Reproduction Queen Anne silver shilling. Features a bust of Queen Anne on the obverse and four shields representing the Act of Union (unification of England and Scotland into a single realm) on the reverse. Coin diameter: 25mm
The payment of the King's (or Queen's) shilling to a recruit was a survival of the medieval practice of paying 'earnest money' (often called 'God's penny') to seal a bargain. By accepting the shilling, the recruit ratified his agreement to enlist. The custom was discontinued in the late nineteenth century.
By the time that Queen Anne came to the throne in March 1702 John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, and his wife Sarah, were already long-accepted members of the royal circle.
Sarah, particularly, was an intimate friend of the new Queen, who had come to depend on her companionship and advice. When, later in the same year, war broke out in Europe, Marlborough, a military genius, was the obvious choice as leader of the allied troops. During 1702 and 1703 Marlborough defended Holland from invasion by the French, and in 1704 began to move forward up the Rhine valley. On 13th August a decisive battle took place on the north bank of the Danube near a small village called Blindheim, or Blenheim, where the French leader, Marshall Tallard, had fixed his lines. Here Marlborough won a great allied victory over the forces of Loius XIV, thus saving Vienna from a French invasion.
In reward for his services, the grateful Queen granted to Marlborough the Royal Manor of Woodstock and signified that she would build him there, at her own expense, a house to be called Blenheim.
