The second edition of this book presents a new and expanded exploration of the unusually varied coinage and currency of the 'Great Rebellion' of 1642-1660, a pivotal period in British history. It builds on further research available since its original publication in 1990, notably a fresh appraisal of the West Country mints of Sir Richard Vyvyan and new insights into the numerous hoards of the time. Along the way, we meet more of the people who willingly or unwillingly did business with the wartime mints. Following a description of the currency in circulation in 1642 and a survey of the organisation of royalist minting during the war, the royalist mint-franchises are considered in turn. Foreign coinage, siege issues and the emergency coinages of Ireland are all described; and the story of the Tower Mint under Parliament is followed through the Interregnum of 1649-60 to the Restoration of Charles II. Minting methods at a time of transition from manual to mechanised production form an important subsidiary theme. Edward Besly was Numismatist at the National Museum of Wales (Amgueddfa Cymru) from 1986-2018, having previously worked at the British Museum. He is best known for his studies of Romano-British coin hoards and of the coinages of the time of Charles I (1625-49). In 2003 he was awarded the John Sanford Saltus Medal of the British Numismatic Society.

The Regina Turdulorum Hoard (Casas de Reina, Badajoz) was buried with 818 imitative antoniniani of Divo Claudio type, minted in copper. The vast majority of the coins bear the reverse legend CONSECRATIO. This figure makes the Regina Turdulorum hoard one of the most important in Spain and Portugal. In numismatic terms, the most common reverse type is the funeral pyre, as opposed to the eagle. In addition to this main group, there is a second group, where there are curious imitations that follow various prototypes for the manufacture of the reverse. The study of the posthumous coinage of Claudius II and his imitations represents one of the most complex tasks in ancient numismatics. The work is considerably complicated by the fact that they are highly copied coins, which means that regular issues are very difficult to distinguish from the imitations. In this sense, the hoard provides vital information for the western monetary circulation of the Roman Empire, contributing to the debate on Gallic and African imitations. It also opens the way to the hypothesis that Hispania may have been another centre for issuing Divo Claudio imitations. Although the latter remains to be proven, the tentative and open nature of this book provides the opportunity to open new lines of study in the hope that they will be resolved sooner rather than later.