Henry III 1216 - 1272

In the middle of Henry III’s reign, in 1247, a new penny called the “Long Cross” Penny was struck. They were struck at 20 mints across the country, most being struck at London. The obverse has a portrait of the King, the reverse depicts a “Long Cross” extending to the edge of the coin, this allowed the mint (and possibly traders) to cut pennies into halves and quarters and used as change. We’re offering these fascinating medieval Cut Halfpennies in Fine condition at £32.50 each. Please Note: PHOTOGRAPHY IS REPRESENTATIVE OF THE COIN SUPPLIED

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.

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).