Cut halfpenny of Richard I

This is another find that was unearthed by Leon Boulton. It was retrieved from about one inch deep in a muddy sheep field.
The find is a voided short cross cut halfpenny. What remains of the legend on the reverse reads N.D+hE, so the moneyer is most likely to be Henri (usually hENRI but sometimes hENRIC or hENRICVS on coins). The obverse offers no clues as to during which reign this cut halfpenny was struck.

The end of the reverse legend reads N.D and the single letter D does not fit any known mint of the short cross period. However, I can offer a definite possibility. A moneyer named Henri was an official at London during the reign of Richard I when class 4a and 4b were struck.

Class 4 is notable for the number of errors that occur on pennies; they include both spelling errors and wrongly positioned punctuations. I’d suggest that if the full legend was visible then it would read hENRI ON LVN.D, with a misplaced stop at the end between the N and D.

Valuation

Go back five decades and whole voided short cross pennies outnumbered cut halfpennies by perhaps one hundred to one. Today, thanks to detecting finds, cut halfpennies now outnumber whole pennies by around two to one! Cut halfpennies are now so common that they sell for as little as £3 even when in good condition. Leon’s halfpenny is certainly unusual but it would still be unlikely to achieve double figures if it was offered for sale.

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