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This article traces the history of the English penny from 1066 to 1154.
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| History of the English penny |
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This article traces the history of the English penny from 1066 to 1154.
Following the Norman Conquest, William the Conqueror continued the Anglo-Saxon coinage system. As a penny was a fairly large unit of currency at the time, when small change was needed a penny would be cut in half or into quarters at the mint of issue. Most pennies of Kings William I and II show a front-facing bust of the king on the obverse (which was a departure from the Anglo-Saxon kings, who mostly used a sideways-facing bust), surrounded by a legend, usually PILLEMUS REX, PILLEM REX ANGLOR, PILLEM REX AN, PILLELM REX, PILLEM R (King William, or William King of the English— The P may have been a late usage of the letter wynn, a P-shaped rune which had the sound value of a "w"). The reverse of the coin usually showed some form of cross, surrounded by the legend identifying the moneyer and mint.
Moneyers were personally responsible for maintaining the weight (at this time, 20 to 22 grains, 1.3 to 1.6 grams) and the silver fineness of the coins they produced — there are several recorded instances of moneyers who produced short-weight coins being mutilated or occasionally executed. Although there was only a small amount of space on the reverse, the moneyer's "identification details" were considered more important than the mint and were not often abbreviated (although often 'mis-spelt'). The moneyer's name would appear after a small cross, and is usually followed by "ON" (of) and the town's name. During the reign of William I (1066–1087) the demand for coins was so high that there were about 70 mints active; over 50 were active at the start of William II's reign in 1087, but only 34 were still in operation at his death in 1100.
During the reign of the first two Norman kings, mints were located in Barnstaple, Bath, Bedford, Bedwyn, Bridport, Bristol, Bury St Edmunds, Cambridge, Canterbury, Cardiff, Chester, Chichester, Christchurch, Colchester, Cricklade, Derby, Devitum (probably St David's, South Wales), Dorchester, Dover, Durham, Exeter, Gloucester, Guildford, Hastings, Hereford, Hertford, Huntingdon, Hythe, Ilchester, Ipswich, Launceston, Leicester, Lewes, Lincoln, London, Maldon, Malmesbury, Marlborough, Northampton, Norwich, Nottingham, Oxford, Peterborough, Pevensey, Rhuddlan, Rochester, Romney, Salisbury, Sandwich, Shaftesbury, Shrewsbury, Southwark, Stafford, Stamford, Steyning, Sudbury, Tamworth, Staffordshire, Taunton, Thetford, Totnes, Wallingford, Wareham, Warwick, Watchet, Wilton, Winchcombe, Winchester, Worcester, and York.
During the relatively long reign of King Henry I (1100–1135) the penny remained the chief denomination, although round halfpennies and quarter pennies were introduced [these are mentioned in contemporary accounts] which proved very unpopular and only about twelve specimens (of halfpence, and no round quarters) are known to exist today. Fifteen major types of penny were produced, at around 54 mints which were intermittently active throughout the reign. The quality of the coins in the early part of the reign was poor, as the moneyers made a large profit by producing underweight coins or coins of debased fineness. In 1124 Henry called all 150 moneyers to Winchester and called them to account for their activities — 94 of them were convicted of issuing sub-standard coins and were mutilated, their right hands and one testicle being cut off, as a result of which the quality of coins improved for most of the remainder of his reign. The basic design of the coins remained the same as before with the obverse inscriptions variously being HENRICUS, HENRICUS R, HENRI R, HENRI RE, HENRI REX, HENRY REX, HENRICUS REX, HENRICUS REX A—Henry, King Henry, Henry King of England.
During the reign of King Henry I, mints were located in Barnstaple, Bath, Bedford, Bristol, Bury St Edmunds, Cambridge, Canterbury, Cardiff, Carlisle, Chester, Chichester, Christchurch, Colchester, Derby, Dorchester, Dover, Durham, Exeter, Gloucester, Hastings, Hereford, Huntingdon, Ilchester, Ipswich, Launceston, Leicester, Lewes, Lincoln, London, Northampton, Norwich, Nottingham, Oxford, Pembroke, Pevensey, Rochester, Romney, Salisbury, Sandwich, Shaftesbury, Shrewsbury, Southampton, Southwark, Stafford, Stamford, Sudbury, Tamworth, Taunton, Thetford, Totnes, Wallingford, Wareham, Warwick, Watchet, Wilton, Winchcombe, Winchester, Worcester, and York.
One of the largest hoards of coins of Henry I was the Lincoln Melandry Hoard found in February 1972. This provided many new examples of coins minted by previously undocumented moneyers for the later issues of Henry I's reign.
