English Hammered Coins

One of the best beginner books to really get a great grasp on classifications would be:

The Voided Long Cross Coinage 1247-1279 (Henry III & Edward I)-An Illustrated Guide to Identification by Christopher R Wren.

 

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I have avoided these due to my total lack of understanding how to tell one Henry or Edward from another. I never got to the point that I was trying to tell a 1a from 1b etc. My example is Edward (I?) from Durham as best as I can figure from my only reference (someone gave me a 1999 edition of Spink but I can't say I understand muh of it). Is there a online beginner's guide for tose who want to know a little but have no intent of chasing down endless minor varieties?


At least later hammered can be read a little easier by the likes of me. I liked this Henry because he used an 8 and because it provided a photo challenge retaining the portrait. Canterbury?

 

Take PCGS or NGC identification of varieties with a grain of salt. I have seen plenty of misidentified coins in third party holders. That's not to say they don't know what they are doing, but they are really a bit weak with non-US. They have a few ancient coin experts on staff but I doubt you'll find medieval experts there.

 

Doug, probably the best resource online to get a general idea about the early Edwardian pennies would be this:

http://www.ukdfd.co.uk/pages/edwardian-Pennies/Edwardian Pennies P1.htm

However to save you some time on your example you have an Edward I penny class 10cf3a minted between 1307 and 1309. Spink #1412.

I hope this helps!

 

Noob, that is a Elizabeth I shilling Sixth Issue minted between 1582-1600.

 

Alright!!! Cool @HammeredCoin thanks bro.

 

Thanks.

 

you guys are making my show for medieval coins...knock it off.

 

When I get back from Poland I just might take you up on your offer.

 

Anytime bud!

 

Sure thing....safe travels!

 

Here is a new addition to the collection. This is an example of an Edward III penny. While it looks VERY similar to the pennies minted during the reigns of Edward I and II, the dead giveaway of Edward III pennies is in the style of the crown. The crowns that are seen in the earlier Edwardian pennies are not as nicely/cleanly formed as those seen in Edward III pennies.

Another major clue in my specimen is the appearance of annualet (small circle) stops in the legend on the obverse of the coin. These do not appear in the legends of the earlier Edwardian pennies, only in rare instances on the bust of the king.

This example is from the third coinage from 1344-51. It is also considered an "unusual type" because of the roman style "N" and a legend that reads "EDWR" and not "EDW".

 

Ok here is another interesting example of a Edward I penny. This was minted by one of the Archiepiscopal mints that were active at the time. This coin was minted by the Archbishop of York. Edward I also had his own royal mint in York, however, the Archbishop was given the right to mint his own pennies for his own profit. Production/output by the Archbishop was limited by Edward, achieved by controlling the number of dies in the Archbishop's possession.

On the reverse of the coin, the coins minted by the Archbishop of York have what is called a "quatrefoil" in the center. The pennies minted at the royal mint in York are identical to those from the Archiepiscopal mint with this one exception.

I always thought it was a neat little sub story to this period; how the church's influence was even seen in numismatic history.

 

Ok I am bored and can't sleep. I may just be entertaining myself with these posts with the delusional thought that others find this stuff as interesting as I.....but hey, I'm bored so what the heck, here is another one!

Here is an example of a penny from the Berwick-Upon-Tweed mint. The coins from this mint are a specialty in of itself within the early Edwardian penny collectors and researchers.

This is due to the fact that while all the other mints (both royal and Archiepiscopal) procured their dies for production from the Exchequer in London, Berwick was the only mint to produce their own dies. This was especially true of the punches made for the bust and crown on the obverse, but even in the case of some lettering.

The results can be seen by the generally poor quality and strange looking portraits of the king. The major thing that one notices is the strange form of the eyes. Another result of this quark in production from Berwick is the difficulty in narrowing down the date of production and the order in which the different styles were produced.

Here is a nice example of a Berwick penny. I also put a side by side comparison so you can really see the difference in the portrait relative to a common coin produced in London.

 

Excellent coins hammered! Love the history behind them

 

Nice pieces @HammeredCoin. I wish I had some more to add. I'm slowly grabbing a few here and there. What are some of the harder mints to find? I'd like to get a London mint Edward I penny like yours. I'm not sure if this is the place to ask questions, but who are some of the easier rulers to find? Edward I seems to be pretty common.

 

Thanks! I do too. I think it's a really fascinating part of numismatic history in this area of the world. I am glad you appreciate it....I will be trying to post some more stuff soon!

 

Thanks! Please feel free to ask questions! I love talking about this stuff (as if you couldn't tell ) The mint in London was by far the most active and are the most commonly found mint of Edward I pennies. So that would be a great place to start your collection because coins in fair condition can be bought at very reasonable prices. For a common class (such as coins minted during the second re-coinage that took place right around the turn of the 14th century) you can buy an Edward I penny in fair condition for around $50-$60.

The rule of buying the best you can afford holds true here as well. You want to avoid the most worn and clipped coins that are often found as they have very little value. Flat "flans" with well struck details is the place to really start looking.

Aside from the early Edwardian pennies, another great place to start collecting because of the relative affordability would be the "long cross" coins minted by Edward's I father, Henry III. These too are fairly common and very nice examples of these coins can be purchased around the $50-60 to start. These coins take a bit of practice and research to learn how to decipher the mint and monyer, but I think that adds to the enjoyment in collecting them.

If the $50-$60 price point is a bit too steep for you, than you can start collecting the cut pennies from this group. Why they are referred to as "voided" long cross pennies is because of the gap in the cross on the back of the penny for the purpose of cutting the coin to produce lower denominations for circulation. During this time period, 1 penny was a typical wage for a days work so buying common goods like bread would require less than that, however, no denomination (larger or smaller) was minted at the time.

There are tons of examples of these cut coins that you can buy for $10-$15 and if you happen to get the right half (or even quarter in some cases) you will be able to identify either the mint or moneyer or even both!

I hope that helps. Please feel free to ask any other questions!

 

It's hammer-time!! (very cool thread) ... thanks, HammeredCoin!!

 

Thanks Steve! Really glad I found this place to meet other great collectors! And FYI I used to look like that when I worked out....