This is the first English coin to feature a lettered edge. There are two edge varieties, this example features the name of Peter Blondeau who was effectively signing his creation. Blondeau’s technique of minting not only improved the quality of coins produced but also protected the coins from the common process of clipping the edge for personal gain. The mint at the time did not adopt this technique for a number of years as it would have undermined their work but it reemerged as the favoured method of minting for Cromwell’s portrait coins of 1656.