A Life Forged in Iron, Marked by Coinage: The Singular Story of William Wood William Wood (1671-1730) occupies a fascinatingly unusual place in the annals of 18th-century England. He wasn’t a painter, sculptor, or architect—the typical subjects of art historical study—but an ironmaster and mintmaster whose life intersected with the burgeoning world of commerce, colonial ambition, and even public scandal. Born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire…