Crowns and Ducats: Shakespeare's Money and Medals

A display in room 69a looking at the role of coins and money in the works of Shakespeare and how money and medals marked the major events of the late-Elizabethan and Jacobean periods. From English crowns to Venetian ducat, references to money and its metaphors – about value, wealth and character – in Shakespeare's works such as 'The Merchant of Venice' and 'Henry IV' and more generally are examined through objects including Nicholas Hilliard's 'Dangers Averted' medal of Elizabeth I and a hoard of gold coins that were deposited in Essex at around the time of Shakespeare's birth in 1564.