, American actress (d. 1980)

Hans Kleppen, Norwegian ski jumper (d. 2009)

March 17

Takeo Miki, 41st Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1988)

Jean Van Houtte, 38th Prime Minister of Belgium (d. 1991)

March 18 – John Zachary Young, English biologist (d. 1997)

March 23 – Daniel Bovet, Swiss-born scientist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1992)

March 27 – Mary Treen, American actress (d. 1989)

March 28 – Lúcia Santos, Portuguese nun, visionary (d. 2005)

March 29 – Braguinha, Brazilian songwriter (d. 2006)

March 30 – Friedrich August Freiherr von der Heydte, German Luftwaffe officer (d. 1994)

April

Germán Suárez Flamerich

Fred Zinnemann

April 1 – Shivakumara Swami, Hindu religious figure and humanitarian (d. 2019)

April 10

Marcel Deviq, French Algerian engineer, businessman, and politician (d. 1972)

Germán Suárez Flamerich, Venezuelan lawyer, politician and 50th President of Venezuela (d. 1990)

April 11

Paul Douglas, American actor (d. 1959)

April 12 – Felix de Weldon, Austrian-born sculptor (d. 2003)

April 13 – Harold Stassen, American politician (d. 2001)

April 14 – François Duvalier, 32nd President of Haiti (d. 1971)

April 15 – Nikolaas Tinbergen, Dutch ornithologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1988)

April 16 – Joseph-Armand Bombardier, Canadian inventor, founder of Bombardier Inc. (d. 1964)

April 21 – Wade Mainer, American singer, banjoist (d. 2011)

April 23

James Hayter, British actor (d. 1983)

Fritz Wotruba, Austrian sculptor (d. 1975)

April 24 – William Sargant, British psychiatrist (d. 1988)

April 26 – Ilias Tsirimokos, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1968)

April 29

Tino Rossi, French singer (d. 1983)

Fred Zinnemann, Austrian director (d. 1997)

May

Katharine Hepburn

Laurence Olivier

John Wayne

May 1 – Oliver Hill, American lawyer (d. 2007)

May 2 – Pinky Lee, American comedian (d. 1993)

May 3 – Dorothy Young, American entertainer (d. 2011)

May 4 – Walter Walsh, American FBI agent, Olympic shooter, and USMC instructor (d. 2014)

May 5 – Iryna Vilde, Ukrainian writer (d. 1982)

May 9 – Baldur von Schirach, Nazi official (d. 1974)

May 11 – Kent Taylor, American actor (d. 1987)

May 12 – Katharine Hepburn, American actress (d. 2003)

May 13 – Dame Daphne du Maurier, English author (d. 1989)[18]

May 14

Ayub Khan, President of Pakistan (d. 1974)

Johnny Moss, American poker player (d. 1995)

Bob Tisdall, Irish Olympic athlete (d. 2004)

May 22

Hergé, Belgian cartoonist (d. 1983)

Laurence Olivier, English stage, screen actor and director (d. 1989)

May 25 – U Nu, Burmese politician (d. 1995)

May 26 – John Wayne, American actor, film director (d. 1979)

May 27

Rachel Carson, American environmental writer (d. 1964)[19]

Carl Falck, Norwegian businessman (d. 2016)

May 30

Elly Beinhorn, German pilot (d. 2007)

Germaine Tillion, French anthropologist, member of French Resistance (d. 2008)

June

Rosalind Russell

J. Hans D. Jensen

June 1 – Frank Whittle, British jet engine developer (d. 1996)

June 4

Rosalind Russell, American actress (d. 1976)

Jacques Roumain, Haitian writer, politician, and advocate of Marxism (d. 1944)

June 5 – Rudolf Peierls, German-British physicist (d. 1995)

June 7 – Arthur Marshall Davis, American judge (d. 1963)

June 14 – René Char, French poet (d. 1988)

June 16 – Jack Albertson, American actor, comedian (d. 1981)

June 19

Clarence Wiseman, Salvation Army general (d. 1985)

George de Mestral, Swiss inventor (d. 1990)

June 22 – Wesley E. Brown, American district court judge (d. 2012)

June 23 – James Meade, English economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1995)

June 24 – Jean Schlumberger, French jewelry designer (d. 1987)

June 25

Franca Dominici, Italian actress, voice actress (d. 1999)

J. Hans D. Jensen, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1973)

June 26 – Joan Harrison, English screenwriter, producer (d. 1994)

June 27 – John McIntire, American actor (d. 1991)

June 28

Junius Driggs, American businessman (d. 1994)

Franciszka Themerson, Polish-born British artist, filmmaker (d. 1989)

June 29 – Junji Nishikawa, Japanese football player (d. ?)

