Edward III noble
This hammered gold coin was sent in by Joe Tyler, who asked me to identify it and let him know what it could be worth.
A set of images were sent of the coin as it looked when it came out of the ground, together with another set of its greatly improved state after it had been straightened.
The coin is a gold noble of Edward III. On the obverse the legend reads EDWARD DEI GRA REX ANGLIW DNS HIB Z AQ, with an annulet before the king’s name. All the stops are double saltires.
On the reverse, shown here, there are trefoils in the spandrels, a letter E in the centre and this side also has double saltire stops.
All the characteristics just mentioned allow me to say this noble was struck at London during the treaty period. In the Standard Catalogue the type is listed as number 1503.
Valuation
There is an edge scuff at 5 o’clock on the obverse but the images on a computer screen suggest the coin is otherwise in VF condition, so a pre-sale estimate would be close to £2,500.
After examining the images more closely I noticed that on the ‘as found’ shot of the reverse there was a gouge by MEDIV on the reverse (see the image above). I hadn’t noticed this on the ‘after straightening’ images but on taking another look I could see it. This would reduce the £2,500 figure but by how much would depend on the potential buyer(s).