I was gifted a King John penny as a Christmas gift, and I am very excited to own it! The main reason I am happy about it is because that the moneyer’s name on the reverse is my name. The mint is Winchester, and can be specifically dated to 1205-1207 reopening of the Winchester mint for a recoinage. At this time there was a series of five moneyers at the mint, with Miles being one of them (along with Adam, Henri, Iohan, and Ricard), all using the dies cataloged as 5a, with the total number of moneyers rising to eight later in the year, with all using dies cataloged as 5b. The aforementioned recoinage was called to replace the clipped coins in circulation and restore the quality of the currency. It also served as a financial measure, due to the mints charging a fee to re-coin the old money. However the recoinage did not solve John’s financial problems and his need to levy heavy taxes led to a war against the barons, and of course the Magna Carta. Here is the coin and its specifications. AR penny, John (18 mm, 1.27g) mint: Winchester moneyer: Miles Post your eponymous moneyers or King John pennies, and please excuse my photography, my iPhone 5S can only do so much.
Great penny @Milesofwho Got to love the fact that you have a 800 year old coin minted by someone that shares your name. I have yet to get a penny of John from the Winchester mint. My most recent acquisition of John is below. John I AR Short Cross Penny 1205 AD Canterbury mint; Arnaud moneyer; struck in the name of Henry II. 18mm 1.51g Obv: Crowned head facing; scepter to left; HENRICVSR EX Rev: Voided short cross; quatrefoil in each angle; +ARNAVD*ON*CANT SCBC 1351; North 970
Nice penny of John Miles. I have a couple but only one photographed so far. It's WILLELM T ON LVN. I am taking the word of the seller as to the obverse attribution as I am still learning how to classify them. It's not easy.
I always thought it was interesting that the moneyer has the same name as me, and it turns out there was another Miles at Oxford under John, but no other ruler with moneyers had a Miles. I also thought it was funny seeing his little claw hand holding the cross-tipped scepter. It is definitely not easy. I certainly don’t know enough to attribute anything, and can’t imagine how hard it would be with no prior knowledge. On another topic, it’s interesting to note the final “T” in the name of the moneyer.
I would highly recommend the book "The Short-Cross Coinage 1180-1247 " by Christopher Wren. Its a very good introduction to the coinage and a great guide at identifying the coins. There are mint and moneyer tables as well as a nice illustrated guide to each class of short-cross pennies. Its also fairly cheap at about $25.
Even with the Wren book I'm finding it a real challenge. That's what makes it fun and interesting though.
I couldn't agree more on both counts. Some of the classes and sub-classes are really tough. I bought a large lot of cut half pennies and those have given me a devil of a time. Yet working through mint, moneyer, and portrait to finally identify a coin is really satisfying.
England John, r. 1199-1216 (1205-1216) London Mint, AR Short Cross Penny, 18.12mm x 1.54 grams Obv.: hENRICVS RE[X]. Bust facing crowned with sceptre, curls enclose pellets Rev.: + WALTER . ON . LV. Short cross voided with quatrefoil in each angle Ref.: North 971, SCBC 1353, CC99 JH1D-020, De Wit 3196 Ex. Dr. Murray Gell-Mann Collection
I have bought 3 cut half pennies so far and have been able to positively identify 2 of them. One is giving me real problems with my lack of experience with them. I put a solid 3 hours into it and was stumped. I won't give up though. I was planning on starting a thread about identity Short Cross pennies but that probably won't happen till next year. I think we have an enough interest to make it a good thread.
