Henry VI, Edward IV, Edward V & Richard III
Henry VI (first reign: 1422-61) Read
about Henry VI
Groats
WMH-6939: Henry VI Hammered Silver
Medieval Groat. Rosette-Mascle issue
of 1430-31 only, Calais mint. The town of Calais in what is now Northern France was under English rule
from 1347 until 7 January 1558, being a bit of a
vanity statement for the English monarchs in their claim on the French crown.
It cost almost 1/5th of all the revenue collected in England to maintain Calais as an English
possession. The mint closed in 1440
after really only producing limited coinage under Edward III, a tiny amount of
gold under Richard II and Henry IV, a miniscule quantity of farthings under
Henry V and some of the earlier coinage of Henry VI. Spink 1859. Priced in Spink the same as
the Annulet issue, which frankly amazes me. Not withstanding the fact that Annulet was in
operation over four times longer than Rosette-Mascle,
it’s just an undeniable fact that you see many more Annulet groats than you do Rosette-Mascle. £195
WMH-8112: High Grade Henry VI
Medieval Hammered Silver Groat. First reign,
Pinecone-Mascle issue of 1431-32/3, Calais
mint. Spink 1875. The town of Calais in what is now Northern France was under English rule
from 1347 until 7 January 1558, being a bit of a vanity
statement for the English monarchs in their claim on the French crown. It cost
almost 1/5th of all the revenue collected in England to maintain Calais as an English
possession. The mint closed in 1440
after really only producing limited coinage under Edward III, a tiny amount of
gold under Richard II and Henry IV, a miniscule quantity of farthings under
Henry V and some of the earlier coinage of Henry VI. Sold with an early 1980's
ticket using an old fashioned typewriter. Better than VF - a most attractive coin. £445
Halfgroats
WMH-7767:
Henry VI
Medieval Hammered Silver MULE Half Groat.
First reign: a mule of an Annulet issue of 1422-30 obverse
and a Rosette-Mascle issue of 1430-31 reverse.
Calais mint. In case you're wondering what right England had in
minting coins from Calais, the answer is that England owned Calais from the
reign of Edward III until Mary's reign in 1558; the paperwork being finalised
under Elizabeth 1st in the Treaty of Troyes. Some say it was a vanity project by the
English and it probably was to a point (it certainly cost getting on for half
of the GDP of England just to keep it, not to mention the loss of lives, most
famously the Battle of Agincourt), but the port of Calais was really important
to England in terms of transport and trade. Initial mark Plain Cross. Spink 1840-1 / 1862. Sold with a couple of old
tickets. An
interesting coin. £225
Pennies
WMH-7590:
Henry VI
Medieval Hammered Silver Penny. Rosette-mascle issue of 1430-31. From the Calais mint - the town of Calais in what is now Northern France was under English rule
from 1347 until 7 January 1558, being a bit of a
vanity statement for the English monarchs in their claim on the French crown.
It cost almost 1/5th of all the revenue collected in England to maintain Calais as an English
possession. The mint closed in 1440
after really only producing limited coinage under Edward III, a tiny amount of
gold under Richard II and Henry IV, a miniscule quantity of farthings under
Henry V and some of the earlier coinage of Henry VI. Initial mark Cross Patonce.
Spink 1865.
An exceptionally nice grade coin. £195
WMH-6963: Henry VI Medieval Hammered
Silver Penny. Annulet issue of
1422-30, being from the first reign of Henry VI (both Henry VI and Edward IV
had two different periods where they were king!) and the first ever coinage of
Henry VI. From the Calais mint - the town of Calais in what is now Northern France was under English rule
from 1347 until 7 January 1558, being a bit of a
vanity statement for the English monarchs in their claim on the French crown. It
cost almost 1/5th of all the revenue collected in England to maintain Calais as an English
possession. The mint closed in 1440
after really only producing limited coinage under Edward III, a tiny amount of
gold under Richard II and Henry IV, a miniscule quantity of farthings under
Henry V and some of the earlier coinage of Henry VI. The mark on the reverse at 11
o’clock is a surface mark, possibly as a result of the folding of silver to
create the blank pre-strike. A nice example. £125
WMH-7917:
Henry VI Hammered Silver
Penny. Rosette-Mascle issue, 1430-31
only. Clear mascles both sides, clear
rosette reverse. Calais mint. Initial mark Cross Patonce.
