"the only denomination of coin minted in England for 500 years, until the attempted gold coinage issue of King Henry III in 1257 and a few halfpennies and farthings in 1222, the introduction of the groat by King Edward I in 1279, under whom the halfpenny and farthing were also reintroduced, and the later issues of King Edward III. At the time of the 1702 London Mint Assay by Sir Isaac Newton, the silver content of British coinage was defined to be one troy ounce of sterling silver for 62 pence. Therefore, the value of the monetary pound sterling was"
"time of Henry II, but the weight and value of the silver penny steadily declined from 1300 onwards. In 1257, Henry III minted a gold penny which had the nominal value of 1 shilling eightpence (i.e., 20 d.). At first, the coin proved unpopular because it was overvalued for its weight; by 1265 it was so undervalued—the bullion value of its gold being worth 2 shillings (i.e., 24 d.) by then—that the coins still in circulation were almost entirely melted down for the value of their gold. Only eight gold pennies are known to survive. It was not until the"
"pence. The coin's obverse showed the king enthroned, with the legend (King Henry III), while the reverse contained a long cross extending to the edge, with a flower in each quarter, and the moneyer's name in the legend, thus (William of London). The gold penny was not popular. Carte, in his history of England, says that the citizens of London made a representation against them on 24 November 1257, and that ""the King was so willing to oblige them, that he published a proclamation, declaring that nobody was obliged to take it (the gold penny), and whoever did, might bring"
"be. In 1247 therefore, a new long-cross penny replaced the short-cross coin, which made it more obvious when the coin had been clipped. Apart from the change in the size of the cross, the rest of the design did not substantially change, and the long cross made it easy to cut the coin into halves or quarters for change. Because of the introduction of the new coinage it was necessary to reopen many of the old mints to supply sufficient coins. Short-cross Henry III pennies were minted at Bury St Edmunds, Canterbury, Durham, London, Winchester and York. Long-cross pennies were"
"short-cross style of King Henry III, produced between 1216 and 1247, and are similar in design to the pennies, but only half the size. The obverse shows a crowned bust of the king holding a sceptre, with the inscription , while the reverse shows a small cross with four pellets in each quarter with the moneyer's inscription – Terry (or Elis) of London. King Edward I (1272–1307) successfully introduced the halfpenny as part of his new coinage, which allowed trade to increase. As with all coins of this period, the denomination was not written on the coin, which was worth"
"in 1957. It has been struck since then both as a bullion coin and, beginning in 1979, for collectors. Though the sovereign is no longer in circulation, it is still legal tender in the United Kingdom. There had been an English coin known as the sovereign, first authorised by Henry VII in 1489. It had a diameter of , and weighed , twice the weight of the existing gold coin, the ryal. The new coin was struck in response to a large influx of gold into Europe from West Africa in the 1480s, and Henry at first called it the"
"with the inscription , while the reverse has an elegant design of a shield of St George lying on a Tudor rose, dividing the date, with the inscription . The nickel-brass threepence took over the bulk of the production of the denomination, being produced in all years between 1937 and 1952 except 1947. Apart from the king's head and name, and the weight being increased to 6.8 grams, the coin was identical to that prepared for Edward VIII. Coins dated 1946 and 1949 were minted in far fewer numbers than the rest, and as nickel-brass wears very quickly, higher grade"
"(1547–53), when it formed part of a set of new denominations. Although it was an easy denomination to work with in the context of the old sterling coinage system, being a quarter of a shilling, initially it was not popular with the public who preferred the groat (four pence). Hence the coin was not minted in the following two reigns. Edward VI threepences were struck at the London and York mints. The obverse shows a front-facing bust of the king, with a rose to the left and the value numeral III to the right, surrounded by the legend . The"
