Edward IV Groat

January 9, 2021January 9, 2021 Peter

Thousands of English hammered silver coins are unearthed by detectorists every year but most are small, low denominations. Therefore, it’s nice when a larger coin pops up like this one, which is a groat of Edward IV. It was found by Chris Mcloughlin, who believed it was a groat of Edward IV but said the mint mark looks like the restoration cross of Henry VI’s second reign.

Well, it is a groat of Edward IV, the mint mark is a pierced cross, there are trefoils on the cusps of the tressure and the coin was struck during this king’s second reign. It’s an example of class XVII and is listed in the Standard Catalogue as number 2096. However, the mint marks given for S. 2096 are listed as number 12 to 27 (short cross fitchee to cross in circle). The mint mark on this coin (number 18, pierced cross) comes later.

The mix-up in the Standard Catalogue (and in North’s English Hammered Coinage) is in what is on the cusps of the tressure. Groats with trefoils on the cusps are said to start with class XII and end with class XVI; groats with fleur de lis on the cusps are said to start with class XVII. In actual fact, coins of class XVII have trefoils on the cusps. These are not replaced by fleur de lis until the start of class XVIII.