Penny of Henry II

This is Rob Warwick’s second find to be featured this week.  It’s a voided short cross penny and Rob wasn’t sure of which king it was struck for.

Voided short cross pennies of Henry II, Richard I and John all have a legend on the obverse that reads hENRICVS REX. After the death of Henry II the legend remained the same. Henry’s coinage had come to be trusted all over Europe and it was thought that a change in name might reduce the trust built up over several years. That is why pennies of Richard I and John still had hENRICVS on the obverse.

On Rob’s find there is a stop after hENRICVS and this is a distinctive feature seen on class 1b voided short cross pennies of Henry II. On the reverse the legend reads +PIERES ON LVND, so Pieres is the moneyer and London the mint.  

Valuation

The edge on this coin is slightly irregular but it is otherwise in good Fine to about VF condition. As it stands it shouldn’t be worth any less than £100 to a collector.

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