"doubtless imitative issues by Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, prince of Wales, John's son-in-law), Rochester, Winchester, and York. In King Henry III's long reign (1216–1272) the short-cross penny continued in use until 1247. By then, however, through no fault of the moneyers' there was a problem in that many of the coins in circulation were underweight. This was caused by the illegal practice of clipping silver off the edge of the coin, which was made easier by the cross on the reverse not extending to the rim thus giving people no clear indication of exactly how big the coin was supposed to"
"around a long cross. Farthings of the second coinage were also struck at Canterbury (distinguished by a Catherine Wheel mintmark). The third coinage (1544–1547) was produced in base silver and has the legend around a rose, and the reverse legend around a long cross with one pellet in each quarter. A base silver farthing was issued by King Edward VI (1547–1553) with the inscription around the portcullis on the obverse. This coin is also extremely rare. No farthings were produced in the reigns of Queen Mary, Philip and Mary, or Queen Elizabeth I, mainly due to the fact that the"
"also became known as a ""pound"". (240 actual pennies, however, weighed only 5400 troy grains, known as tower pound, a unit used only by mints. The tower pound was abolished in the 16th century.) The silver penny remained the primary unit of coinage for about 500 years. The purity of 92.5% silver (i.e., sterling silver) was instituted by Henry II in 1158 with the ""Tealby Penny"" — a hammered coin. Over the years, the penny was gradually debased until by the 16th century it contained about a third the silver content of a proper troy 24 grain pennyweight. By 1915,"
"rare – only one penny is known which was produced in the London mint. History of the English penny (1154–1485) This is the history of the English penny from the years 1154 to 1485. King Henry II ascended the throne in 1154 as the first of the Plantagenet dynasty. For the first few years of his reign the coins of King Stephen continued to be produced, but in order to restore public confidence in the currency a new standard was introduced, known as the Tealby penny after a hoard of such coins which was found at Tealby, Lincolnshire in 1807."
"(some four hundred years after it had ceased to mean anything). There were two obverses used, with different portraits of the king (the new one being introduced in 1804), with the legend . The design of the reverse was a crown, with the legend (to 1800) or (from 1801). Third guinea (British coin) A seven shilling piece was introduced in Great Britain by a proclamation of 29 November 1797. It has been called a third guinea, a guinea being worth 21 shillings. The gold coin was minted only in the reign of George III. When it was introduced in 1797,"
"being provided by ""cut coinage""; that is, pennies cut into halves or quarters, usually along the cross which formed a prominent part of the reverse of the coin. However, in recent years metal detectorists have discovered a few halfpennies of Kings Henry I (1100–1135) and Henry III (1216–1272) – these are extremely rare and very little is known about them; they have all been found in the London area, where they circulated alongside the more common cut coinage, and while it is possible that these coins were patterns or trials, it is clear that they did see circulation. No documentary"
"Gold penny The gold penny was a medieval English coin with a value of twenty pence. Until the reign of King Henry III of England (1216–1272), any need in England for coins worth more than one penny, at the time a silver coin, was met by the use of Byzantine or Arabic gold and silver coins which circulated among merchants and traders. However, as commerce increased, so did the need for higher value coins. In 1257 Henry instructed his goldsmith, William of Gloucester, to produce a coinage of pure gold. The gold penny was introduced, with a value of twenty"
"design and cannot usually be distinguished except in the best conditions when the higher striking standard of the maundy coins stand out; this resulted in the curious legal anomaly that when the currency was decimalised in 1971 ""all"" silver threepences from 1870 onwards were revalued at three new pence, not just the maundy coins. Threepences were produced with both the ""young head"" (1838–87) and ""Jubilee head"" (1887–93), inscribed , while those produced with the ""old head"" (1893–1901) are inscribed . The currency threepence was issued for each of the nine years of the reign of King Edward VII from 1902."
