MEDIEVAL BRITAIN
SCOTLAND & IRELAND
England has a long history of coinage beginning before the Roman invasions and continuing to the present day. On this page we offer the coins issued in Britain, Scotland and Ireland, from the Dark Ages (after the fall of Rome) up to the end of the 17th century. When we have Celtic coins available you will find them listed on our Ancient Celtic page. When we have coins from Roman Britain they will be found on this Roman Imperial page. More modern milled coins (other than milled coins of Elizabeth I) can be found in our Modern World Coins in the Great Britian section.
ARCHBISHOPS OF YORK
EANBALD II, AD 796-830
WULFHERE, AD 854-900
ANGLO-SAXON KINGS OF ALL ENGLAND
In AD 959, King Eadgar extended the boundaries of the Kingdom of Wessex to include all of England, after which the Kings of Wessex became known as the Kings of All England.
AETHELRED II, AD 978-1016
Aethelred II (Aethelred the unready) was the son of King Eadgar and Aelfthryth. This reign was marked by frequent Viking raids, which he tried unsuccessfully to curb by making large payments of silver to the Viking Kings. His name of the Unready comes from the Anglo-Saxon word Unrede, which means no-counsel which suggest he either got bad advice or refused to take good advise. His coins are the most common British Anglo-Saxon coins found today.
The flans from which these coins are struck is fairly thin, and sometimes the depths of the designs on the dies are slightly deeper than the metal is thick. The result is a very thin spot on the coin after striking, and often the metal will be cracked (or more be cut through) at those thin points. About 1 in 3 specimens of this coinage will show such a crack although they are often only noticeable when you hold the coin to a light. The coin is not in any danger of breaking during normal handling, and the crack would have been there when the coin was new.
EDWARD the CONFESSOR, AD 1042-1066
Edward the Confessor was the son of Aethelred II and Emma of Normandy. Following the death of Aethelred, England fell into the hands of Viking invaders lead by Cnut of Denmark and remained under Viking rule for 36 years until Edward regained the throne for the English. (When available, we list the coins of Cnut and his family under the heading of Viking Coinage above.)
Some of the medieval letter forms on these are unusual and difficult to read, with occasionally a letter form actually representing two letters in the inscription.
NORMAN KINGS
HENRY I, AD 1100-1135
Under Henry I, the quality of work at the mints greatly deteriorated and most of his coinage will be poorly struck. Specimens with clear full portraits are rare, and seldom will both the obverse and reverse inscriptions be fully legible. On many specimens the mint and moneyer names cannot be determined with certainty.
STEPHEN, AD 1135-1154
Henry I died in AD 1135 making it known that he wished his daughter, Matilda (then in France married to Geoffrey, Count of Anjou), to succeed him to the English throne. Henry's nephew, Stephen of Blois (Count of Boulogne), saw this as an opportunity for himself and rushed to England to claim the throne. Stephen succeeded in claiming the throne, but in 1137 Matilda arrived and along with her half brother, Robert of Gloucester, set up an alternate court at Bristol. A civil war that lasted for 15 years was the result, although eventually it was Matilda's line, through her son Henry (II), that came to again unify England under one monarch.
The coins of Stephen tend to be very carelessly struck, and most specimens will show only fragments of the portrait and inscriptions. Specimens that are clear enough to show the main features of the portrait, have enough obverse inscription to be sure of his name, and enough reverse inscription to make out the mint and moneyer, are the exception.
PLANTAGENET KINGS
RICHARD I, AD 1189-1199
This is the same Richard that is known as "Richard the Lionheart", who is famous for his exploits in the Crusades, and from the Robin Hood stories. All of his coinage struck in England was struck in the name of Henry. Only his coinage struck in Aquitaine and Pointou (western France) bear his name.
THE HOUSE OF LANCASTER
HENRY VI, First reign AD 1422-1461
THE HOUSE OF YORK
EDWARD IV, First reign, 1461-1470
Edward IV actually had two reigns. The first was from 1461 to October of 1470. From October of 1470 to April of 1471 Henry VI of the House of Lancaster was restored to the throne and then in April of 1471 Edward IV began his second reign that was to last until 1483.
THE HOUSE OF TUDOR
HENRY VII, 1485-1509
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