Henry I Penny, Quatrefoil type, Carlisle Mint, Moneyer Durant

Henry I (1100-35),silver Penny, pellets in quatrefoil type XIV (c.1123-25), Carlisle Mint, moneyer Durant, facing bust of King with sceptre, sexfoil above shoulder, beaded circles and legend surrounding, hENRICVS REXI,rev. pellets within quatrefoil with tri-annulet terminals, lis in each angle, beaded circles and legend surrounding, +DVRANT: ON: --RLI:, weight 1.32g (BMC XIV, 116; Mattinson and Cherry, BNJ 2013, p.101, fig. 1, this coin; Allen, BNJ 2012, p.87; N.870; S.1275).Toned with hairline flan split from rim to top of crown, one additional crease, otherwise very fine / good very fine and well struck for issue, of the highest rarity as the only other so far known to us is in the British Museum.

The legend translates as on obverse "Henry King" and on reverse "Durant of Carlisle."

This was the first type of coin for this reign struck at the newly opened Carlisle Mint c.1123 and it is possible that Durant may have previously worked and minted coins at Edinburgh for King David as "Derind".

North records only two moneyers working at Carlisle for Henry I in types 14 and 15 only.

The fourth son of William the Conqueror, the "fine scholar" Henry Beauclerc as he was known acceded to the throne of England on the death of his childless elder brother William Rufus, who died after a hunting accident in the New Forest on 2^nd August 1100. Well educated Henry had been left landless when his Father died with the Kingdoms shared between the two eldest surviving brothers Robert and William, though he did purchase the county of Cotentin from his eldest brother Robert in western Normandy, but was later deposed from there in 1091, and subsequently, gradually rebuilt his power there with the help of elder brother William against Robert. Upon the death of William Rufus, and being present in the area at that time, he immediately became King promising to correct the less popular policies of his late brother. Henry married Matilda of Scotland with whom he had a son William Aethling and a daughter the Empress Matilda, as well as various other illegitimate children. His elder brother Robert invaded in 1101 disputing Henry's control, but this was settled by a pact recognising Henry as King of England. Henry later invaded Normandy in 1105 and 1106 defeating Robert eventually in the Battle of Tinchebray imprisoning his brother until his death on 3^rd February 1134 in Cardiff Castle. Henry then controlled Normandy for which he was subsequently challenged by Robert's son William Clito who was supported by Fulk V of Anjou, Baldwin VII of Flanders and Louis VI of France, resulting in major rebellions within the Duchy from 1116-19. Eventually a peace settlement was agreed in 1120 after Henry's victory at the Battle of Bremule.

Henry was an effective leader who drew his nobles and barons close whilst using the government justice and taxation systems to the best effect boosting the Royal Exchequer, along with Normandy and its own independent system. He also encouraged ecclesiastical reform playing a major role in selecting senior clergy, though he did have a serious earlier dispute with Archbishop Anselm of Canterbury in 1101 eventually resolved through a compromise in 1105. Unfortunately, Henry's son and heir apparent William drowned in the White Ship sinking disaster of 1120 and Henry entered a second marriage in the hope of another son, but the union with Adeliza of Louvain remained childless. He therefore declared Matilda his heir and married her to Geoffrey of Anjou in 1128 but the relationship between them all became strained with fighting along the Anjou border. Henry subsequently died on 1^st December 1135 after a week of illness and despite his plan for succession it was Stephen of Blois his nephew that succeeded him which led to a Civil War.

Some sixty miles west of Newcastle, the City of Carlisle on the River Eden was devastated by the Danes in 875 and in ruins until 1092 when William II fortified it by building a castle. The silver and lead mines on nearby Alston Moor were used to supply the mint with metal during the twelfth century and a Bishopric was established in 1133. David of Scotland seized the town on the accession of Stephen but later in the Peace of Durham, was confirmed to his son Henry. In 1139 the town was ceded with his Earldom of Northumbria to the Scottish crown and not restored to the English till 1157. Minting activity occurs from Henry I to Henry III with issues of David of Scotland and Henry of Northumbria.

The relatively recently published book "The Metal in Britain's Coins" by Dr Graham Birch and published by Spink has a chapter devoted to the sources of medieval silver coinage, and one of the few issues traceable to silver mined locally in England, is the penny coinage of the Carlisle Mint from the later Norman reigns of Henry I and Stephen to that of Henry II and Richard I. Henry I visited Carlisle in 1122 and was impressed by the minting potential first establishing a mint there having commissioned extra defences, and a rental from the Burgesses of £5 a year is recorded to the King from 1125 onward. This fee had jumped to £45 per annum by 1130 and then to £500 by 1133 clearly showing the success from a discovery of a new vein of silver near Cross Fell in the Silver Beck-Minersdale region. The powerful Erembald family from Flanders soon arrived to become involved in the minting activity, and three generations over a fifty-year period dominated the moneying of coinage in this region continuing through the Anarchy period in the reign of King Stephen. Stability returned with the advent of the reign of Henry II and in 1158 Henry reorganised the royalty payments system taking away the miners rights to silver giving them only a revenue stream from the lead by products. . For further detailed reading it is advised to consult Dr Birch's learned publication.

Provenance:
Ex Canterbury Find 1901, written up 1927 "Some Coins of Henry I" by P. W. P. Carlyon-Britton, British Numismatic Journal, volume XIX, this coin listed page 95.

Ex P. W. P. Carlyon-Britton, Sotheby, 20th November 1916, lot 1366 sold for £2/18/- to Spink, illustrated plate XXXII.
Ex F. Elmore-Jones, part II, The Important Collection of Norman and Plantagenet Coins, Glendining, 10^th April 1984, lot 1364.

Ex John Mattinson Collection, Coins of the Carlisle Mint, Dix Noonan and Webb, Auction 164, lot 2223.

Ex Collection of an English Doctor part II, Sovereign Rarities fixed price list online May 2022.