Charles I, Dominion of the Sea, 1630

Ex Christopher Foley Collection (Woolley & Wallis, 16th October 2014), lot 216.

Ex. Baldwins 31 (14th October 2002), lot 981.

Ex. Seaby Coin & Medal Bulletin 706 (June 1977), no. U454.


This medal was a manifesto, in accordance with Charles’s assertion through the British minister at the Hague ‘that the King of Great Britain is a Monarch at sea and land to the full extent of his dominions. His Majesty finds it necessary for his own defence and safety to reassume and keep his ancient and undoubted right in the dominion of these seas.’ The title ‘Sovereign of the Seas’ is first attested in a Charter of 904, when King Edgar claims to be “Anglorum Basileus… Oceanique Britanniam circumjacentis” (King of the Angles… and of the Ocean surrounding Britain).