In another post, I published pictures of a Henry III Penny that had been cut in half to make it into a half penny. I thought about posting this there, but decided that it would be better if I made it a stand alone article. I find the history of the Kings of England as interesting as the coins. I have built a "bullet book" which has chapters for each king from Alfred the Great foward. Here are the contents of my "bullet book" chapter on Henry III. Henry III Penny, S-1362A · Henry III was nine years old when is father, King John, died. He was fortunate to have able advisors who were able to preserve his claim to the crown. · The French, led by Prince Louis, and group of rebellious barons had a foothold in England. The first order of business was to push out the French invaders and put down the domestic revolt. Spearheaded by a land victory at Lincoln headed by William Marshal and a sea victory under the leadership Hubert de Burgh, Prince Louis saw that his English invasion had no future. He accepted a cash settlement and withdrew his forces from the country. · Historians generally view Henry III as a weak king because he lacked the ability to formulate his own policies. He was often influenced by the latest advisor who had his ear. Author, Dan Jones, in his work The Plantagenets characterized Henry as a man-child who yearned for the parental guidance he had not received as a child. He was often overly influenced by French advisors who were more interested in controlling England than the good of the English people. · Henry was a great admirer of Edward the Confessor and tried to model his reign after him. Like Edward, Henry was deeply religious and often retreated to religion when he could not cope with the crises during his reign. · Henry’s greatest achievement was the start of the re-building of Westminster Abby. He supervised the construction of the cathedral to point where it looked similar to how it appears today. · Henry was greatly influenced by French culture. He took a great interest in art and literature at the expense of political and military issues. This resulted in an erosion of English power and security. · Henry tried to sponsor military actions in France where the Plantagenet Family had previously controlled a vast territories. His efforts were underfunded because the nobility would not provide the funding. · In the 1250s, Henry began a campaign to secure the island kingdom of Sicily for his son, Edward. The plan was poorly funded and unpopular with the English nobility. Ultimately the barons revolted and took charge of Henry’s reign. He became little more than a figurehead with the barons setting English policy. Henry III Gold Penny, Photos courtesy of Spinks England’s first gold coin since the Norman Conquest was this Henry III gold penny. It was valued at 20 pence and was issued to facilitate the payment of Henry’s debts that resulted from his foreign wars, specifically Sicily. Following the lead of some Italian states, Henry had his gold minted into pennies. Records show that Henry paid 37,280 gold pennies in 1257 and another 15,200 in 1258. Today only six to eight of these coins are known. These coins were not popular with London merchants. Average citizens could not use them because they were worth too much. There were fears that their general usage would depress the value of gold, and it was thought that their melt value exceeded their face value. At the time the ratio between silver and gold was only 10 : 1.
@johnmilton I'm having the hardest time deciphering the legends on both coins. The gold penny is far more legible, but it still leaves me guessing. Can you explain them, please? TIA! Chris
Here is a big part of your problem. The legends on these coins use a different alphabet. Here is a translation sheet. The obverse reads, "HENRICUS REX III"
Is that your coin? I've been slowly working on adding similar bullet statements to about the coins in my collection, with additional information about the emperor, kingdom, region, etc. I think spending time studying the history around my coins helps me appreciate them even more.
Very nicely done @johnmilton I enjoyed reading it. It's interesting to note just how successful Prince Louis was in the initial invasion of England. He was welcomed with open arms by the city of London, proclaimed king of England in St. Paul's Cathedral, and was even recognized by Alexander of Scotland. If John hadn't died, Louis may well have won the throne. I'll add a Voided Long Cross penny Class 1b/2 mule of Henry III.
The silver penny is my coin. The gold coin is out of my reach. I did pass one of the reproductions are that available at one of the Baltimore shows. I bought a Gallery Mint 1796 half dollar years ago when I couldn't afford the real thing. It didn't do anything for me. Copies just don't appeal to me as a collector.
I have a very small collection of British hammered but it blows me away that those who are interested in the subject place so little importance on the moneyer/mint ID's. Above we have two pennies with clear reverses but neither included a reading of the moneyer or pointed out the two ways the London mint was abbreviated. I have not gotten into the details to the point that I care whether the beard is pointy or the face is rounder but I do like to know the moneyer named on my coin. I recently posted my John cut farthing which I selected because it had a moneyer who could be IDed from the two letters on my quarter: Walter on London. I have my first Henry III coming in the mail but am one of those superstitious types who does not show photos until the coin arrives. In 2016, I lost two coins in transit and both were shown here before they should have been. I stopped.
I posted it at one point on the PCGS site, but I have revised it a lot since then. It’s an on-going project. I might post it up although it will be quite a few posts. I am working on Roman emperors, I might not finish that one beyond the 12 Caesars and the adoptive caesars.
I am more interested in the history of the monarch than the coiner, but I can understand your interest.
