Voided long cross penny of Henry III
This hammered silver coin was unearthed by Glyn Peak from a pasture field on the 5th of June. Glyn asked for a full ID and a valuation on his find.
The coin is an English voided long cross penny of Henry III. Most experienced detectorists will have found at least one of these and some will have unearthed several specimens. Henry III pennies are usually fairly easy to pin down but this one proved to be rather problematic.
Due to the weak and flat areas on the obverse I can’t be absolutely certain but this coin is most likely to be an example of class 3b. Two quarters of the reverse are mostly flat and the lettering on the other two didn’t seem to make much sense. The reading appeared to be IVR BAN or NR BAN, which doesn’t fit a known moneyer or mint. However, after a bit of research and lateral thinking I realised that the correct reading was IVR DAN. No moneyer named Iurdan is on record but Iordan is known for Winchester. And, on his coins the spelling of Iordan is IVRDAN.
The full name of the moneyer on Glyn’s coin was Iordanus Drapparius. In the colossal hoard of silver coins discovered at Brussels in 1908 there were more than 80,000 British coins, mostly English pennies of Henry III. The entire hoard was purchased by Baldwin’s of London. In 2012 Baldwin’s sold at auction a selection of 101 coins from the 34,500 they still had in stock. The sale included a class 3ab coin, on which Iordan was the moneyer and Winchester the mint. A footnote mentioned that the moneyer is rare and there were only seven examples in the Brussels Hoard.
Valuation
Sadly, the overall condition of Glyn’s coin leaves much to be desired. The flat areas detract from its appearance and it doesn’t have much eye appeal. However, on the plus side we know that the mint and moneyer combination is rare, so even though its condition isn’t particularly good it should still be worth £30 to £40 to a collector.
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