Spink 1865.
The town of Calais in what is now Northern France was under English rule
from 1347 until 7 January 1558, being a bit of a
vanity statement for the English monarchs in their claim on the French crown.
It cost almost 1/5th of all the revenue collected in England to maintain Calais as an English
possession. The mint closed in 1440
after really only producing limited coinage under Edward III, a tiny amount of
gold under Richard II and Henry IV, a miniscule quantity of farthings under
Henry V and some of the earlier coinage of Henry VI. Spink 1859. A lovely grade coin which is born out by the 0.97g
weight. £225
WMH-8084:
Henry VI Medieval Hammered
Silver Penny. Pinecone-Mascle issue of 1431-32/3,
rare Durham mint - CIVI TAS DVnO
LMI, Spink 1883. Not
on most collectors' radar but never-the-less, a rare coin which is seldom seen
for sale. £235
Halfpennies
WMH-7237:
Henry VI Hammered
Silver Long Cross Round Halfpenny. Annulet issue of 1422-30, Calais mint.
The town of Calais in what is now Northern France was under English rule
from 1347 until 7 January 1558, being a bit of a
vanity statement for the English monarchs in their claim on the French crown.
It cost almost 1/5th of all the revenue collected in England to maintain Calais as an English
possession. The mint closed in 1440
after really only producing limited coinage under Edward III, a tiny amount of
gold under Richard II and Henry IV, a miniscule quantity of farthings under
Henry V and some of the earlier coinage of Henry VI. Spink 1849. A very nice coin. £75
WMH-7336:
Henry VI
Hammered Silver Long Cross Halfpenny. Annulet issue of 1422-30, London
mint. Two revere annulets. Spink 1848. Nice grade for issue – remember you’re
looking at a much magnified image. £85
Edward IV (1461-70) - 1st Reign Read
about Edward IV.
See also the Irish
section for Edward IV hammered coinage.
Hammered Gold
WAu-7555:
Edward IV
Hammered Medieval Gold Ryal or Rose Noble.
Light Coinage of 1464 – 1470 only, London mint, small
fleurs in spandrels, initial mark Crown, Spink
1951. This coin, issued in 1465, whilst
unambiguously attractive in design, was a bit of a disaster. It superseded the old Noble because this was
now considered a clunky and old fashioned denomination at 6s. 8d. The new Ryal or
Rose Noble denomination was nice and user-friendly at 10 shillings. However, it wasn’t. The noble had been around for so long that
6s. 8d. had actually become the professionals’ standard fee. Whilst these professionals wouldn’t have
minded being the beneficiary of a not inconsequential pay rise virtually
overnight, the people who employed these individuals were most certainly not up
for that. Thus the new 10 shilling Ryal
or Rose Noble denomination was itself superseded just 5 years later by the gold
Angel and everyone was happy because the Angel circulated at, wait for it,
exactly the same as the old Noble - 6s. 8d, or at least it did until Henry VIII
got involved when, somewhat counter-intuitively, it increased to 7s. 6d in his
Second Coinage! At virtually full weight
and VF grade, this is a lovely example of an iconic English late Medieval
hammered gold coin. £6,850
Hammered Silver
Groats
WMH-8005: Edward IV RARE MINT
Hammered Medieval Silver Groat.
Provincial COVENTRY issue, light coinage, 1464 – 1470: this mint was only
operational for x72 days right at the start of the
Light Coinage, so c.1464. Quatrefoils by neck, C on breast,
Spink 2008. Strongly toned with
virtually no clipping, excellent reverse mint signature and really, of the four
examples I have had in the last 30 years, up there with the best. Much rarer than Spink suggest. Ex Tim Owen on one of his 1990's pre-pink
tickets, so good provenance. A very good
example indeed of this sought after mint.
£595
WMH-7867:
Edward IV
Hammered Silver Medieval Provincial Mint Groat. First reign, light coinage
of 1464-70. CIVI
TAS COV TRE reading - the very rare Coventry mint, Spink 2008.
