Quarter noble of Edward III

Roger Paul said that he had been having a run of good luck recently, as is proven by the coin featured here. It’s a hammered gold coin, which isn’t in really outstanding condition but it still counts as a great find.

I’m down on record for saying that the quarter nobles of Edward III are the hammered gold coins most frequently found by detectorists. Roger’s find adds another to the numerous examples I have seen over the last few decades. The majority were struck during the treaty period (1361-69) but this one is different.

When pinning down coins of Edward III to a type there are clues in various places: the legend, inside or outside the tressure and in the centre of the reverse are a few examples. On Roger’s find there was only one clue, in the shape of a pellet below the shield on the obverse. The pellet is present on only one type of quarter noble: series B of the fourth coinage (number 1495 in the Standard Catalogue).

Valuation

As detecting finds I’ve seen lots of treaty period quarter nobles of Edward III but this is the first specimen I can remember seeing of series B. Therefore, it is obviously quite rare.

The obverse is scuffed in places but is otherwise in Fine condition. The reverse isn’t as good, as it has been struck off centre and there are some scrapes at about 5 o’clock. Pricewise, Roger’s find has a few defects but it is rare and hammered gold, so to a keen collector it should be worth around £300.

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