Sterling of Gaucher de Chatillon
This recent find came in from Anthony Hopkinson but it was unearthed by a detecting colleague: Richard Millar. Anthony described it as looking like an Edward penny but he couldn’t match the legend to any he had seen before, so he thought it could be a foreign imitation.
The general style is the same as that of a penny of Edward I-II. However, the legend on the obverse reads +GALChS COMES PORC. On the reverse is the usual cross with three pellets in each angle but the legend on this side reads MON ETN OVA YVE.
Richard’s find is a sterling of Gaucher de Chatillon, who was born in 1249 and eventually became Lord of Chatillon, Count of Porcien and Constable of France before he died in 1329. The coin was struck at the mint situated in Yves in the Low Countries.
This isn’t a particularly scarce Continental sterling but it is in good condition apart from a very small edge chip. It provides a reminder that lots of European coins circulated alongside English pennies in the late 13th and early 14th centuries.
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