Provenance

Made 1639 for Charles I, King of England, Scotland, and Ireland [1600-1649], London; believed given January 1649, or possibly earlier, to William Juxon [c. 1582-1663, Bishop of London 1633-1649 and Archbishop of Canterbury 1660-1663], London; gift to his niece, Elizabeth Osborne [d. 1707/1711], possibly on the occasion of her marriage to William Merlott later in 1649;[1] by inheritance to her son, John Merlott [1654-1731];[2] by inheritance to his son, Richard Merlott [1678-1742], London; by inheritance to his brother, Joseph Merlott [d. 1782], Itchingfield, Sussex; by inheritance to his nephew (son of his brother, Abraham Merlott), John Merlott [d. 1784]; by inheritance to his sister, Elizabeth Merlott [d. 1810/1817]; gift during her lifetime to a distant cousin, Charles Merlott Chitty [d. 1815]; by inheritance on his premature death to his father, Charles Chitty [1781-1866, Elizabeth Merlott’s second cousin once-removed]; bequest to his wife, Susannah Elizabeth Jourdan Chitty [1786-1876]; gift 1867 to her son, William Farington Chitty [1822-1891]; bequest to his friend, Percy Sanden Godman [1836-1922];[3] by inheritance to his son, Lt. Col. Edward Shirley Godman OBE [1876-1951];[4] by inheritance to his son, Desmond Frederick Shirley Godman, alumnus of Magdalene College, Cambridge University, England [1927-2011];[5] displayed 1986-2009 on loan from him at Pepys Library, Magdalene College, Cambridge University;[6] purchased 2010 by (Classical Numismatic Group, LLC, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and London); sold jointly 2010 with (Nomos AG, Zurich) to Dr. Arnold-Peter C. Weiss, Barrington, Rhode Island; gift 2019 to NGA.
[1] This and subsequent provenance details are based on Percy S. Godman’s two articles in Sussex Archæological Collections relating to the History and Antiquities of the County, both titled “Itchingfield,” 40 (1896): 79-130 and 41 (1898): 95-118, pl. 7. Juxon’s niece Elizabeth was the daughter of his sister Elizabeth and her husband Edward Osborne; the younger Elizabeth was described as a widow in the indenture dated 13 June 1649 documenting her marriage to William Merlott (1620-1657). Her first husband was possibly Thomas Howse (1603-1644) and her third husband, who she married c. 1665, was John Braman (1627-1703). See the “Settlement on the marriage of William Merlott the younger and Elizabeth Osborne, 13 June 1449,” Add MSS 46832, West Sussex Record Office, Chichester, England (copy in NGA curatorial files).
[2] John Merlott’s will (written 1731, proved 1732), and those of Richard Merlott (written 1742, proved 1744) and the younger John Merlott (written 1784, proved 1786) make special bequests of “my King Charles I gold medal.” Copies of these wills, as well as that of Joseph Merlott, were obtained via https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/wills-1384-1858/, and are in NGA curatorial files, as are copies of later wills obtained via https://www.gov.uk/search-will-probate. Godman 1898, 114-118, publishes portions of the wills of many of the medal’s owners and their spouses.
[3] Peter Townend, ed., Burke’s Landed Gentry, ‘Godman formerly of Park Hatch,’ London, 1965: 308; John A. Venn, ed., Alumni Cantabrigienses: A Biographical List of All Known Students, Graduates and Holders of Office at the University of Cambridge, from the Earliest Times to 1900, Part 1: 13th century – 1751, Part 2: 1752-1900, multiple vols., Cambridge, 1922-1954: Part 2, vol. 3(1947):72 (“Godman, Percy Sanden”).
[4] Burke’s 1965, 308; The Peerage (http://www.thepeerage.com/p59867.htm#i598663, accessed 20 August 2019).
[5] Burke’s 1965, 308; obituary in The Times, 20 November 2011.
[6] Victor England, Jr., “Charles I Dominion of the Seas Gold Medal,” MCA Advisory. The Journal of the Medal Collectors of America 14, no. 7 (October 2011): 7-8.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1916

1986

Bibliography

1898

1904

1969

1979

2011

2012

Inscriptions

around circumference: CAROLVS.I.D:G.MAG.BRITANN.FRAN.ET.HIB.REX.; behind bust: BRIOT; on truncation, faintly:1639