YeOldeCollector

Thank you very much AuldFartte, I have only put a few of my coins here on CP for others to see. I have hundreds more in my collection and will probably put many more on CP for others to see. It's good to get comments like yours as it means that I will put more on as I know people are looking at them and learning from them.

William I (the Conqueror) Paxs Penny from my own personal collection. William I, William the Conqueror, William the Bastard was King of England from 1066 until 1087. As many of you will know William invaded England in 1066 claiming victory over Harold Godwinson. Hence 1066 and the Battle of Hastings and the ensuing Norman Conquest of England. William was nicknamed "the Bastard" due to being the illegitimate son of Robert I Duke of Normandy, William succeeded his father as Duke at the age of eight. England was pretty much up for grabs when Edward the Confessor passed away as he had no children. Three men had their eyes on England, being William, Harold Godwinson and Harald Hadraada of Norway. The Witan, Anglo-Saxon political body, voted that Harold Godwinson was to be King of England. Leading to Harold II of England who ruled from 5th Jan 1066 until 14th Oct. He was to be the last Anglo-Saxon King of England and one of the only English monarchs to have died in battle, the other being Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth. The Witan with an Anglo-Saxon King: William I changed the minting process and monetary system very little, we see no Norman moneyers until the reign of Henry I. All of the moneyers during William I's reign were typically English and many had worked under the reign of Edward the Confessor too. The fact that the Anglo-Saxon moneyers still held their jobs implied that the wealthy tradesmen and citizen-classes did not suffer greatly compared to the wealthy landowners who had much of their land stolen and redistributed. There were at least 69 mints in operation during William I's reign generally with at least four moneyers per mint. Eight different pennies were produced consisting of: Profile left type. Bonnet type. Canopy type. Two sceptres type. Two stars type. Sword type. Profile right type. and the Paxs type, which the coin above is. The Paxs type is the most common of William I's coins, in 1833 at Beasworth 6,500 pennies of William I were found. At least 6,400 of these were of the Paxs type. The Paxs type was issued in the years 1086 and 1087. Paxs means peace and the type was thought to have been produced to mark either the death of Cnut of Denmark who was assasinated on July 10th otherwise known as Saint Canute IV (b.1043-d.1086) or the fact that England was experiencing one of its most peaceful existences due to the Domesday Book having been completed and William fending off the Vikings. This particular penny was minted at Bristol mint by the moneyer Beorhtweard. The reverse reads BRIHTPORD ON BRI. Now, 6,500 William I pennies were found in one hoard alone and there must be thousands more in collections so it is most surprising that less than fifty coins of William I are known for Bristol mint. That is less than fifty coins from all his types, not just the Paxs. Therefore this penny is quite scarce given the lack of apparent Bristol pence. The reverse features a short cross pattée with PAXS within its limbs. The obverse features William's draped bust with arm and hand holding a sceptre which is spread across his breast. Reading PILLELM REX, i.e. King William. So, there we have it. My favourite William I Penny, Paxs issue. Beorhtweard on the scarce mint of Bristol. Not far off as-struck condition and measuring just under 2cm in diameter or about 3/4 of an inch. One of William I's first Castles, the gothic silhouette is early 19th Century but many of the original features still remain. William was a believer in the motte and bailey style as is shown by his string of Castles across his new kingdom. This being Windsor Castle. ^ Guildford Castle, also founded by William. ^ The White Tower at the Tower of London, also William's work. Images: http://www.solarnavigator.net/history/explorers_history/William_Conqueror_Bayeux_Tapestry.jpg http://www.solarnavigator.net/history/explorers_history/William_Conqueror_Bayeux_Tapestry.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/Windsor_Castle_from_the_air.jpg http://www.castlexplorer.co.uk/england/guildford/img/guildford2m.jpg http://www.infobritain.co.uk/White_Tower.jpg

Steve's quite right, especially during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries vast numbers of tokens were minted to be circulated alongside the normal coinage.

Æþelræd Unræd Longcross Penny of Lewes mint. Aethelred II, otherwise known as Ethelred II or the Unrede/Unready, ruled from around 979 until 1013 and then 1014 until 1016. Coins like these were used as Danegeld and an example of it in Aethelred's reign was after the Battle of Maldon where Aethelred made a payment of 3,300 kg of silver to the Vikings. Danegeld was essentially the money used to pay off the invading Vikings and vast quantities of it was used. In 1007 Aethelred gave 13,400 kg of silver and then 17,900 kg in 1012. This is why there are more Anglo-Saxon pennies of this reign found in Scandinavia rather than England as the coins were often used for Danegeld. It is estimated that more than sixty million pennies were paid as Danegeld, hence more pennies are found in Sweden than England. This penny could have been minted any time between, and including, the years 997 and 1003. The obverse, portrait side, reads ÆTHELRÆD REX ANGLORX - Aethelred King of England. The reverse reads GODEFRID M-O LÆP which translates roughly as Godfrith on Lewes. The mint is quite scarce with regard to Anglo Saxon pennies. The name "Lewes", pronounced 'Lewis', is thought to be derived from the Anglo-Saxon word for hill which was HLÆW this might refer to the abundance of burial mounds situated around Lewes or perhaps the South Downs which lie within the region. The "peck" marks that are visible on both sides of the coins were often made with a knife to test the purity of the silver but there is the possibility that they are teeth marks. Lewes castle was built by William de Warenne, First Earl of Surrey who was loyal to William the Conqueror. So the castle would not have existed during Anglo Saxon times but the mint was very active during the reigns of William I and II, perhaps because the owner of Lewes was favoured by both Kings. Another mint to add to my collection on a stunning penny.