"although there was no specific coin of that value. A common misconception is that the word is a Norse loanword into English, however, it can be found in English laws many years before Norse incursions into Britain, for example, the laws of King Athelbert of Kent. In the Kingdom of England, during the reign of Henry VII, the forerunner of the shilling, the testoon, was introduced. This coin was produced in extremely small quantities, probably around 1489, and the fact that there are only three known dies for this issue (and three subsequent legend varieties, HENRIC, HENRIC VII and HENRIC"
"this value until 1464 when the value was increased. Throughout the history of this denomination there are many varieties of inscriptions, mintmarks, and to some extent, design. The coin was introduced during the second coinage (1344–46) of King Edward III, when the coin weighed 138.5 grains (9.0 grams); during the king's third coinage (1346–51) the weight of the coin was reduced to 128.5 grains (8.3 grams), while in his fourth coinage (1351–77) it became even lighter, at 120 grains (7.8 grams). The diameter of the noble was 33–35 mm, half noble 25–26 mm and quarter noble 19–21 mm. Edward III"
"when the English Parliament recaptured the city in 1645. The Exeter mint which operated between 1643 and April 1646 mainly produced crowns and half-crowns, but also made some pennies. The Commonwealth of England (1649–60) is well known for having produced the only English coins which did not contain any Latin inscription at all. This was due to an association of Latin with Catholicism. As far as the Commonwealth penny is concerned, the inscriptions are totally absent. The reverse shows St George's shield within a wreath, while the obverse shows St George's shield and an Irish shield, with the denomination above"
"of the elephant alone was also used. Following the death of Queen Mary from smallpox in 1694, William continued to reign as William III. The guinea coin was produced in all years from 1695 to 1701, both with and without the elephant and castle, the design probably being the work of Johann Crocker, also known as John Croker, since James Roettier had died in 1698 and his brother Norbert had moved to France in 1695. The coins of William III's reign weighed with an average gold purity of 0.9123. The diameter was until 1700 and in 1701. William's head faces"
"kept on the penny until its abolition after 1970. King George VI's new coins were made current by a proclamation dated 18 March 1937, which went into force immediately. Although the customary Britannia motif was retained for the penny, the halfpenny and farthing were given their own designs. George's pennies (1937–1952) have a left-facing bust of him, also by Paget, with the inscription (to 1948) , and (from 1949) , removing the Latin abbreviation for ""Emperor of India"" after that nation had gained independence. Pennies were produced for circulation dated 1937–1940, and 1944–1951, although when necessary pennies were produced for"
"and all knowledge of its prior existence was forgotten. However, in the 1700s, documentation came to light indicating that it had been minted. Inevitably, a few coins escaped the melt—perhaps being lost. Now, a handful of the gold pennies have come to light—possibly eight in all. Gold penny The gold penny was a medieval English coin with a value of twenty pence. Until the reign of King Henry III of England (1216–1272), any need in England for coins worth more than one penny, at the time a silver coin, was met by the use of Byzantine or Arabic gold and"
"measured in diameter and weighed ; this did not change with the cupro-nickel coin. The coin was minted at the Royal Mint starting from 1928, and ceased to be legal tender after decimalisation on 31 December 1971. Ireland did not adopt the brass dodecagonal threepenny coin that the United Kingdom used between 1937 and 1971. The reverse design featuring an Irish hare was by the English artist Percy Metcalfe. The obverse featured the Irish harp. From 1928 to 1937 the date was split either side of the harp with the name circling around. From 1938 to 1969 the inscription changed"
"circulation, there are currently only two known specimens. It appears a third specimen was discovered in 1961. The Crown of the Double-Rose was valued at 5 shillings (5s), weighed 57.5 grains (3.73 grams), and had a diameter of 26 mm, but with a lower gold content of 22 ct. This was the first time gold had been minted below the standard of 23 ct. This coin proved to be more popular than its predecessor and was struck until Henry's death in 1547, although it continued to be minted until 1551 during the reign of Edward VI as ""posthumous coinage"". Depicts"
"History of the English penny (1154–1485) This is the history of the English penny from the years 1154 to 1485. King Henry II ascended the throne in 1154 as the first of the Plantagenet dynasty. For the first few years of his reign the coins of King Stephen continued to be produced, but in order to restore public confidence in the currency a new standard was introduced, known as the Tealby penny after a hoard of such coins which was found at Tealby, Lincolnshire in 1807. A total of 30 mints were employed in the initial recoinage (the mint at"
