|
Date: |
|
Description: | I have examined 12 silver coins reported found on farmland near High Wycombe . The coins are all official English coins, but consist of two groups: 11 English Short Cross pennies from the late 12th century, and a silver half-groat of Elizabeth I, initial mark 1 (1601-2). There is no way that the latter coin could have mixed in currency with the others found, and it must be a separate loss, deposited in the early 17th century: it must, therefore, be regarded as an individually-lost piece, and thus not eligible to be considered as Treasure.The 11 remaining coins are all silver pennies of the Short Cross coinage introduced by King Henry II in 1180. Although several of them are now damaged and incomplete, they were originally whole coins. They were struck to the established sterling silver standard, and so will be 92.5% fine metal. The Short Cross coinage was in production for nearly seventy years, but all the coins from this find belong to the very start of the issue, class 1, which is dated to the last years of Henry II's reign, 1180-9. The sub-classes present are classes 1b1 and 1b2, so all of these coins were made before c.1185, when sub-class 1c began, and most before c.1182, when 1b2 began, which would also suggest that the group was lost or hidden during the output of class 1b2, c.1182-5. (Class 1a coins are quite rare, and would not necessarily be found in such a small group, whereas 1c coins are common, and would be expected to be present in a selection of the currency relatively quickly after c. 1185.)The coins do appear to represent a group deposited on a single occasion, since they belong to such a tight period of production, and also include no cut fractions: halfpennies and farthings were made at this time by cutting pennies into halves and quarters, and on sites where a lot of individually-lost coins have been found (e.g habitation and fair sites), cut fractions normally outnumber whole pennies. Eleven pence was not a huge sum, being perhaps equivalent to £10 or £20 in modern terms, so the group may be the contents of a lost purse. However, it was perfectly possible that relatively small sums were on occasion hidden for security reasons, and it also might be that the coins now found are only a proportion of the original group.Given that the coins are of good silver, and are likely to be a group deposited together on a single occasion, it is my opinion that they fulfil the criteria of Treasure according to the terms of the Act. [However, since no museum has an interest in their acquisition, I would recommend that the find be disclaimed by the Secretary of State.Catalogue:Short Cross coinageClass 1 (1180-9) Sub class Monyer Mint 1 1b1 (1180-c.1182) AlainV London 2 1b1 Pieres M London 3 1b1 Iordan Exter [frag.] 4 1b1 Iefrei Oxford[frag.] 5 1b1 Gocelm Winchester[frag.] 6 1b1 Gocelm Winchester[frag.] 7 1b1 Rodbert Winchester 8 1b1 Ricard Winchester 9 1b1 Turkil York 10 1b2(c.1182-c.1185) Pieres London 11 1b2 Pieres London Associated find 12 Half-groat of Elizabeth I im 1 1601-1602 Dr B.J. CookCurator of Medieval and Early Modern CoinageDepartment of Coins and Medals, British Museum23 May 2004
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/r... | Go to resource |
|
More Like this...
-
COIN
Silver cut halfpenny of Henry…
-
COIN
Medieval coin: penny of Henry…
-
COIN
Medieval coin: penny of Henry…
-
COIN
Silver penny of Henry II,…
-
COIN
Fragment of a silver penny…
-
COIN
Silver penny of Henry II,…
-
COIN
Nine coins. All of the…
-
COIN
Silver penny of Henry II.…
-
COIN
silver penny of Henry II…
-
COIN
Silver penny of Henry II,…
|