Initial mark Sun (not a mule of rose/sun as described
on the old ticket), C on breast, and quatrefoils by the neck. This mint was only operational for x72 days right at the start of the Light Coinage. After those few short days, the mint
closed. A rare coin. £435
WMH-8028: Edward IV RARE MINT
Hammered Medieval Silver Groat.
Provincial COVENTRY issue, light coinage, 1464 – 1470: this mint was only
operational for x72 days right at the start of the
Light Coinage, so c.1464. Quatrefoils by neck, C on breast,
Spink 2008. Strongly toned with
only minimal clipping, excellent reverse mint signature and really, of the four
examples I have had in the last 30 years, the best - even better than the ex
Tom Owen coin as this one has an exceptionally clear initial mark. Much rarer than Spink suggest. A very good example indeed of this sought
after mint. Don't be fooled into
thinking these are common coins just because I have three - I actively seek out
the singular and unusual coinage, rarely buying the commonplace unless it's
cheap. Find another elsewhere! £645
Pennies
WMH-8085:
Edward IV Medieval
Hammered Silver Penny. First reign, heavy coinage, local dies,
Durham mint - CIVI TAS DVn
OLI. Unclipped and generous of flan which,
bearing in mind the proclivity for clipping and the predilection for Episcopal
mints to issue pennies on not much better than halfpenny flans at this point in
history, is little short of remarkable.
£245
Halfpennies
WMH-7561:
Edward IV
Medieval Hammered Silver Halfpenny. House of York.
First reign, Light Coinage of 1464-70. London mint.
Trefoils by neck, initial mark Long Cross Fitchee,
1469-70. Might not look it but this is a
very good example with all indicators as well as discernable legends
present. £85
WMH-9064: Excessively Rare Edward IV
NORWICH Hammered
Silver PROVINCIAL Mint Halfpenny. First reign,
1461-70. Norwich
mint. Quatrefoils by the neck, initial mark Sun,
just about discernable on the obverse, and a previously unrecorded extra pellet
to one reverse quarter. Spink 2074A. Obverse:
EDWAR[D] DI GRA REX, reverse: CIVI TAS nO[R WIC]. The Norwich mint, along with the Coventry, Bristol and York mints, termed the
Royal Mints, were opened in 1465 to aid with the recoinage of that year. Whilst York and Bristol went on producing
provincial coinage up until the early 1470's, Coventry and Norwich were shut down almost
immediately, after just two months production.
The full & half Ryals together with the
full & half groats were the main output with no pennies being issued from
Norwich (or Coventry) and only a peppercorn issue of halfpence - just enough to
negate the slight need for fractions in the economy. Collectors will be aware that generally all
halfpennies from this period are rare, indicating that probably through
inflation, the fractions were in no way as important and therefore as essential
in everyday transactions as they were earlier under Henry III. With respect to the extra pellet in the
reverse quarter, Lord Stewartby (English Coins
1180-1551, published by Spink 2009) gives all Royal mint halfpence of this
period the classification of either V or VI.
He states: "A few halfpence of type VI have an extra pellet in one
quarter within the group of three, as in some of the earlier larger silver of
this type." Norwich only issued type VI
halfpence, according to Stewartby at the time of
publication, but to date, none have been published with the extra pellet from
the Norwich mint. Coincraft is a reference I have a great deal
of respect for but in their introduction to the Edward IV first reign halfpenny
section, they completely forgot that Norwich even existed - the
coins really are that rare. To be fair,
Coincraft did go on and list Norwich in the same section - see here. Building on the work of Lord Stewartby, the formidable Withers pair, along with the help
of the acclaimed Dave Greenhalgh, in the outstanding Galata Guide to Small Change, 1279 - 1660, published in
2023 under Galata Press, give
us an entire in-depth section on the Norwich Halfpence - see here. A good portrait, reasonably clear lettering,
just about enough of the initial mark extant to say with a degree of certainty
Sun rather than the otherwise suggested Rose, excellent devices, the unique
reverse extra pellet - even though the coin is clearly damaged, it is a most
important addition to the virtually non-existent population of this mint-type
combination. Unique.
