I've really enjoyed all of the great lists people have written over the past few weeks highlighting their top coins of the year and thought I would add my own perspective. While the year isn't quite over I doubt that a coin will come along to supplant my favorite acquisition of 2017. For the year I purchased 22 coins (CNG 411 possibly adding to the total) with the following breakdown: Medieval - 8 Seleucids - 6 Ptolemaic - 6 Roman - 2 Of all those coins, the one that made my year was a groat (4 pence) of Edward III. Edward III AR Groat 4th Coinage Series B 1351 AD London mint 27.5mm 4.59g Obv: EDWARD'.D GRA REX: ANGL' Z: FRANC: D. HYB Open C and E, mm punch as X in REX RevOSVI° DEVM° ADIVTOREM° MEVM; CIVI TAS LON DON Roman M, pellet stops. SCBC 1563; North 1142 This rare groat has long been at the top of my want list, and to finally get one, even if it’s in a little rough condition, made my year. But what makes this a coin to get excited over? I would be happy to bore you with medieval English numismatic history. Large silver coins began appearing in Western Europe in the 12th century with the Florentine soldo. Venice followed with the grosso and Milan the soldi. Eventually France, under St. Louis, would issue the gros tournois in the 1260s. All of these coins came to English shores as trade in the 12th and 13th centuries flourished. When Edward I undertook his great recoinage of 1279 it was decided to introduce a large denomination silver coin, equal to 4 pence. The name groat was derived from the Dutch word groot, meaning a 'great' coin. The new groat of Edward I was far from a success, and minting more than likely ended a few years after the introduction of the groat. Strangely enough, many of the coins lived on as gilded jewelry pieces or badges. It would take the passing of roughly 70 years before an English monarch would strike another groat. Under Edward III a highly successful gold coinage was introduced in 1343 and in 1351 the crown undertook a recoinage to address the need for a larger silver unit of currency as the purchasing power and weight of the English penny had declined steadily over the last few decades. Once again, the groat, at four times penny weight, was minted in England. The new coin was an immediate success and proved quite popular in England and the Low Countries due to the fineness, 0.925 silver, as compared to many continental issues. The series B groats of Edward III were the very first ones minted under the 1351 recoinage. With the high demand for the coin new dies were quickly needed, and later in 1351 a new series of groat, known as series C, was minted. The mintage of the series C groats was much more prolific and they are quite readily available. While the groat remained largely unchanged from B to C, a few minor ones did take place. The Roman M was replaced by a Lombardic M, and the C and E were closed. A new X was also used in the obverse legend. The groat, and its junior half-groat, was now an established coin, in high demand and widely circulating. They would be minted throughout England, Ireland, in Calais France, and copied by the Scots. The series B groat of Edward III reintroduced a coin that would be minted until the 1800s in hundreds of varieties and styles. The Reverse legend, POSVI DEVM ADIVTOREM MEVM, which translates to “I have made God my helper’ would become a staple, in many different forms, on English coins. The groat would even enter into the popular lexicon and appears in the works of authors such as Ben Franklin, Beatrix Potter, and Terry Prachett. Not bad for a resurrection of a failed English imitation of a continental coin. Thanks for reading my lengthy post. Please feel free to add any coins you would like.
That is a wonderful groat @TheRed . The portrait is great! I do not have a groat of Edward III. I do have a penny of his. Edward III Silver Penny Pre-treaty period C London (18.0mm 1.10g) 1327-1377 Obv: EDWARDVS REX ANGLI. Facing crowned bust. Rev: CIVITAS LONDON. Longcross with trefoil pellets in each angle. Cross 1, Lombardic M, Reversed barrred N, wedge tailed R, annulets in each quarter. Spink – 1584 North – 1149 Purchased from Hammered British Coins August 1 2017 I also have a quarter noble of his. It has some edge damage, but I still love the coin. I love hammered gold English coins but my wallet does not! Edward III AV Quarter Noble (c.1361-1369AD) (18.49 mm 1.65 g) Treaty-Period Calais Mint, Obv: shield within tressure, cross in circle above, French title omitted, pellet before edward, Rev. floriate cross, arms extending from central panel containing an annulet Bold, very fine detail, clipped with a little damage on one edge. (Schneider 100; Stewartby B2, p.258; N.1245; S.1513) Halls Hammered Coins October 9, 2017 Here is the Gros Tournois of Louis IX (St Louis) you mentioned. Louis IX (1226-1270) AR Gros Tournois (25.20 mm, 3.55 g) Obv: légende intérieure : + LVDOVICVS. REX légende extérieure : + BNDICTV: SIT: NOmE: DHI: nRI: DEI: IhV. XPI, (ponctuation par trois besants superposés). Rev: TVRONVS. CIVIS, Purchased from Ebay February 2017 Thanks for excellent writeup. I really enjoyed it. Thanks also for posting about medieval coins. I am very glad to see that I am not the only one interested in them.
I am just now starting to look at medieval coins and I enjoyed the coins posted on this thread. Your article was informative, @TheRed. Thanks for sharing that information along with your favorite coin of 2017.
Thanks everyone for all of the comments and congratulations. It's great to be able to share medieval coins with my fellow medieval collectors. Despite our small numbers, we are still our there. @Orfew those are great coins. A gros tournois like yours is in my top 5 for 2018. And the quarter noble is fantastic. The only two I've been able to get were field finds with plough damage. Great groat @alde I love the tone and portrait. By the reign of Henry VI more groats were being minted in Calais than England due to the importance of the Low Countries trade.
Super coin @TheRed! Normally, facing portraits don't survive circulation very well. Yours did just fine!
