John 1199 - 1216

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.

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 was also granted Lordship of Ireland, and coins were struck in his name for use in Ireland. His reign was remembered more for the loss of large parts of France and quarrels with the Church and English Barons resulting in the signing of Magna Carta on 15 June 1215. The aim was to make peace between the King and the rebel barons and to ensure the protection of church rites. Here we offer these important silver pennies from his reign in Fine, a very collectible coin with detailed portraits. Very limited availability.

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).

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.