Half Penny of Henry VI

This hammered silver coin was unearthed by Andy Hooper during a recent dig. I was told that it measures 13mm in diameter and that Andy’s son, Paddy, had identified the coin as a penny of Richard III (number 2164 in the Standard Catalogue). 

Firstly at 13mm in diameter this will be a halfpenny rather than a penny. On the obverse the legend reads hEnRIC REX AnGL with saltires as punctuation marks. On the reverse the legend reads CIVI TAS LOn DOn; within the group of three pellets in the CIVI and LOn quarters is an annulet (like a small ring). Therefore, rather than being a penny of Richard III, Andy’s find is a halfpenny of Henry VI, which was struck at London during the annulet coinage. In the Standard Catalogue the type is listed as number 1848.

Valuation

The obverse is weak in a couple of places and there is slight ghosting from the deeply cut long cross on the reverse but the coin is otherwise in about VF condition. Pricewise, it’s not a particularly scarce coin but it should still be worth around £50 to a keen collector who hasn’t got an example of this type.