July

Frida Kahlo

Robert A. Heinlein

Barbara Stanwyck

July 3

Horia Sima, Romanian fascist politician (d. 1993)

Nora Thompson Dean, Indigenous American (Lenape) linguist (d. 1984)

July 4

Henning Holck-Larsen, Danish engineer and businessman (d. 2003)

Emilio Ochoa, Cuban dentist, politician (d. 2007)

July 6

Frida Kahlo, Mexican painter (d. 1954)

George Stanley, Canadian historian, author, soldier, teacher, public servant, and designer (d. 2002)

July 7

Walter Dieminger, German space scientist (d. 2000)

Robert A. Heinlein, American science fiction author (d. 1988)

Pavel Sudoplatov, Russian Lieutenant General (d. 1996)

Prince Vasili Alexandrovich of Russia (d. 1989)

July 9

Teresa Jungman, English socialite (d. 2010)

Philip Klutznick, American administrator (d. 1999)

July 10

John Michaels, American pitcher (d. 1996)

Lê Duẩn, Vietnamese politician (d. 1986)

July 13 – George Weller, American novelist, playwright, and journalist (d. 2002)

July 14

Annabella, French actress (d. 1996)

Maria Matray, German screenwriter and actress (d. 1993)

July 15

Paterson Fraser, English Royal Air Force (d. 2001)

Shōshin Nagamine, Japanese author and soldier, police officer, and karate master (d. 1997)

Mona Rico, Mexican-born American actress (d. 1994)

July 16 – Barbara Stanwyck, American actress (d. 1990)

July 19

Giulio Balestrini, Italian football player (d. ?)

Isabel Jewell, American actress (d. 1972)

Paul Magloire, President of Haiti (d. 2001)

July 21

A. D. Hope, Australian poet and essayist (d. 2000)

Georg Rydeberg, Swedish actor (d. 1983)

July 22

Jack Dennington, Australian rules footballer (d. 1994)

Aldo Donelli, American football player and coach, soccer player, and college athletics administrator (d. 1994)

Zubir Said, Singaporean composer of Singapore's national anthem (d. 1987)

July 25 – Johnny Hodges, American alto saxophonist (d. 1970)

July 27

Ross Alexander, American actor (d. 1937)

Richard Beesly, British Olympic gold medal rower (d. 1965)

July 29 – Melvin Belli, American lawyer (d. 1996)

August

Ernesto Geisel

Yang Shangkun

Lurene Tuttle

August 1 – Elisabeth Johansen, Greenlandic midwife and politician (d. 1993)

August 2 – Mary Hamman, American writer and editor (d. 1984)

August 3

Ernesto Geisel, 29th President of Brazil (d. 1996)

Yang Shangkun, 4th President of the People's Republic of China (d. 1998)

Irene Tedrow, American actress (d. 1995)

August 7

Bernard Brodie, English-American chemist and "founder of modern pharmacology" (d. 1989)

Albert Kotin, American painter (d. 1980)

August 8 – Benny Carter, American musician (d. 2003)

August 12

Joe Besser, American comedian (d. 1988)

Benjamin Sheares, 2nd President of Singapore (d. 1981)

August 13 – Viscount William Waldorf Astor, British politician (d. 1966)

August 14 – Stanley Adams, American lyricist and songwriter (d. 1994)

August 15 – Bob Pearson, British variety performer with his brother Alf as half of Bob and Alf Pearson (d. 1985)

August 20 – Alan Reed, American actor and voice actor (d. 1977)

August 21

John G. Trump, American electrical engineer, inventor, and physicist (d. 1985)

Hy Zaret, American lyricist and composer (d. 2007)[20]

August 24

Bruno Giacometti, Swiss architect (d. 2012)

Gil Perkins, Australian actor and stuntman (d. 1999)

August 28 – Rupert Hart-Davis, British publisher (d. 1999)

August 29 – Lurene Tuttle, American character actress (d. 1986)

August 31

Argentina Brunetti, Argentinian actress and writer (d. 2005)

Augustus F. Hawkins, American politician and civil rights lawmaker (d. 2007)

Ramon Magsaysay, 7th President of the Philippines (d. 1957)

September

Fay Wray

Warren E. Burger

Gene Autry

September 2

Evelyn Hooker, American psychologist (d. 1996)

