NEWARK SIEGE COIN DECORATES RUBBISH BIN

Collecors of siege coins will enjoy this. David Pickup writes:

In addition to defeating Royalist forces in the field during the English Civil War Period (1642-1651), Parliamentarian commanders also at several points during this same period besieged those strategically important and heavily fortified Royalist centers. Among these centers, the most important was the city of Newark-on-Trent (commonly shortened to Newark). Located between the rivers Trent and Devon, and at the intersection of the Great North Road and the ancient Fosse Way, the city was a mainstay of the Royalist cause.

In early May 1646, with the New Model Army closing in on Oxford, Charles fled to the Scottish camp outside of Newark, where he surrendered himself to Lieutenant-General David Leslie, acting commander of the Covenanter army. Eager to transport the king to Newcastle-on-Tyne, a place which was more secure and closer to the Scottish border, but unwilling to appear as if he had abandoned his Parliamentarian allies, Leslie urged the king to order the immediate surrender of Newark on reasonable terms. Although Lord Belasyse is said to have wept when he received the order, he had no choice but to obey. Newark surrendered on 6 May 1646 and Belasyse marched out with his much-reduced garrison. On 8 May, the Scots broke camp and marched north, taking Charles I with them in semi-captivity.

To read the complete lot description, see:
STUART, Siege money. Newark. 1645-1646. AR Halfcrown (www.numisbids.com/n.php?p=lot&sid=288&lot=2613)

Wayne Homren, Editor

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