About this coin

Face value: one penny.
Collector value: let's say a buck.

Edward VII was on the throne for nine years - which is nine years more than you or me, but not long in the history of modern monarchs. So, you don't run across his coins quite so often. They aren't rare, but they're less common.

1902! Somewhere around here, I have a picture of my grandmother as a toddler being bathed in a tin tub by her parents in 1902. They were all laughing, which is something you don't often see people do in photographs from 1902. The Weasels were obviously very early proponents of hobbyist photography. I'll post it if I find it.

If you tilt this coin to the light, there's extra detail around Edward's ear, where it was protected from wear. It's kind of a neat effect.

This one has been much in the pocket of a weasel lately. I'd enjoy hearing from it. I might even put your name or letter on this page (unless you ask me not to). Address it to coins@FieldNotebook.com.

History: bought (in a lot of 36 assorted coins) from a dealer in Florida.

Inscription:

EDWARDVS VII DEI GRA:BRITT:OMN:REX FID:DEF:IND:IMP:

Which, when translated out of British coin-speak short-hand Latin, means "George V King by the Grace of God, Defender of The Faith and Emperor of India."

That's a very neat trick. Using this clever system, we could say the Pledge of Allegiance like: PLG:FLG:USA RPB:ONE:GD:IND OMN:LIB:JST:YAY!

And the National Anthem would fit on the head of a pin! SEE FLAG? NOT ME!

Work this one out yourself: X.FST:BLT X.PWR:LOCO 1:JMP:BLDG LOOK!SPRMN

About Edward VII:

Albert Edward Wettin (1841 - 1910) was the eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, and they weren't very nice to him. His upbringing was strict and dour. They decided the future king needed pretty rigorous tutoring to prepare him for the job, and he wasn't really up to it. The tutoring, that is. They made no secret that they didn't think Bertie was up to the king part, either.

Actually, though he wasn't much of a scholar, he wasn't stupid. He had gifts, like an easy charm, but they mostly served to get him into trouble. When he went away to college, he got a heavy reputation for gambling and girl chasing. When he got into a bit of a scandal with an actress, his father went to Cambridge personally to lecture him.

Several weeks later, Albert died. While he'd been sick for some time, Victoria claimed he'd died of a cold he caught walking around Cambridge. She said she would forever after shudder when she looked at Bertie. Swell thing to hear from you mother, no?

After Albert's death, Victoria became as reclusive as it's possible for a queen to be. Before she did, however, she picked out Princess Alexandra of Denmark to be Bertie's wife. Alix was a beautiful woman and devoted mother, popular with the British public. Their marriage, while occasionally rocky, was mostly a happy one. Which didn't keep Bertie from keeping a succession of mistresses.

Victoria wouldn't let Bertie do anything politically significant (so how could she know he wouldn't be good at it?). Much of his scandalous behavior, it has been speculated, was probably down to boredom. Victoria lived to be a jillion, so he waited longer than anyone, ever to become king and took the throne at a later age.

Then surprised everyone by being a pretty decent king. The easy charm that served him well at the gaming table, served him well at the negotiating table. He was the last British monarch to have any sort of real hand in running the country, modern Brits preferring their royals to wave from the back seat of a Rolls Royce and mind their own business.

Edward was called "the uncle of Europe," since he was related by blood and marriage to just about every monarch in Europe. Emperor Wilhelm II, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, King Alphonso XIII of Spain, Carl Eduard, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and King Haakon VII of Norway were nephews. King Albert I of Belgium, Manuel II of Portugal, King Ferdinand of Bulgaria, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, and Prince Ernst August of Brunswick-Lüneburg were cousins. King George I of the Hellenes and King Frederick VIII of Denmark were brothers-in-law. How much World War I was a giant monarchical family picnic gone horribly wrong is anyone's guess.

Edward was a devoted Freemason and did much to popularize freemasonry in the UK. He died in 1910 after nine years of rule. He was succeeded by his second son, George.