Continental sterling of Robert de Bethune

Michael Young said he spotted this coin in the collection of a friend and noticed it wasn’t a standard penny of Edward I-II. Therefore, he sent in images of the coin and asked for a full ID and a valuation.

This find is very similar to a penny of Edward I-II but it is a Continental sterling. This type started to be imported into England when the circulation of pollards and crockards was banned. They circulated widely in this country as most people couldn’t read so they thought they were genuine English pennies.

On the obverse the legend reads R COMES FLANDRIE and on the reverse we have MON ETA ALO TEN. Therefore, this sterling was struck at the mint situated in Alost for Robert de Bethune, who was Lord of Flanders from 1305 to 1322.

Valuation

Some of the sterlings that circulated in England are very rare but this isn’t one of them. Over the years I’ve seen around a dozen specimens that were struck for Robert de Bethune. On this example the face is weak on the obverse but the coin is otherwise in Fine condition so I would price it at £25 to £30.

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