Edward III, half noble

This website has been up only a few months but over that relatively short period I have featured several hammered gold coins. Here is another example, which was found by Richard Lyon. When it came out of the ground it was bent but Richard had it straightened out by a professional. The flan is now flat and shows no sign of it ever being bent.

Richard’s find is a half noble of Edward III. It was struck at London during the fourth coinage, pre-treaty period, series G. Gold coins of series G aren’t particularly rare; the reason being that they were struck very soon after the great English victory over the French at Poitiers in 1356. The English army and its commanders arrived back with a great deal of booty, much of which would have been converted into currency.

On the obverse there are fleur de lis on the side of the ship but only one shows up. On the reverse there is a small letter E in the centre and a pellet either side of the fleur de lis on the first arm of the royal cross. Both sides have saltire stops in the legend.

A high number of half nobles of series G were struck at the mint in the Tower of London so, as could be expected, there are several varieties. This specimen is listed as series Gf in J. J. North’s English Hammered Coinage.

Valuation

Some of the detail on each side is weak but this is still a reasonably decent example of a half noble of Edward III. I’d grade it as nearly Fine and if I was cataloguing it for sale at auction I’d set the pre-sale estimate at £500 – £600.

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