Note 9 — GUIDE TO ENGLISH MEDALS EXHIBITED.

Thomas Simon, the artist, whose birthplace and date of birth are uncertain, was first noticed by Nicholas Briot about 1633, and through him was engaged at the Royal Mint in 1636, to engrave the great seal of the Admiralty. In 1645 Simon received his first appointment under Parliament as "Joint Chief Engraver" with Edward Wade, and producing several seals of State remarkable for their artistic skill, he was rewarded by promotion to the post of "Chief Engraver to the Mint and Seals." From this time till the Restoration, Simon produced a large number of medals, many of which are of great beauty both in design and execution, and also the coins with the effigy of the Protector, by whom he was appointed "Sole Chief Engraver and Medal-maker." At the Restoration a fresh patent having been granted to Simon as one of His Majesty's Chief Engravers, he was ordered to prepare the necessary Great Seals, those of the Protector having been broken up. The appointment of John Roettier as one of the Engravers to the Mint led to a quarrel between him and Simon, which resulted in the resignation of the latter. Simon died in 1665 of the plague. Some little time before his death, he produced his masterpiece "The Petition Crown."