Henry V Quarter-Noble, London, class C/B mule, unusual legend & reverse

Henry V (1413-22), gold Quarter-Noble, London, Class C/B mule, quartered shield of arms with roped outline, lis above centre of shield, quatrefoil to left and right of shield, broken annulet in spandrel each side below quatrefoil, broken annulet on each cusp of double linear tressure of eight arcs, beaded circles and legend surrounding, initial mark cross with saltire punctuation, +hEnRICVSxx DEIxx GRAxx REXxx An'Gx Zx Fx,rev.,lis in central compartment of ornate cross with lis terminals, lion over crescent in each angle, all within double linear tressure of eight arcs, legend with beaded border surrounding, initial mark cross pattée, +EXALTABITVRxx Inxx GLORIA, weight 1.48g (cf.Schneider 224; N. 1382/1381/2; cf.S.1755).Toned, edge perhaps a little shaved, a very unusual small gold coin in that the legend has the King's full name not seen on this denomination since the heavy coinage of Henry IV and the reverse does not have trefoils on each corner of the inner compartment with a device that looks like a crescent more than anything else, though all is a little blundered, the broken annulets feature prominently on the obverse and trefoils either side of what is a large shield, otherwise as per Henry V class C, though there is always the possibility this coin is of continental origin, a bold very fine and presumably extremely rare.

The abbreviated Latin legends translate as on the obverse "Henry by the Grace of God, King of England," and on the reverse "He shall be exalted in glory," a Psalm from the Bible.

The classification of the reign of Henry V has not been properly assessed or further defined in the 21st Century and the last serious work on the reign was by G. C. Brooke back in the 1930s where he defined classes from styles of lettering which was based mainly on the Nobles as there was a larger sampling of them to work with. The Half and Quarter Nobles are very rarely seen of this reign and therefore a more largely unstudied part. The Schneider Collection only contains 12 examples of the Quarter-Noble across the 7 classes with muling between, mostly of the more commonly seen latter ones. This contrasts with only 7 Half-Nobles and 36 Nobles within this collection.