The period following the death of King Henry I is known as The Anarchy. Henry's only legitimate son and heir had been drowned in 1120 in the White Ship disaster, so he had decided that he wished his daughter Matilda to succeed him. When he died, Matilda, also known as the Empress Maud, was in Normandy and her cousin Stephen of Blois managed to get back to London before she did, and claimed the throne - with the support of many barons who were unprepared for the novel idea of a woman ruler. Matilda and Stephen set up rival courts in Bristol and London and proceeded to issue coins from the mints under their control while the political unrest continued for the better part of 20 years. Stephen won the political battle, but when his own son and heir, Eustace, died in 1153 he agreed that Matilda's son Henry would succeed him.
Many of the coins produced during the Anarchy are of poor quality.
There are approximately 5 principal varieties of coins produced by Stephen's mints, normally containing the legend STIEFNE, STIEFNE R, STIEFNE RE, or STIEFNE REX, but one issue bears the legend PERERIC which cannot be translated but is thought to have been constructed by the moneyers to look like the previous reign's HENRICUS, so they could disassociate themselves from the conflict and hedge their bets about who would win, while still providing the required number of new coins.
Stephen's coins were minted at Bedford, Bramber, Bristol, Bury St Edmunds, Cambridge, Canterbury, Cardiff, Carlisle, Castle Rising, Chester, Chichester, Cipen (possibly Ipswich), Colchester, Corbridge, Derby, Dorchester, Dover, Durham, Eden, Exeter, Gloucester, Hastings, Hedon near Hull, Hereford, Huntingdon, Ipswich, Launceston, Leicester, Lewes, Lincoln, London, Newcastle, Northampton, Norwich, Nottingham, Oxford, Pembroke, Peterborough, Pevensey, Rye, Salisbury, Sandwich, Shaftesbury, Shrewsbury, Southampton, Southwark, Stafford, Steyning, Sudbury, Swansea, Tamworth, Taunton, Thetford, Tutbury, Wareham, Warwick, Watchet, Wilton, Winchester, Worcester, and York.
Matilda's coins tend to show a cruder style than Stephen's regular issues. The obverse legend is MATILDIS IMP—Empress Matilda, MATILDIS COMITISSA—Countess Matilda, or simply MATILDIS—Matilda. [1]
Matilda's coins were minted at Bristol, Cardiff, Gloucester, Oxford, and Wareham, and possibly also at Calne and Canterbury.
Stephen, often referred to as Stephen of Blois, was King of England from 22 December 1135 to his death in 1154. He was Count of Boulogne jure uxoris from 1125 until 1147 and Duke of Normandy from 1135 until 1144. His reign was marked by the Anarchy, a civil war with his cousin and rival, the Empress Matilda, whose son, Henry II, succeeded Stephen as the first of the Angevin kings of England.
Empress Matilda, also known as the Empress Maude, was one of the claimants to the English throne during the civil war known as the Anarchy. The daughter of King Henry I of England, she moved to Germany as a child when she married the future Holy Roman Emperor Henry V. She travelled with her husband to Italy in 1116, was controversially crowned in St Peter's Basilica, and acted as the imperial regent in Italy. Matilda and Henry V had no children, and when he died in 1125, the imperial crown was claimed by his rival Lothair of Supplinburg.
The Anarchy was a civil war in England and Normandy between 1138 and 1153, which resulted in a widespread breakdown in law and order. The conflict was a war of succession precipitated by the accidental death of William Adelin who drowned in the sinking of the White Ship in 1120. Henry sought to be succeeded by his daughter, known as Empress Matilda, but was only partially successful in convincing the nobility to support her. On Henry's death in 1135, his nephew Stephen of Blois seized the throne, with the help of Stephen's brother Henry of Blois, who was the bishop of Winchester. Stephen's early reign saw fierce fighting with disloyal English barons, rebellious Welsh leaders, and Scottish invaders. Following a major rebellion in the south-west of England, Matilda invaded in 1139 with the help of her half-brother Robert of Gloucester.
Robert FitzRoy, 1st Earl of Gloucester was an illegitimate son of King Henry I of England. He was the half-brother of the Empress Matilda, and her chief military supporter during the civil war known as The Anarchy, in which she vied with Stephen of Blois for the throne of England.
The gold penny was a medieval English coin with a value of twenty pence.
The history of the English penny from 1154 to 1485 covers the period of the House of Plantagenet, up to the Battle of Bosworth Field which brought about the beginning of the Tudor period. The Plantagenet era saw an overall rise in quality of the coinage but saw a decline in the number of mints used to produce coins.
