My very first hammered coin.

We each will decide what feature is most important because coins that are strong in every regard are not all that common. Obviously portraits are important but I strongly prefer coins with moneyer and mint name legible on the reverse. For those new to the series: Look for the word ON before it is the name of the moneyer; after it is the name of the mint. I get an extra kick out of cut fractions that can still be IDed. This half reads M.L.ON.LVN which must be Willelm L ON (at) London because that mint had more than one man with the same first name so there had to be a last initial. This moneyer worked for King John who continued to use his father Henry II's name on coins. IMHO the other half of this coin would be a lot less collectible since it would not show the L and only have the top of the head and crown.


I felt better about these after reading this little book but you need to shop around a bit to avoid overpaying.
https://www.coinpublications.com/product/englands-striking-history/

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Coin-Med...hash=item547f578842:m:mh9tKyP39F3peViBqhZaubw

https://www.amazon.com/Englands-Striking-History-Christopher-Perkins/dp/0948964855

 

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That is a very nice cut halfpenny @dougsmit . My only penny of one of the moneyers Willelm with initial is WILLELM T.

I agree with you, moneyer name and mint are very desirable. There are some short cross pennies that I would take in any condition due to moneyer. Some of my favorite moneyers are Turkil, Vlard, Ioan Chic, Ioan F.R., Henri PI, and Roger of R. If anyone is interested in a little more detailed look at the short cross or long cross coinage I would highly recommend the books below by Christopher Wren.

 

Thanks @dougsmit and @TheRed. Like I said, I know nothing about these coins besides that I like the portraits. Now that you’ve showed me the moneyer and the mint, I like them even more. Adds a great extra bit of history to them!

 

You're welcome furryfrog02. If you head to the Baltimore Expo in March you should stop by the table of Andy Singer. He always has a large selection of medieval English pennies and is willing to share his knowledge and discuss them in great detail.

 

FFIVN and I plan on being there on the Saturday.

 

@TheRed I have tried to read the reverse legend on the back of my coin in the original post here and can only figure NIC / OLE. I can not figure out the other two spots of the legend. They look exactly like the one you had posted of yours but I still cant quite figure it out.