½ Crown – United Kingdom

In 1715, the United Kingdom's currency system was in a fragile and transitional state, deeply shaped by the recent political upheavals of the Glorious Revolution (1688) and the Acts of Union (1707). The most pressing issue was the severe degradation of silver coinage. For decades, coins had been clipped and worn, reducing their intrinsic metal value below their face value. This led to Gresham's Law in action: "bad money drives out good." People hoarded or exported full-weight silver coins, leaving only the debased and unreliable coins in daily circulation, which crippled trade and public confidence in the currency.

The government, under King George I and the Whig ministry, was actively seeking a solution. The Great Recoinage of 1696, under William III, had attempted to solve this by recalling and reminting all silver coins, but it was only partially successful and economically painful. By 1715, the focus had shifted towards a de facto gold standard. The introduction of the guinea, a gold coin originally worth 20 shillings, had become the preferred medium for large transactions and was fluctuating in value against the unstable silver shilling. This created a bimetallic system that was inherently unstable, as the market ratio between gold and silver constantly diverged from the official mint ratio.

Furthermore, the era saw the early rise of financial instruments and institutions that would reduce reliance on physical coin. The founding of the Bank of England in 1694 and the proliferation of Exchequer bills and private banknotes in London began to supplement the inadequate coinage. However, in 1715, these were still largely confined to the commercial elite and the capital. For the majority of the population, especially in the provinces, the daily struggle with worn, clipped, and scarce silver and copper small change remained the defining feature of the currency situation, highlighting a stark divide between the emerging world of public credit and the tangible realities of the common economy.