Henry V Noble, class C, Tower mint, AU58, ex Fishpool Hoard and Carrington

Henry V (1413-22),gold Noble of six shillings and eight pence, London Mint, class C, King standing in ship with upright sword and quartered shield, mullet by sword hilt, quatrefoil over sail, beaded circle surrounding, broken annulet on hull of ship, h EnRIC'x DI'xGRA'x REX'x AnGL' xZx FRAnC'x DnSx hYB',rev.h at centre of ornamental cross with lis terminals, crowns over lions in angles, quatrefoil by head of lion in second quarter of reverse, all within a beaded and linear tressure, fleurs in spandrels, legend +IhC'x AVTEmxx TRAnSIEnSxx PERxx mEDIV'x ILLORVxx IBAT, all As unbarred, weight 7.00g (Schneider 227; Brooke IVa/IV; N.1371; S.1742).Toned with some residue deposit from being once part of the Fishpool Hoard, well centred and pleasing strike of the design, has been slabbed and graded by NGC as AU58 with a great provenance.

NGC certification 8534369-008 with Carrington Collection label on black core.

The abbreviated Latin legends translate as on the obverse "Henry by the Grace of God, King of England and France, Lord of Ireland"; and on the reverse "But Jesus, passing through the midst of them, went His way" taken from the Bible.

The reign of Henry V has accounts at the Tower of London Mint showing a mintage of just over 30,000 pounds in weight of gold which equates to an issue of coinage at just over £640,000 face value across all gold denominations, a successful chronology of the seven main classes of coinage for this reign has never been reliably worked out and this coin is type C of the classification by G C. Brooke.

Henry of Monmouth as he was known until he became king was born on the 13^thSeptember 1386 at Monmouth Castle, and gained valuable military experience in what became a 15 year long revolt by the Welsh under Owen "Glendower" from 16^thSeptember 1400, as well as against the Percy Family at the Battle of Shrewsbury on 21^stJuly 1403 where "Harry Hotspur" the Lord Percy of Northumberland who was killed by an arrow to the face. Henry acceded to the throne from his ailing Father on 21^stMarch 1413 and reasserted the English claim to the French throne and in 1415 embarked on war with France, which culminated in the Battle of Agincourt on the 25^thOctober of that year, in an unexpected and resounding victory for the English with an army led by Henry consisting of some 80% long bowmen. This great victory against all the odds resulted in the occupation of Normandy and after long negotiation with King Charles VI, led to the Treaty of Troyes where Henry V was named regent and given the hand in marriage of Charles' daughter Catherine of Valois. They had one son Henry who succeeded his Father as an infant King upon the death of Henry aged just 35 after his falling ill around May to June of 1422, and after some rallying finally succumbing to whatever fever it was on 31^stAugust 1422. Henry's reign was also notable for the adaption of the English language in all governance from August of 1417.

Provenance:

Ex Fishpool Hoard, Glendining, 17^th October 1968, lot 15 sold for £450.

Ex Spink Coin Auction 4, 22^nd February 1979, lot 748.

Ex Carrington Collection 573.

The Fishpool Hoard from whence this coin came was discovered at Fishpool near Newstead Abbey on the 22^nd March 1966 and remains one of the largest and most important hoards of British gold coins thus far found, the majority of which is on display in the British Museum being of the upmost national importance.

1,237 gold coins were recovered and declared Treasure Trove in December 1966 and only two of the six finders adhered properly to the treasure process. One of these Berhard Beeton who found 100 pieces had 85 returned to him after the museums purchased 15 and it was this portion of the hoard that was offered at auction in 1968 from which this coin is lot 15. The other honest finder Master D Welham found four coins which were all returned to him and privately sold by the time of this auction. The remainder of the hoard was retained for the nation by the British Museum and consisted of a broad range of coins from the time of Edward III to Edward IV as well as some Anglo-Gallic (33), Scottish (13), French (11), and Brugundian (166) coins plus two contemporary forgeries of Henry IV. The Henry V element amounted to 266 gold coins of which 258 were nobles - 166 being class C, of which 18 were offered for sale in the Fishpool Hoard auction.

The Hoard consisted of 27 coins of Edward III (2 sold 1968), 12 of Richard II (3 sold 1968), 38 of Henry IV (4 sold 1968), 266 of Henry V (18 sold 1968), 606 of Henry VI (37 sold 1968) and 63 of Edward IV which were all of the remarkable and exceptionally rare heavy coinage (6 sold 1968).