Massive English Monarchs Coin Tankard, 1886

This is a magnificent and extremely rare English silver coin tankard that is engraved to the underside: “This tankard weighing oz.37 was made to receive 37 coins of English history”. The tankard was made during the hallmarking year of 1886/87 and was presumably made to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria. It is possibly unique in English silver.

The tankard takes the peg form on three ball feet that was popular in northern Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries. It has a hinged cover with a superb lion rampant thumbpiece holding a shield  bearing the Royal Coat-of-Arms in raised detail and an engraved rampant wyvern crest to the interior. The weight of the piece is quite exceptional (it actually weighs 39.5oz!) and it can carry over 3.5 pints, but the outstanding feature of the tankard are the 37 silver coins set in to the body and cover with the engraved names above and date of accession of the relevant monarch below.

The oldest coin is located to the left of the lower handle join and is a William I (1066–1087) silver penny with a band of pennies for each subsequent reign running around the body through to Henry III (1216-1272) on the other side of the handle.

The second band of mostly pennies, but some shillings and a Richard II groat, run from Edward I (1272–1307) through to Henry VI (1422–1462).

The third band, through the House of York and all the Tudor monarchs consists mostly of shillings and runs from Edward IV (1462-1483) to James I (1603–1625) with a particularly fine Edward VI half crown, (n.b. there is no coin for the short reigns of Edward V and Lady Jane Grey).

The top band consists of florins and half crowns and run from Charles I (1625–1649) to William III (1695–1702), plus they include a Commonwealth of England 1653 half-crown and a near mint shilling of 1658 bearing the portrait of Oliver Cromwell and “PAX QUAERITUR BELLO” meaning peace is sought by war”.

Around the cover are a series of shillings dating from a 1709 Queen Anne (1702–1714) example, through the House of Hanover to a 1834 William IV (1830-1837) coin. In the centre is a fabulous Queen Victoria gothic crown dated 1847.

We are not coin experts, but some of these coins in their own right are worth significant values, however to us the historical value of this piece is in the way they have been collected and set within the tankard in a most impressive way.

This is a fabulous silver tankard in excellent condition (with varying amounts of expected wear and coin clipping to the inset coins) and the only English example that we have ever encountered. A truly historic piece!