Penny of Richard I

Bill Wiggins is the detectorist responsible for unearthing this coin. It’s a voided short cross penny, on which the detail doesn’t show up very well. Bill said he found it in Northamptonshire but he gave up after trying for some time to identify it.

The obverse has been struck off centre and the king’s face is flat. Therefore, it is difficult to place it to a king.

On the reverse half the legend and the central cross are both nearly flat. Only a few letters in the legend can be seen, they are: NIR ON C. Therefore, the moneyer will be Meinir and the mint Canterbury. A moneyer of this name was an official during only the reign of Richard I. Whilst I can say that this penny was definitely struck during the reign of Richard I, I cannot pin it down to a class because of the weak areas on the coin.

Valuation

The overall condition of this coin isn’t good but as the reign, mint and moneyer have been identified it should still be worth around £35.