Recently I watched the 1950 color film "The Black Rose", where Englishman Tyrone Power sets off to China to seek his fortune. The film was set in the late 13th century and King Edward I appeared as a minor character, played by Michael Rennie. King Edward was portrayed as an honest person in this film, unlike the more recent "Braveheart" where he was portrayed as a scoundrel. He was sometimes called "Longshanks" as he was extremely tall (6' 2") for the time, when the average height for men was 5' 6". Edward was on a Crusade in 1272 when his father died and for several years issued coins with his father's name Henry III on them. Recently I purchased some Roman coins from a seller who normally deals in ancient coins only. The seller also had the Edward I coin which I also purchased. I knew almost nothing about medieval British coins and it was interesting researching the one I had bought. Obverse: HENRICVS REX III, the text starting in the upper left, the first letter is an 'h'. Reverse: Voided cross, a "voided cross" has the cross limbs divided by lines. IOH ON SEINTED, started on the left side just above the cross limb. The "IOH ON SEINTED" is the moneyer and mint, John de Burnedisse of Bury St. Edmund. IOH (John) ON (at) SEINT (Saint) ED (Edmund) Bury St. Edmund was a church town and the mint was run by the church. This is a tiny little coin. Weight: 1.47gm Diameter: 17mm x 19mm Class: 6, the classes are from Laurie Asher Lawrence's early 1900's numismatic magazine articles on pennies Catalog: Seaby 1377 from B. A. Seaby Standard Catalogue of British Coins (Seaby/Spink) These coins are fairly common and are frequently found by metal detectors in England. Henry III started making "long cross" pennies in 1247, the design replaced the "short cross" pennies. People were taking the silver coins and clipping off bits of silver to sell. The long cross made the clipping more obvious. Classes 1-5 were issued by Henry III, classes 6-7 were issued by Edward with Henry's name.
Interesting coin willieboy2, and intereting history behind it. English mediaeval coins are in general a very intriguing area. I have a small but growing collection as well. Still missing 'The Conqueror' however.
