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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Aethelred, post: 3154663, member: 81808&quot;]English coinage in the Middle Ages evolved at a very slow pace. At the start of 1279 every English coin for the last 125 years had born the name HENRICVS in spite of the fact that there had been kings named Richard, John and Edward. Stability it was believed bred confidence and for a medieval king confidence in his kingdom’s money supply was of paramount concern. Later in the year a re-coinage would take place, but we are not concerned with that just yet, instead we are going to take a brief look at a Penny minted during the first seven years of the reign of Edward I.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://www.wnccoins.com/Edward%20I%20Bury%20Obv.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> </p><p><br /></p><p>This silver Penny was minted at Bury Saint Edmunds between 1272 and 1279. On the obverse it shows a transitional portrait of the king with the familiar crown and scepter on the earlier coins of Henry III, but the long, flowing locks common to the later coins of Edward I and his successors. In spite of the fact that Edward I had now been king for several years, the inscription still reads HENRICVS REX III. We learn more by reading the reverse of the coin. Between the four quarters of the voided long cross (a design element that replaced the older Short Cross style in 1247) are the letters ION ONS EIN TED. Ion (Jon) On Seint (Saint) Ed(munds), this coin was minted by Jon at Bury Saint Edmunds.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://www.wnccoins.com/Edward%20I%20Bury%20rev.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> </p><p><br /></p><p>These unusual coins were once very rare, but a find in the latter half of the 20th Century in Colchester, England changed that. In 1969 a lead container was discovered that contained 14,064 Silver Pennies of Henry III, most were issued before the 1250s, but 1,916 of them were of this type. Listed in Spink as S-1377, Class VI and issued from 1272 to 1279.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Because the hoard was found in a location where Jewish homes were known to have been located in the 1270s and because Edward later expelled all Jews from England, it is probable that these coins were deposited by a Jewish money lender who never recovered them because he was the victim of persecution. For me that brings this coin to life, you can look at this coin and imagine the fear and uncertainty that led this person to hide these coins.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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