English Hammered Coins

One of the earliest and least expensive English coins you can get is a Silver Penny of King Henry III. He reigned from 1216-1272 so that makes it between 700 and 800 years ago. The Silver Penny was the only denomination issued during his rule. You have a stylized portrait of the monarch on one side and a long cross on the other side. This long cross was so that you would have guidelines if you wanted to cut the coin in half, thus making two Halfpennies, or in Quarters thus making four Farthings. The Silver in the coin was good, that many were illegally exported and melted down. The excess money was the profit, but it was illegal to export these coins. We can offer them in Fine and we think that they are excellent value considering their age and history.

King John was the youngest son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, he was King of England from 1199 until his death in 1216. He is remembered for disastrous and expensive wars with France and his greedy and tyrannical reign which resulted in a rebellion by the church leaders and barons of the day who resented the ever-increasing taxes to fund these wars. In June 1215, the barons and church leaders marched on London in an attempt to force the King to agree to their demands. The King tried to gather support but almost all of his followers deserted him and he was forced to meet with the leaders at Runnymede, a meadow on the south bank of the River Thames, near Windsor, where he reluctantly affi xed his seal to the Magna Carta, which means “Great Charter” in Latin. Amongst other things, the document limited the King’s power and forced him to follow the law and not just rule as he wished. As significant as it was to the people of the day, it has proved to be even more important to subsequent generations and has become the foundation for many of the civil rights and liberties that we enjoy today, and which are now part of English law.

Between 1180 and 1247 the Short Cross, and later the “Long Cross” pennies dominated everyday trading. Due to the lack of small change, the mint would cut these pennies into halves and quarters to be used as halfpennies and farthings. These cut coins were used during the reigns of Henry II, Richard “The Lionheart”, John “Lackland” and his son Henry III until Edward I’s new coinage of 1279. The Mints, Moneyers and even the King can be difficult to tell, but we’ll identify as much as possible. Here we have on offer a group of the cut-farthings from the long cross version (1247-1279).

Anglo-Saxon silver pennies are getting more and more expensive, however the Pennies of Northumbria, also known as Stycas are a great way to have a less expensive Anglo-Saxon coin for your collection. Minted between 810 and 867 A.D., stycas were small, base-metal coins primarily made of copper alloy. These coins feature simple designs with inscriptions naming the issuing king or bishop, such as Eanred or Archbishop Wigmund. We have a nice group of these fascinating Northumbrian pennies, a great way to get on the Anglo-Saxon coinage ladder. PLEASE NOTE: PHOTOGRAPHY IS REPRESENTATIVE OF THE COIN SUPPLIED

King John was the youngest son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, he was King of England from 1199 until his death in 1216. He is remembered for disastrous and expensive wars with France and his greedy and tyrannical reign which resulted in a rebellion by the church leaders and barons of the day who resented the ever-increasing taxes to fund these wars. In June 1215, the barons and church leaders marched on London in an attempt to force the King to agree to their demands. The King tried to gather support but almost all of his followers deserted him and he was forced to meet with the leaders at Runnymede, a meadow on the south bank of the River Thames, near Windsor, where he reluctantly affixed his seal to the Magna Carta, which means “Great Charter” in Latin. Amongst other things, the document limited the King’s power and forced him to follow the law and not just rule as he wished. As significant as it was to the people of the day, it has proved to be even more important to subsequent generations and has become the foundation for many of the civil rights and liberties that we enjoy today, and which are now part of English law.