The Interregnum or for the purposes of this coin the Commonwealth was the period between the execution of Charles I on January of 1649 and the arrival of his son Charles II in London on May 29th of 1660 which marked the start of the Restoration.
Charles was wildly unpopular with a growing population of Puritan types, often referred to a Roundheads. Charles was suspected of having Catholic sympathies and he felt that as king, his powers should be closer to absolute than the Parliamentary system allowed him to be. He dismissed Parliament in order to force his will and triggered the more Republican and austere Protestant Parliamentary outrage. The result was a war between the flamboyant Cavaliers(read all the stereotypes associated with the Three Musketeers) and the very conservative Roundheads.
The end result was the capture, the Parliament ordered execution of Charles and the declaration of a republic with a Lord Protector at its head, Oliver Cromwell and his son William. The joy did not last long, nor did the commonwealth.
The coins can be a bit expensive, this heavily damaged one being about 70 dollars. A nice example can easily command triple that and often much more.
This coin was not available at this posting, I do not won one.
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