Continental sterling of John the Blind

The coin pictured here was unearthed from pasture by Richard Ward. I was asked to provide a full ID and a valuation.

Richard’s find is a Continental sterling of Edwardian type. The obverse and reverse designs copy those of pennies of the Edward I-III period.

On the obverse the legend reads IOhAnNE S DEI GRA. All the stops are triple pellets and there is an eagle between E and S. On the reverse the legend reads REX BOE ETP OL with an eagle after the letter L.

The preceding information allows me to identify this sterling as a coin struck for John the Blind, whose dates are 1309 to 1346. John was King of Bohemia, Count of Luxembourg and according to the reverse of this coin he was also King of Poland. When Edward III of England went to war with France, King John gave his support to the French. Even though he was blind, John and 500 of his loyal knights took part in a charge against the English at Crecy in 1346. The charge proved to be disastrous and John, his 500 knights plus many others, were left dead on the battlefield.    

Valuation

The overall condition of Richard’s coin is nearly VF, which is a higher grade than most other sterlings of this type that have turned up as detecting finds. If it was offered for sale at auction I would expect the pre-sale estimate to be £150 to £200.

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