Halfgroat of Edward III

This hammered silver coin was unearthed very recently by Roger Paul, who knew it was a halfgroat of Edward III but he said he wasn’t sure of its class. Halfgroats were struck during this reign for over two and a half decades and all are very similar in appearance.

This coin has no French title in the obverse legend, so it must have been struck after the Treaty of Bretigny came into force. Through this treaty, which gave concessions to England, Edward III renounced his claim to the throne of France. However, the peace brought about by negotiations at Bretigny did not last long, for in 1369 the war against France was resumed.

The coin found by Roger was struck at London during period B of the treaty series. On the obverse there are double annulet punctuation marks but on the reverse double saltires have been used to divide up the legend.

Valuation

This halfgroat will have circulated for some time and the end result is that it would grade only about Fine. However, it’s a reasonably decent example of the period and should still be worth up to £40.