Miriam Seegar, American actress (d. 2011)

September 3 – Loren Eiseley, American author (d. 1977)

September 4

Frances Griffiths, Cottingley Fairies girl (d. 1986)

Reggie Nalder, Austrian actor (d. 1991)

September 12

Spud Chandler, American baseball player (d. 1990)

Louis MacNeice, Northern Irish poet (d. 1963)

September 15

Jimmy Wallington, American radio personality (d. 1972)

Fay Wray, Canadian-born actress (d. 2004)

September 17 – Warren E. Burger, 15th Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1995)

September 18

Leon Askin, Austrian actor (d. 2005)

Elza Brandeisz, Hungarian dancer, teacher (d. 2018)

Edwin McMillan, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1991)

September 19 – Lewis F. Powell Jr., Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (d. 1998)

September 22 – Maurice Blanchot, French philosopher, writer (d. 2003)

September 23

Anne Desclos, French journalist and author (d. 1998)[21]

Duarte Nuno, Duke of Braganza, pretender to the throne of Portugal (d. 1976)

September 26

Anthony Blunt, British art historian, spy (d. 1983)

Bep van Klaveren, Dutch boxer (d. 1992)

September 27 – Zhang Chongren, Chinese artist (d. 1998)

September 28 – Heikki Savolainen, Finnish artistic gymnast (d. 1997)

September 29

Gene Autry, American actor, singer, and businessman (d. 1998)

George W. Jenkins, American businessman (d. 1996)

October

Víctor Paz Estenssoro

October 1 – Ödön Pártos, Hungarian-Israeli violist, composer (d. 1977)

October 2

Alexander R. Todd, Scottish chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1997)[22]

Víctor Paz Estenssoro , 45th President of Bolivia (d. 2001)

October 5 – Elva Ruby Miller, American singer (d. 1997)

October 6 – Francisco Gabilondo Soler, Mexican singer, composer (d. 1990)

October 9 – Lord Hailsham, British politician (d. 2001)

October 15 – Varian Fry, American journalist, rescuer (d. 1967)

October 17 – John Marley, American actor (d. 1984)

October 19 – Roger Wolfe Kahn, American bandleader (d. 1962)

October 20 – Arlene Francis, Amcerican actress (d. 2001)

October 24 – Rafael Godoy, Colombian composer (d. 1973)

October 28

John Hewitt, Irish poet (d. 1987)

Sergio Méndez Arceo, 7th Mexican bishop of Cuernavaca 1953–1982, and advocate of Liberation theology (d. 1991).[23]

October 30 – Sol Tax, American anthropologist (d. 1995)

November

Astrid Lindgren

Claus von Stauffenberg

November 1 – Homero Manzi, Argentine tango lyricist, author (d. 1951)

November 6 – Charles W. Yost, American ambassador (d. 1981)

November 7 – Dumitru Coliu, Romanian communist activist and politician (d. 1979)

November 9 – Louis Ferdinand, Prince of Prussia (d. 1994)

November 10

John Moore, British author (d. 1967)

Salme Reek, Estonian actress (d. 1996)

November 11

Viktoria Brezhneva, First Lady of the Soviet Union (d. 1995)

Günter Fronius, Transylvanian Saxon entrepreneur (d. 2015)

November 14

Howard W. Hunter, 14th president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (d. 1995)

Astrid Lindgren, Swedish children's writer (d. 2002)[24]

William Steig, American cartoonist (d. 2003)

November 15 – Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, German aristocrat, military officer (d. 1944)

November 16 – Burgess Meredith, American actor, director (d. 1997)

November 18

Compay Segundo, Cuban musician (d. 2003)

Gustav Nezval, Czech actor (d. 1998)

November 19

Luigi Beccali, Italian Olympic athlete (d. 1990)

Hans Liska, Austrian-German artist (d. 1983)[25]

November 23 – Run Run Shaw, Hong Kong media mogul (d. 2014)

November 26 – Ruth Patrick, American botanist (d. 2013)

November 27 – L. Sprague de Camp, American writer (d. 2000)

November 28 – Alberto Moravia, Italian novelist (d. 1990)[26]

November 28 – Katharine Bartlett, American physical anthropologist, museum curator (d. 2001)

November 30 – Jacques Barzun, French-born American historian (d. 2012)

December

Oscar Niemeyer

James Roosevelt

Cab Calloway

December 1 – Joey Aiuppa, American mobster (d. 1997)

December 5 – Lin Biao, Chinese communist military leader (d. 1971)