£795
Henry VI **RESTORED** (1470-71) Read
about Henry VI
Edward IV (1471 - 83) - 2nd Reign Read
about Edward IV.
Edward IV or V (12th Feb
1483 - 20th July
1483)
WMH-9037: Edward V or Richard III
Hammered Silver Medieval Groat. Type
2a, reading EDWARD DI GRA REX ANGL Z FRANC.
London mint, initial mark Boar's Head 1
struck over Sun & Rose 1. Spink 2155. Obverse
dies in the name of Edward with an underlying Sun & Rose 1 initial
mark. In 1483, on 12th February, the
Cinquefoil coinage of Edward IV's type XXI ended. The new mint master, Bartholomew Reed,
entered into an indenture with the king and thus Sun & Rose 1 was
introduced. Edward died on the
9th April 1483
but Sun & Rose 1 continued through the very short reign of Edward V and
into the reign of Richard III. This
ended on 20th July when a new indenture was prepared by Robert Brackenbury to introduce the Boar's Head mark. The dies were prepared very soon after
Richard III ascended the throne on 26th June 1483.
Boar’s Head initial mark - the White Boar was the personal device or
badge of Richard III and dear to his heart.
Richard III was the last of the medieval monarchs, losing to Henry Tudor
on Bosworth
Field, or
as is now the current thinking, on a field a few short miles from that famous
location. The famous
"King in the Carpark."
Whist Richard was no saint (I think some poor decisions and a ruthless
streak that they all had at that time was about as bad as it got), he probably
wasn't a ‘child killer’, ‘murderer’, or ‘usurper’, at least no more than any
other medieval monarch. Don't believe
all that Shakespeare tells you!! So here
we have a coin struck from an obverse die that was very much part of the Holy
Grail of Edward V's coinage but modified by the addition of Richard III's beloved Boar’s Head initial mark, but crucially
leaving the old regnal name intact.
Coincraft place this coin under the Edward V category whilst Spink place
it under Richard III. Incidentally, as a
Richard III groat, it is the rarest type, other than the York example - the last one of those I
saw go through auction achieved £7,000 before commission. An extremely rare coin
indeed. Sold
Richard
III (1483 - 85) Read about Richard III
Groats
Pennies
WMH-7975:
Richard III Hammered
Silver Very Late Medieval Penny. An
Episcopal issue struck under Archbishop Rotherham of York.
T to the left of the neck, upright key to the right;
quatrefoil on the reverse. Initial mark given as Rose on both the Steve Mitchell and Tim Owen
tickets - Spink 2167. The coin may at first glance appear to be
clipped. It is not. Lord Stewartby
(English Coins 1180 – 1551 by Spink, 2009) states: “The flow of ill-struck and
often illegible pence from the northern Episcopal mints continued
unabated. (Archbishop) Thomas Rotherham
of York was actually arrested by Richard in June 1483, but
soon released.” The production of short
flan, underweight coins (ie face value one penny but actual silver content some
way below that) would obviously be financially lucrative for the person doing
it. Archbishop Rotherham would appear to
have got away with just that as the practice continued throughout Richard’s
very short reign. A
high grade coin with an excellent portrait of the rather unsavoury Richard III,
whose body was recently discovered in a Leicestershire car park. Ex Spink ticket in the hand of Steve Mitchell
(1980 and a ticket price that will amaze you), ex Tim Owen (bought 2015 for
£900) collection. A
rare coin but in this high grade for issue, with such a wonderful depiction of
Richard III, excessively rare.