No, this is a coin weight. So a guinea would have been placed one side of the scales and this weight the other to test its authenticity before trade. To be honest I feel that coin designs became standardised to a certain extent in the reign of Henry II, i.e. 1154. We do not see much variation of design throughout the reigns from then onwards. Henry II started off with the standard "Tealby" type, or cross and crosslets and went on to use the Shortcross penny. The shortcross penny was in use for nearly 70 years and then we just see longcross on most of the standard coinage from 1247 until 1603. Tealby coinage, very poorly struck due to turbulent political events: First appearance of continued longcross coinage, on an Henry III penny: But in terms of complete standardisation then we are talking at the beginning of the permanent milled coins; so 1660. All coins were regulated though, you could not just go out and make your own coin or put a random design on it. All coins were overseen by the moneyer, whose name was put on most early coins, but who would not have made the coin. So you could argue that coin designs have been regulated since the early Anglo-Saxon period (600) if not earlier. Up until recently in terms of British history, value was determined by the weight of the metal rather than the value assigned to it so designs did not play an important role until Edward VI's reign where we first see a mark of value.

A guinea weight of William III. Looks to be the maker's initials to the right of the portrait. Circa 1696.

As for the sixpence and I assume large pennies, they are coins that the Mint has acquired and are trying to sell with a huge mark-up. They target collectors who do not know the true value of the almost worthless pre-Decimal currency. The "Christmas Lucky Silver Sixpence", for example, is worth no more than £1, closer to 70 pence if that.

I have never actuially come across a £5 coin in change, not a single one... As for £5 note, well I come across several every day. If they removed £5 notes then I'd have to lug around 2 £2 coins and a £1 coin or, more likely, 5 £1 coins. So I can agree with you about the £5 coin but certainly not the note.

The five pound coin is a base metal and so is same quality as the coins that are in circulation. Take a look here: http://www.royalmint.com/store/BritishBase/EQ1.aspx

Well not necessarily, it could be a continental imitation. These were minted in various regions throughout Continental Europe such as the Low Countries and used as currency there. A merchant could have brought this back to England. But I believe that this is a contemporary forgery due to the fact that it bears resemblance to the coins of the time with regards to legends. If it was a continental imitation the legends would be different to reflect the issuing ruler and mint.

Not in great condition but it is interesting nonetheless. The reverse legend appears to read CIVI TAN TOI TO(B/R), looks to be an imitation of Edward II as the obverse legend is jumbled and has no initial cross. The reverse should read CIVI TAS CAN TOR for Canterbury mint.

I doubt you get many in your change whilst in Singapore!

I'm tempted to order a few more just to spend them, love to see people's reactions...

Received this in the post today, a fiver for a fiver.

Liking the coin in general but also appreciate the younger portraits of Her Maj.

Cheers Steve, I have better Aeth Longcross pennies and so they look better than this one, still meets fine though. Aye, is pretty impressive toning on that Novi Castri penny, notice how his left eye appears on the bridge of his nose... Out of these last few I'd be inclined to go with the Aethelwulf as my favourite!

Aethelred II Penny, Swetnic on London, pretty average. 997 - 1003.

Two new Edward Is for me. Class 1d of London. Class 6b of London.

My thoughts precisely, although I can understand not liking artificial toning.

Edward I Penny, dating to around about 1295. Henry III Penny, circa 1260.

Well, seeing as you insisted... Edward I Penny, Class 3g. London mint. Edward I Penny, Class 9b/10a. Newcastle mint. Edward I Penny, Class 3e. Royal York mint, error penny, I do like my errors... Edward the Elder Two Line Type penny, Wessex Mint (most likely Winchester), moneyer is Fritheberht. Finally, a unique penny of Aethelwulf, King of Wessex. Phase II Penny, Deiheah on Canterbury. Moneyer is not known for this type, a leading expert had this to say; "The Aethelwulf is new to me: I have not seen this specimen before, and you are right about it being a new type. It is, therefore, quite an important coin, as new types or variants for Aethelwulf only come up very rarely these days." As for the new type of Coenwulf, a good friend is writing an article about it and so I shall direct you to that once it is completed.

Cheers Matt, I paid £80, much, much less than it's worth.

Got another coin from the postie this morning! Commonwealth (Cromwell) Shilling, 1653, m.m. Sun. Makes a change to see a coin with English legends rather than Latin. It's a bit ragged but all the detail's there so I'm happy.

Henry III Longcross penny, Willem on Oxford. Class 3b. This one jumped the dies and got double struck by the looks of it.

Thanks Steve, I really like the portrait and was lucky to buy it!