December 6 – Helli Stehle, Swiss actress, radio presenter (d. 2017)

December 10 – Lucien Laurent, French footballer (d. 2005)

December 12 – Roy Douglas, British composer (d. 2015)

December 14 – Beatriz Costa, Portuguese actress (d. 1996)

December 15 – Oscar Niemeyer, Brazilian architect (d. 2012)

December 16 – Barbara Kent, Canadian silent film actress (d. 2011)

December 19 – Jimmy McLarnin, Irish-born boxer (d. 2004)

December 22 – Peggy Ashcroft, British actress (d. 1991)

December 23 – James Roosevelt, American businessman, politician (d. 1991)

December 25

Cab Calloway, American jazz singer and bandleader (d. 1994)[27]

Glenn McCarthy, American oil tycoon, businessman (d. 1988)

December 27 – Johann Wilhelm Trollmann, German boxer (d. 1943)

Deaths

January

Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar

Ida Saxton McKinley

Dmitri Mendeleev

Henri Moissan

January 3 – Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar, Shah of Iran (b. 1853)

January 13 – Jakob Hurt, Estonian folklorist, theologian, and linguist (b. 1839)

January 14 – Hermann Iseke, German doctor (b. 1856)

January 19 – Giuseppe Saracco, 15th Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1821)

January 21 – Graziadio Isaia Ascoli, Italian linguist (b. 1829)

January 31 – Timothy Eaton, Canadian department store founder (b. 1834)

February

February 2 – Dmitri Mendeleev, Russian chemist (b. 1834)

February 7 – Preston Leslie, 26th Governor of Kentucky and 9th territorial Governor of Montana (b. 1819)

February 12 – Muriel Robb, English tennis player (b. 1878)

February 13 – Marcel Alexandre Bertrand, French geologist (b. 1847)

February 16

Giosuè Carducci, Italian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1835)[28]

Clémentine of Orléans, daughter of King Louis-Philippe of France (b. 1817)

February 17 – Henry Steel Olcott, American officer, theosophist (b. 1832)

February 20 – Henri Moissan, French chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1852)

February 21 – Erik Gustaf Boström, 7th Prime Minister of Sweden (b. 1842)

February 26 – C. W. Alcock, English footballer, journalist, and football promoter (b. 1842)

March

March 3 – Oronhyatekha, Canadian Mohawk physician, CEO of an international benefit society, native statesman, scholar, rights campaigner and international shooter (b. 1841)

March 7 – Charlotta Raa-Winterhjelm, Swedish actress (b. 1838)

March 9 – Frederic George Stephens, English art critic (b. 1828)

March 10 – George Douglas-Pennant, 2nd Baron Penrhyn, Welsh industrialist (b. 1836)

March 11

Jean Casimir-Perier, 6th President of France (b. 1847)

Dimitar Petkov, 14th Prime Minister of Bulgaria (assassinated) (b. 1847)

March 18 – Marcellin Berthelot, French chemist (b. 1827)

March 19

Thomas Bailey Aldrich, American poet and novelist (b. 1836)[29]

Mariano Baptista , 23rd President of Bolivia (b. 1832)

March 23 – Konstantin Pobedonostsev, Russian statesman (b. 1827)

March 25 – Ernst von Bergmann, Baltic German surgeon (b. 1836)

April

April 6 – William Henry Drummond, Irish-Canadian poet (b. 1854)

April 14 – Frank Manly Thorn, American lawyer, politician, government official, essayist, journalist, humorist, inventor, and 6th Superintendent of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey (b. 1836)

April 23 – Alferd Packer, American cannibal (b. 1842)

May

May 1 – Melissa Elizabeth Riddle Banta, American poet (b. 1834)

May 4 – John Watts de Peyster, American author, philanthropist, and soldier (b. 1821)

May 6 – Emanuele Luigi Galizia, Maltese architect, civil engineer (b. 1830)

May 12 – Joris-Karl Huysmans, French author (b. 1848)

May 19 – Sir Benjamin Baker, English civil engineer (b. 1840)

May 26 – Ida Saxton McKinley, First Lady of the United States (b. 1847)

May 27 – Kevork Chavush, Armenian national hero (b. 1870)

June

June 4 – Agathe Backer-Grøndahl, Norwegian pianist and composer (b. 1847)

June 6 – J. A. Chatwin, English architect (b. 1830)

June 14

Bartolomé Masó, Cuban patriot (b. 1830)

William Le Baron Jenney, American architect, engineer (b. 1832)