£1,750
WMH-8022: Ultra Rare Richard III
Medieval Hammered Silver Penny. Class 2b, regnal name RICARD, initial mark Boar's Head, London mint, Spink 2165. An incredible
rarity - see Coincraft's assessment here - of a coin that was once
thought unique. Lord Stewartby
in his seminal publication English Coins 1180 - 1551, published
by Spink in 2009, stated "The only recorded London penny in the name of
Richard III, with the same damaged cross-ends [he was referring to Spink
2164 so different coins but same single altered die], has mintmark
BH2". You can see the damaged cross-end
of the die on this coin. There are
currently only half a dozen extant examples in total, both in private hands and
public institutions, that is BOTH Spink 2164 with EDWARD reading and Spink 2165, and I believe that's a somewhat generous estimation. Instinctively, we all think of Richard III
halfgroats as the "Holy Grail" but in actual fact, this London penny,
together with the EDWARD penny, both trump the halfgroat - in fact the London
pennies are the rarest of all Richard III silver coins and, with the possible
exception of the gold half angel, the rarest of all Richard III coins, although
clearly not the most expensive. Image
here with old sales
ticket. It is interesting to note
that the overall quality of the die (remember, it's a single die for both Spink
2164 and 2165), especially considering it's London, was perhaps not what we'd
historically expect of London although clearly London was far from being the
centre of the universe for this Plantagenet House of York monarch. This London penny issue would appear to have
been a rushed exercise, with dies executed by someone far from being at the top
of their profession, and then almost immediately afterwards, for whatever
reason, ended. Although clearly having
north of England ties, Richard did spend time in London at Crosby Hall in Bishopsgate. His reign came just after a deep recession
(1450-75) which ended primarily with a new era in foreign trade: the
London-Antwerp cloth trade, which was especially important to the king's
finances. There were London halfgroats through to gold angels to fuel trade,
there were reasonable quantities of Richard III London halfpennies in
circulation for the common man to exist on a day-to-day basis - but there were
no London pennies.
Why? A coin not without its
issues - pierced and wavy flan - but a coin you will
not, and will likely never have in your collection unless you take this
one! Probably the rarest coin ever
offered on this site. £3,350
Halfpennies
WMH-7975: Richard III Hammered
Silver Very Late Medieval Round Halfpenny.
No marks by neck, initial mark Sun & Rose 2, London mint. Spink 2171. There are no halfpence in Richard's name for
Sun & Rose 1. Initial mark Sun &
Rose 2 was in operation from the very end of the reign only. Richard III: the infamous Richard of
Gloucester, brother to Edward VI. Upon
Edward IV's premature death in April of 1483, Richard "removed" the
dead king's 12 year old heir to the throne - the would-be Edward V - to the
Tower together with his younger brother, Richard Duke of York.
In the absence of the princes, Richard was proclaimed King. A high grade for issue coin with an excellent portrait
of the rather unsavoury Richard III, whose body was recently discovered in a
Leicestershire car park. I probably don't have to point out to anyone
reading this just how incredibly rare the halfpence issues of Richard III
are. Coincraft, a reference work I've a
great deal of time and respect for, are not prone to any kind of
hyperbole. Under Richard III, they
simply state: "Richard III halfpennies are extremely rare in
any grade." To put that into
some sort of context for you, Coincraft say of the Richard III halfgroats (and
when was the last time any of us saw one of them?!) that the issue is only "...
very rare in any condition." In summary, a clear regnal
name, a clear initial mark, a very good portrait of the infamous Richard III,
and as rare as they come. £1,775
Farthings
WMH-7982: Richard III Very Late
Medieval Hammered Silver FARTHING. Front facing bust of Richard,
[R]ICA[RD]. London
mint. Spink 2171A. Richard III was King of England from 26 June 1483 until his death in August of 1485. He was the
last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and of its cadet branch, the House of
York. His defeat and death at the Battle of Bosworth Field (it's now thought
the actual location of the battle was several miles away) marked the end of the
Middle Ages in England. You will note from the "A" suffix
on the Spink reference number that it wasn't that long ago that they thought
farthings did not exist for Richard III - indeed, even Coincraft, which was
published in 1999, literally thought they didn't exist 25 years ago. See image here which
shows the extract from their guide, as well as the old tickets. The most excellent numismatic team of Paul
& Bente Withers, in their seminal publication,
THE GALATA GUIDE TO SMALL CHANGE, 1279-1660, published 2023, state, "All
(fractional Richard III) coins are rare, the farthing exceedingly so." They identify two obverse dies (RICAR DI GRA
REX and RICARD DI GRA REX) from what I believe to be the only two coins they
could source. This one makes three. The website Numista
ranks coins 0-100 in terms of rarity where 0 is common. It won't surprise you to learn that they rank
the Richard III farthing as rarity 100. Chipped at 12 & 6
o'clock. Of the greatest rarity and significance. £2,250