"cases continue to have, special names—such as crown, farthing, sovereign and guinea. See Coins of the pound sterling and List of British coins and banknotes for details. By the 1950s, coins of Kings George III, George IV and William IV had disappeared from circulation, but coins (at least the penny) bearing the head of any British king or queen from Queen Victoria onwards could be found in circulation. Silver coins were replaced by those in cupro-nickel in 1947, and by the 1960s the silver coins were rarely seen. Silver/cupro-nickel shillings (from any period after 1816) and florins (2 shillings) remained"
"Penny (English coin) The English penny (plural ""pence""), originally a coin of pure silver, was introduced around the year 785 by King Offa of Mercia. These coins were similar in size and weight to the continental ""deniers"" of the period and to the Anglo-Saxon sceats which had preceded it. Throughout the period of the Kingdom of England, from its beginnings in the 9th century, the penny was produced in silver. Pennies of the same nominal value, one 240th of a pound sterling, were in circulation continuously until the creation of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The name ""penny"""
"current by a proclamation of 25 November 1952, effective 1 January 1953. No pennies were struck for circulation in 1953, the only extant denomination between the farthing and half crown not to see a circulation issue. This was because of the large number of pennies in circulation. Specimen sets, including the penny, were issued for the Queen's Coronation that year, with the obverse of each coin inscribed around the right-facing bust of the Queen by Mary Gillick. These were not issued for circulation, but as the specimen sets were sold for only a slight advance on face value, many were"
"of King Edward I, (1272–1307), but comparatively few have survived. By far the most prolific mint was London, identified on the reverse of the coin by or or very rarely , but they were also produced at Berwick (), Bristol (), Lincoln (), Newcastle (), and York (), but most of the provincial mints' output is rare today. The weight and fineness of Edwards' farthings varies - the first three issues from the London mint weigh 6.85 grains / 0.44 grams, while the later issues weigh 5.5 grains / 0.36 grams, but the value of the coins remained the same"
"Three halfpence (English coin) The English three halfpence, a silver coin worth d, was introduced in Elizabeth I of England's third and fourth coinages (1561–1582) as part of a plan to produce large quantities of coins of varying denominations and high silver content. The obverse shows a left-facing bust of the queen, with a rose behind her, with the legend – Elizabeth by the grace of God a rose without a thorn – while the reverse shows the royal arms with the date above the arms and a mintmark at the beginning of the legend – City of London, the"
"Richard to undertake this reform, but the recoinage occurred quickly and efficiently. Between 1243 and 1258, the King assembled two great hoards, or stockpiles, of gold. In 1257, Henry needed to spend the second of these hoards urgently and, rather than selling the gold quickly and depressing its value, Henry decided to introduce gold pennies into England, following the popular trend in Italy. The gold pennies resembled the gold coins issued by Edward the Confessor, but the overvalued currency attracted complaints from the City of London and was ultimately abandoned. Henry was known for his public demonstrations of piety, and"
"produced at Durham (). King Richard III's (1483–1485) short reign only produced halfpennies from the London mint. The obverse inscription reads , which distinguishes the coins from those of Richard II. Halfpennies in the reign of King Henry VII (1485–1509) were produced mostly at London, but also at Canterbury and York. Henry's coins are fairly distinct from those of the earlier Henries, with the king's front-facing portrait being different in style, and the obverse legend reading . By the reign of King Henry VIII, the halfpenny was becoming a coin of lesser importance, and less effort was spent on producing"
"coin is the legend – ""Let God arise and His enemies be scattered"". This was repeated in 1645, but with a plumelet instead of a plume in front of the king's face. In 1644 the Exeter mint produced a fairly scarce threepence. It features a left-facing crowned bust of the king with the numeral III behind him, with the legend , with the reverse showing the royal arms on a shield with the date 1644 above the shield, and the legend . No threepences were produced by the Commonwealth. The final hammered coinage threepences were produced at the start of"