June 23 – Hod Stuart, Canadian professional ice hockey player, killed in diving accident (b. 1879)

June 25 – Sir John Hall, 12th Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1824)

June 29 – Maximilian Cercha, Polish painter and drawer (b. 1818)

July

Sully Prudhomme

Saint Ilia Chavchavadze

Saint Raphael Kalinowski

King Oscar II of Sweden

William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin

July 13 – Heinrich Kreutz, German astronomer (b. 1854)

July 14 – Sir William Perkin, English chemist (b. 1838)

July 15 - Qiu Jin, Chinese revolutionary, feminist and poet, executed (b. 1875)

July 28 – Mildred Amanda Baker Bonham, American travel writer (b. 1840)

August

August – Dinqinesh Mercha, empress consort of Ethiopia (b. 1815)

August 1

Lucy Mabel Hall-Brown, American physician and writer (b. 1843)

Ernesto Hintze Ribeiro, 3-time Prime Minister of Portugal (b. 1849)

August 3 – Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Irish-American Beaux-Arts sculptor (b. 1848)

August 4 – Richard Meade, Lord Gilford, British admiral (b. 1832)

August 13 – Hermann Carl Vogel, German astrophysicist (b. 1841)

August 15 – Joseph Joachim, Austrian violinist (b. 1831)

August 25

Mary Elizabeth Coleridge, British poet, novelist (b. 1861)

Alexandre Franquet, French admiral (b. 1828)

August 30 – Richard Mansfield, Anglo-American actor (b. 1857)

September

September 4 – Edvard Grieg, Norwegian composer (b. 1843)

September 6 – Sully Prudhomme, French writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1839)

September 9 – Ernest Roland Wilberforce, English bishop (b. 1840)

September 12 – Ilia Chavchavadze, Georgian writer, Orthodox priest and saint (b. 1837)

September 19 – Jacob Morenga, Namibian rebel leader (b. 1875)

September 22 – Wilbur Olin Atwater, American chemist (b. 1844)

September 30 – Sir John Ardagh, British army general (b. 1840)

October

October 10 – Adolf Furtwängler, German archaeologist, historian (b. 1853)

October 30 – Caroline Dana Howe, American author (b. 1824)

November

November 1 – Alfred Jarry, French writer (b. 1873)

November 6 – Sir James Hector, Scottish geologist (b. 1834)[30]

November 14 – Andrew Inglis Clark, Australian jurist and politician (b. 1848)

November 15 – Raphael Kalinowski, Polish Discalced Carmelite friar and saint (b. 1835)

November 16 – Robert I, Duke of Parma, last ruling Duke of Parma (b. 1848)

November 17 – Sir Francis McClintock, Irish explorer and admiral in British Royal Navy (b. 1819)

November 20 – Paula Modersohn-Becker, German painter (b. 1876)

November 22 – Asaph Hall, American astronomer (b. 1829)

November 23 – Naimuddin, Bengali writer and Islamic scholar (b. 1832)

November 25 – Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen, Danish explorer (b. 1872)

November 28 – Stanisław Wyspiański, Polish writer, painter and architect (b. 1869)

November 30 – Ludwig Levy, German architect (b. 1854)

December

December 4 – Luis Sáenz Peña, 12th President of Argentina (b. 1822)

December 8 – King Oscar II of Sweden (b. 1829)

December 15 – Carola of Vasa, queen consort of Saxony (b. 1833)

December 17 – William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, Irish-born physicist and engineer (b. 1824)

December 20 – Helen Louisa Bostwick Bird, American author (b. 1826)

December 21 – Klara Hitler, Austrian mother of Adolf Hitler (b. 1860)

December 23 – Pierre Janssen, French astronomer (b. 1824)

December 28 – Kate Stone, American diarist (b. 1841)

December 31 – Jules de Trooz, 18th Prime Minister of Belgium (b. 1857)

Date unknown

Ellen Russell Emerson, American ethnologist (b. 1837)

Sarah Gibson Humphreys, American author and suffragist (b. 1830)

Joseph Stannah, Founder of Stannah Lifts (b. 1836)

Nobel Prizes

Physics – Albert Abraham Michelson

Chemistry – Eduard Buchner

Medicine – Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran

Literature – Rudyard Kipling

Peace – Ernesto Teodoro Moneta, Louis Renault

References

 "SKF". www.skf.com. Retrieved January 30, 2022.

 "Sacred Texts: Diamond Sutra". British Library. November 30, 2003. Archived from the original on November 10, 2013. Retrieved June 2, 2012.