The history of the English penny from 1485 to 1603 covers the period of the House of Tudor up to the death of Elizabeth I without an heir. The Tudor era saw the debasement of the penny under Henry VIII and Edward VI, with Elizabeth I's reign overseeing the recovery of the silver quality. Under the Tudors, the penny decreased in size.
The history of the English penny from 1603 to 1707 covers the period of the House of Stuart, up to the Acts of Union of 1707 which brought about the Union of the Kingdom of England with the Kingdom of Scotland.
The penny of Great Britain and the United Kingdom from 1714 to 1901, the period in which the House of Hanover reigned, saw the transformation of the penny from a little-used small silver coin to the bronze piece recognisable to modern-day Britons. All bear the portrait of the monarch on the obverse; copper and bronze pennies have a depiction of Britannia, the female personification of Britain, on the reverse.
The British penny, a large, pre-decimal coin which continued the series of pennies which began in about the year 700, was struck intermittently during the 20th century until its withdrawal from circulation after 1970. From 1901 to 1970, the obverse of the bronze coin depicted the monarch who was reigning at the start of the year. The reverse, which featured an image of Britannia seated with shield, trident, and helm, was created by Leonard Charles Wyon based on an earlier design by his father, William Wyon. The coins were also used in British colonies and dominions that had not issued their own coins.
The British pre-decimal halfpenny,, historically also known as the obol and once abbreviated ob., was a denomination of sterling coinage worth 1/480 of one pound, 1/24 of one shilling, or 1/2 of one penny. Originally the halfpenny was minted in copper, but after 1860 it was minted in bronze. In the run-up to decimalisation, it ceased to be legal tender from 31 July 1969. The halfpenny featured two different designs on its reverse during its years in circulation. From 1672 until 1936 the image of Britannia appeared on the reverse, and from 1937 onwards the image of the Golden Hind appeared. Like all British coinage, it bore the portrait of the monarch on the obverse.
The British farthing abbreviated qua., was a denomination of sterling coinage worth 1/960 of one pound, 1/48 of one shilling, or 1/4 of one penny; initially minted in copper and then in bronze, which replaced the earlier English farthings. Before Decimal Day in 1971, Britain used the Carolingian monetary system, wherein the largest unit was a pound sterling of 20 shillings, each of 12 pence. Each penny was divided into 4 farthings, thus, a pound sterling contained 960 farthings, and a shilling contained 48 farthings. From 1860 to 1971, the purchasing power of a farthing ranged between 12p and 0.2p in 2017 values.
The unite was the second English gold coin first produced during the reign of King James I. It was named after the legends on the coin indicating the king's intention of uniting his two kingdoms of England and Scotland. The unite was valued at twenty shillings until 1612 when the increase in the value of gold throughout Europe caused it to be raised to twenty-two shillings. The coin was produced during James I's second coinage (1604–1619), and it was replaced in the third coinage by the Laurel worth twenty shillings. All the coins were produced at the Tower Mint in London.
William FitzRobert, 2nd Earl of Gloucester was the son and heir of Sir Robert de Caen, 1st Earl of Gloucester, and Mabel FitzRobert of Gloucester, daughter of Robert Fitzhamon, and nephew of Empress Matilda.
The British farthing was a British coin worth a quarter of an old penny. It ceased to be struck after 1956 and was demonetised from 1 January 1961.
The British halfpenny coin was worth 1/480th of a pound sterling. At first in its 700-year history it was made from silver, but as the value of silver increased the coin was made from base metals. It was finally abandoned in 1969 as part of the process of decimalising the British currency. "Halfpenny", colloquially written ha'penny, was pronounced HAY-pə-nee; "1 ½d" was spoken as a penny ha'penny or three ha'pence.
Events from the 10th century in the Kingdom of England.
The siege of Oxford took place during The Anarchy—a period of civil war following the death of Henry I of England without a male heir—in 1142. Fought between his nephew, Stephen of Blois, and his daughter, the Empress Matilda, who had recently been expelled from her base in Westminster and chosen the City of Oxford as her new headquarters. Oxford by now was effectively a regional capital and important in its own right. It was a well-defended city with both rivers and walls protecting it, and was also strategically important as it was at a crossroads between the north, south-east and west of England, and also not far from London.
The English farthing was a coin of the Kingdom of England worth 1⁄4 of a penny, 1⁄960 of a pound sterling. Until the 13th century, farthings were pieces of pennies that had been cut into quarters to make change. The first English farthing coins were minted in the 13th century, and continued to be struck until the early 18th century, when England merged into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707.
Coincraft's Standard Catalogue English & UK Coins 1066 to Date, Richard Lobel, Coincraft. ISBN 0-9526228-8-2.
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