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Obverse of 1975 Manx Crown
Obverse of 1975 Manx Crown

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Reverse of 1975 Manx Crown

Reverse of 1975 Manx Crown

A Brief History of the Isle of Man
The Isle of Man is a British crown dependency, similar to the Channel Islands. It is internally autonomous, although foreign affairs and defence are the responsibility of the British Government.

Ancient History
During the Iron Age, the Island was occupied by British Celts who spoke the Brythonic language of the Ancient Britons. However, the Manx language as it is spoken today is more closely related to Irish (a Goidelic language) than it is to Welsh or Cornish (Brythonic languages), suggesting that some kind of displacement or cultural change imposed by Irish invaders/settlers occurred at some point during the Dark Ages.
Beginning in the 9th Century, the Vikings arrived in Mann, and established the Hiberno-Norse Kingdom of the Isles, which included the Isle of Man and many of the western isles of Scotland.

Middle Ages
The Kingdom of the Isles briefly fell under Norwegian rule, but by the Treaty of Perth, signed in 1266, the Isle of Man became a domain of the Scottish Crown. The island was fought over as part of the various wars fought between England and Scotland, until in1406, the English Crown finally established feudal control over the island by establishing a grant that prescribed that whoever owned the island was also a vassal of the English Crown.
The Isle of Man remained a feudal possession of the Stanley family (bar a brief interregnum during the Commonwealth period) and their heirs until 1765, when the title 'Lord of Mann' was invested in George III and his successors.

Modern History
During the First and Second World Wars, camps were established on the island to intern enemy aliens for the duration of the war. The once profitable tourist industry declined although this has since been replaced by a tax-haven financial industry.

Manx Coinage
It is likely that trade with Roman Britain would have seen the use of Roman coins within the island. However, it is known that a mint was established on the island for striking Hiberno-Norse Pennies in the name of the Kings of Dublin between 1025 and 1065.
During the 17th Century a private coinage for Mann was issued by John Murray, which was issued in denominations equal to their English counterparts. These coins were made legal tender by order of the Tynwald (Manx Parliament) in 1679 and circulated alongside English issues. However, Manx coins were devalued during the 1690s, to the point where it took 14 Manx pence to equal 1 English shilling (which was worth 12 English pence). This disparity in value caused a flight of Manx copper coins to Britain were they were mistakenly accepted as equal to their English counterparts. A coinage act abolishing the Manx Pound was imposed in 1839 over the objections of the Tynwald and coins of the Pound Sterling were made sole legal tender. The Manx Government continues to issue its own coins, which are now equal to their British counterparts, which are struck by the Pobjoy Mint Ltd. In addition, the Isle of Man also issues gold bullion issues known as 'Angels' in troy ounce related denominations.

For Sale and Wanted
If you are interested in coins from the Isle of Man please see our product index:-
Manx Coins

Gold Coins
We also have gold coins from the Isle of Man on our taxfreegold website:-
Manx Gold Coins



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