Short cross penny of King John

March 18, 2022March 18, 2022 Peter

The coin pictured here is one from a large group that came in from a detectorist named Terry, who was looking for the best way to sell some of his finds. I said the best option would be to find a private collector but there would be a downside. Whilst a collector would wish to acquire the best items, he or she might not want those that were not in good condition.

The first of Terry’s finds is a class 5c voided short cross penny of King John. On the reverse the legend reads +RENER ON LVND, so Rener is the moneyer and London the mint.

Valuation

I’ve seen hundreds of John pennies as detecting finds but very few of them have been good collectors’ pieces. However, this is one of the best specimens I have seen. Strictly speaking it would grade VF but it could be said to be good VF for the issue. It is round, well struck and should be of interest to specialists in voided short cross pennies or general collectors of English hammered silver coins.

In terms of its commercial value, if this very attractive John penny was offered for sale at auction I would expect it to sell for at least £160.