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The Royal Sceptres: From Penny of Canute

FROM PENNY OF CANUTE.

WITH CROSS - PATÉE.

FROM OF EDWARD THE CON- FESSOR.

PENNY WITH DOVE AT THE FROM TOP.

FIRST GREAT OF EDWARD THE SEAL THE a CONFESSOR. subsisted from the time of Edward until to-day. Harold, on some of his coins, bears a sceptre with four pearls at the top (Fig. 29), and further ornamentation on the handle. On some of the coins of William I. a distinct cross-patée is used, and William also uses a form of a triple leaf or flower, which is generally known as a sceptre-fleury; and one or other of these forms is found on coins until the time of John, after whose reign the sceptres seem to have been discontinued on coins until the time of Henry VII. Henry III., on his second Great Seal, bears a sceptre with a dove standing upon a small orb-the first instance of this form (Fig. 30).

On Edward III.'s second Seal "of absence" he is shown holding a curious sceptre, the top of which is in the form of a small shrine or monstrance; and Henry IV., on his second Seal, shows a sceptre in which the top of the sceptrefleury develops into a clearly marked fleur-de-lys (Fig. 31); while Henry VI., on his Seal "for French affairs," carries a sceptre bearing at the top a "hand of Justice." This form is, however, a foreign one, and, probably, was not ever used on a really English sceptre.

WITH FOUR PEARLS AT THE TOP. FROM PENNY OF HAROLD.

WITH DOVE AND MOUND, FROM THE SECOND GREAT SEAL OF HENRY III.

WITH FLEUR-DE - LYS AT THE TOP. FROM THE SECOND GREAT SEAL OF HENRY IV.

On some of Henry VII.'s coins, and on others of a later date, the sceptrefleury, more or less elaborate, constantly occurs, the only marked departure from this pattern being the ornamental emblematic sceptres found on the reverses of some of our gold coins, from the time of Charles II. until George I., the heads of which are in the forms of cross-patée, harp, thistle, and fleur-de-lys. The last three are, however, evidently only symbolical, and are not likely to have had any real existence. Similar symbolical sceptres have occurred in recent times on some of our newer coinage, and on the reverse of some of our most recent issues occur typical representations of the Sceptre with the Orb and Cross, and the Sceptre with the Dove. It will be noticed that the sceptres now shown in the Tower combine very completely the elements existing in the old forms of the sceptres of England as they are found on coins and Great Seals. The Royal Sceptre with the Cross bears as its chief ornament the cross itself as used by Edward the Confessor, and beneath this the sphere which first shows on the sceptre of Henry III. The second or Queen's Sceptre with the Cross has what may be called a double fleur-de-lys, which is in fact an amplification of the sceptre-fleury found on the coins of Canute. The Sceptre with the Dove is a very old form, and is not peculiar to England alone, as it has a religious signification which is common to all Christian countries.