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Message:: [QUOTE="johnmilton, post: 4829198, member: 101855"][ATTACH=full]1168031[/ATTACH] William the Conqueor penny, Spink 1257 William the Conqueror issued nice coins for the medieval period after he seized England in 1066. His coins were well made and came up to the legal standard with respect to the purity of their alloy. After William died in 1087, his son William II (a.k.a. Rufus) replaced him. [ATTACH=full]1168032[/ATTACH] A somewhat better than average William II or "Rufus" penny struck with a broken obverse die. Spink 1261 Rufus’ coins were generally low quality pieces. The dies were often badly worn and there were questions as to whether or not the silver was up the legal standard. William’s bother, Robert pawned his kingdom, Normandy, to William for 10,000 marks. Since a mark at the time was worth 160 pence, that came to 1.6 million pence. Could this be reason why the quality of the British coinage reached a low state during this period? [ATTACH=full]1168033[/ATTACH] A much better than average William II penny, Spink 1260 Rufus died under questionable circumstances in a hunting accident in August 1100. His brother, Henry I seized the royal treasury and the crown. If anything, Henry’s coins were worse than those of William II, which leads a recent acquisition and the subject of this post. This coin might not look like much to most collectors, but for a Henry I penny, it is a “WOW!” [ATTACH=full]1168034[/ATTACH] Henry I penny, Spink 1275, B.M.C. xiv. There is a small "snick" at 5k. The people lost confidence in Henry’s coinage because so many pieces were under weight and were made of sub-standard silver. The prompted people to clip small piece off the coins they received to test them. Once a coin had been clipped, it was difficult to keep in circulation. Henry came up with a solution. Every coin at the mint was given a “snick” or tiny clip. Therefore the people had no choice but to use coins with tiny clips because all of the pieces that were in circulation bore that mark. [ATTACH=full]1168051[/ATTACH]  A more typical example of a Henry I penny. The is immediately identifiable as a Spink 1276 Henry I died in 1135 after eating a big helping a lampreys, a blood sucking eel that was considered to be a great delicacy in the Middle Ages. His doctor had warned him not the eat them, but he could not resist. Henry I fathered 21 children, but only two of them were legitimate. His 17 year old son, William, died when The Great White Ship sank off the coast of France. Everyone on the ship was roaring drunk, including the captain. The ship hit a rock in the harbor and foundered. All but one person on the ship died. The death of William left Henry with one child who had a legitimate claim to the crown, his daughter Matilda. Women were not considered to be qualified to lead a country in those days. Henry tried to get his lords to accept her, but after he died, they went back on their word. Henry’s nephew, Stephen, became the king instead although Matilda almost succeeded to deposing him a couple of times. [ATTACH=full]1168055[/ATTACH]  A much better than average example of a Stephen Penny, Spink 1278 Stephen’s coins were only a little better than the previous issues. Matilda also had coins made in her behalf. Her pieces were even worse. Today most collectors must accept that fact that the Matilda pennies are non-collectable. When Stephen died in 1154, Matilda got her revenge. Her son, who because Henry II, became king. He was the first of the Plantagenet kings who would rule for the next 245 years. At first Henry II’s coins were low quality, but, after taking some advice from the moneyers on the continent, Henry’s coins improved dramatically. [ATTACH=full]1168056[/ATTACH] Henry II penny, Spink 1344  [/QUOTE]

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