 "Magyar Posta Zrt. - 404-es hiba, az oldal nem található!". www.posta.hu.

 "Ellis Island". February 4, 2020.

 "Ellis Island closes". This Day in History. History.com. December 11, 1954.

 "Al Ahly: Spirit of success". FIFA. February 25, 2009. Archived from the original on February 2, 2016. Retrieved February 25, 2017.

 "100 Years of Persil". Henkel AG. December 22, 2006. Archived from the original on December 14, 2010. Retrieved September 17, 2016.

 See also Federal Reserve System.

 Hytönen, Viljo (1930). Suomen raittiusliikkeen historia (in Finnish). Porvoo: WSOY. pp. 266–267.

 Karpio, Vihtori (1938). Raittiuden ystävät 1883–1933 (in Finnish). Jyväskylä: Gummerus. pp. 154, 157, 400, 403.

 "The Spokesman-Review". Google News Archive.

 Peach, B. N.; et al. The Geological Structure of the North-West Highlands of Scotland. Memoirs of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, Scotland. Glasgow: H.M.S.O.

 Laksamana, Francisco. "Anino ng kahapon" (in Tagalog). National Library of the Philippines. Retrieved July 3, 2011.

 Ondrej Pavlík. Pedagogická encyklopédia Slovenska, Volume 1. Veda, 1984. p. 646

 Ann Labounsky (2000). Jean Langlais: The Man and His Music. Amadeus Press. p. 23. ISBN 978-1-57467-054-7.

 Stan Smith (October 1995). W.H. Auden. Oxford University Press. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-7463-0731-1.

 American Council of Learned Societies (1999). American National Biography. Oxford University Press. p. 894. ISBN 978-0-19-520635-7.

 Twentieth-Century Romance and Gothic Writers. Macmillan International Higher Education. November 11, 1982. p. 218. ISBN 978-1-349-06127-3.

 Craig Waddell (2000). And No Birds Sing: Rhetorical Analyses of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. SIU Press. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-8093-2219-0.

 Martin, Douglas (July 3, 2007). "Hy Zaret, 99, Tin Pan Alley Lyricist, Is Dead". New York Times. Retrieved July 3, 2007.

 Flower, John (January 17, 2013). Historical Dictionary of French Literature. Scarecrow Press. pp. 44–45. ISBN 978-0-8108-7945-4.

 "Alexander Robertus Todd, Baron Todd | British biochemist". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved September 10, 2021.

 "Mons. Sergio Méndez Arceo (1952-1983) Septimo Obispo" [Mons. Sergio Mendez Arceo, seventh bishop (1952-1983)] (in Spanish). Diócesis de Cuernavaca. Archived from the original on January 29, 2018. Retrieved January 14, 2019.

 Kim A. Summers; Sally M. Walker (2000). The Teacher's Calendar, School Year 2000-2001: The Day-by-day Directory to Holidays, Historic Events, Birthdays and Special Days, Weeks and Months. Contemporary Books. p. 72. ISBN 978-0-8092-2521-7.

 Manfred H. Grieb: Liska, Hans. In: Nürnberger Künstlerlexikon: Bildende Künstler, Kunsthandwerker, Gelehrte, Sammler, Kulturschaffende und Mäzene vom 12. bis zur Mitte des 20. Jahrhunderts. Walter de Gruyter, 2011, ISBN 978-3-11-091296-8, p. 930 (books.google.de - preview).

 Giuliano Dego (1967). Moravia. Barnes & Noble. p. 2.

 Bruce Kellner (1984). The Harlem Renaissance: A Historical Dictionary for the Era. Greenwood Press. p. 65. ISBN 978-0-313-23232-9.

 Italy; Documents and Notes. Centro di documentazione. 1976. p. 346.

 Francis Fisher Browne (1968). The Dial. Jansen, McClurg. p. 211.

 Dell, R.K. (1990). "Hector, James". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved October 13, 2021.

Further reading

Gilbert, Martin. A History of the Twentieth Century: Volume 1 1900-1933 (1997); global coverage of politics, diplomacy and warfare; pp 143–57.

International Year Book: 1907 (1908) 1002pp, worldwide coverage online edition

  • Condition: In Good Contion for its age over 115 years old
  • Antique: Yes
  • Type: Coin
  • Unit Type: Unit
  • Original/Repro: Original
  • Material: Silver
  • Country/Region: United Kingdom
  • Unit Quantity: 1
  • Age: 1900-1940
  • Maker: Royal Mint

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