Featured A New Richard the Lionheart Penny

Richard The Lionheart

AD 1189-1199


Born in 1157 in Oxford, Richard was the fourth child of King Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine. Richard was said to be tall, skilled in combat, and politically cunning. He also possessed a violent temper, not an uncommon trait in his family. A betrothal was arranged between Richard and Alice of the Vexin (daughter of Louis VII of France), but the marriage never took place. At one point the Pope himself intervened and ordered that the marriage take place, but to no avail. Various reasons have been put forward to explain Richard’s apparent unwillingness to marry Alice, amongst them it has been suggested that Richard was homosexual. In addition to never being married to Alice, Richard maintained a close friendship with Philip II of France during his early years. Arguing against his homosexuality is the fact that Richard had mistresses and sired at least one illegitimate son, he also eventually married Berengaria of Navarre, although the union was childless. The more likely reason for Richard’s aversion to the prospect of marriage to Alice is her alleged long term affair with Richard’s father Henry, to whom she is believed to have born a child. This may also explain Richard’s willingness to take part in revolts against his father in 1173 and again in 1183 and 1188.



In 1189, worn out by war and the disloyalty of his children, Henry died at the age of 56. His elder brothers having died before him, Richard was proclaimed King and took control of his father’s English and French lands. Richard actually controlled more lands in France than the French king, these lands brought with them large revenues. At his coronation a delegation of English Jews arrived to present gifts to the new king, but they were beaten and expelled from court. In the chaos that followed there was a slaughter of the Jewish population of London. To his credit Richard ordered the execution of the leaders of the slaughter although his motive might have had more to do with maintaining order than any sympathy for those persecuted.



Richard pledged to go on Crusade and imposed heavy taxes to equip and pay his army. During the Third Crusade Richard recaptured Acre and made it to within a few miles of Jerusalem, but never laid siege to it despite the weak state of the city’s defenders. The largest black mark on his legacy was his execution of 2700 Muslim prisoners as maintaining them would hamper his army’s ability to advance. Richard and his chief Muslim for Saladin developed an admiration for one another’s skill on the battlefield.


While returning from the East, Richard was captured and held for ransom by Leopold V of Austria, who he had offended by tearing down his banners at Acre. Leopold demanded 100,000 pounds of silver in exchange for Richard. Richard’s younger brother John had assumed control in England and was in no apparent hurry to see his brother loosed. Richard’s mother managed to raise the ransom and Richard was freed after two years in captivity, he forgave his younger brother remarking that the 26 year old John was “only a child.”


In 1199 Richard was besieging a minor castle in Limousin in an attempt to claim a hoard of Roman gold that had been discovered there. While inspecting the siege engines Richard was shot in the shoulder with a crossbow bolt, which Richard unwisely attempted to remove it himself. He was attended by a doctor who did further damage. When the wound became gangrenous, Richard summoned the man who had fired the soon to be fatal bolt and forgave him. A few days later Richard died in the arms of his mother Eleanor, his heart was sent to Normandy for burial, his entrails were buried where he died and the rest of his body was buried at Fontevraud Abbey in Anjou. Richard was 41 years old at his death. Debate still rages as to Richard’s legacy, he is regarded as the model of kingship by some who admire his military deeds and bearing, others see him as a cruel king who ignored England, spending only six months of his ten year reign there.



If you wish to obtain a coin of Richard’s you will have to make a compromise. His English coins show a representation of the king, but were minted bearing the name HENRICVS. His French coins bear his name RICARDVS, but not his likeness. His coinage is not rare, but because of his popularity it can sometimes command higher prices than the coins of other kings of similar rarity.


The coin shown below was recently purchased by me from London coin dealer Arthur Bryant. It is a Class III Short Cross Penny (Spink-1347), It was minted in London by the moneyer Stivene (probably a blundered Stephen). North lists the Class III coinage as dating to 1192-1194.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Awesome coin and write up @Aethelred ! I'd love to get a coin from this cat!

 

A great coin and really interesting writeup @Aethelred. Unfortunately, I do not have a portrait coin of Richard, all I have are 2 anglo gallic coins of him.

 

Nice coin @Aethelred and a great write up too. I like the portrait coins but suppose I'd have to have both if I owned one or the other.
-d

 

A great write up of fascinating historical figure a day a really nice penny. Your coin has quite a nice portrait for the type. His coins may not be rare but they are certainly not common in the market.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed the write up! And the coin even more!!!

 

fine coin and great write up!

 

Great coin and write-up @Aethelred I'm glad that coin went to a fellow CT member. For all of my Richard I Anglo-Gallic coins, I have yet to get an English penny. I agree with you that they tend to be more expensive as compared to similar short-cross pennies of Henry II or John.

 

A cool coin with a nice portrat! Congrats.

 

Awesome!!!

 

Very cool coin and great write up!!

 

If anyone else has any Richard I coins they would like to show off, I'd love to see them.

 

I've posted this coin before but ill add it again. It is my favorite denier of Richard from Poitou that I have in my collection.


I recently won a denier of Richard from Aquitaine that is unlisted in the major references for Anglo Gallic coins. It is still waiting for me at the post office. I'll post it once I have it in hand.

 

Love that coin @TheRed. A French Denier of Richard is high on my target list.

 

Thanks Aethelred. You should come up to Baltimore for the Whitman Expo in June. Andy Singer will be there with more Anglo Gallic coins than anyone else on this side of the Atlantic.

 

That would be fun, I just might.

 

Wonderful coin! I too actually collect medieval British coins more than I do ancients.

 

Through his mother, who had been married to King Louis VII, Richard was half brother to Marie of Champagne in whose court the Arthurian romances were written.

 

I really enjoy threads about Medievals. I am seeing coins I never knew existed all the time and starting to pick up a few now and then.

John

 

You should post some! The more medieval coins on this forum the better.