John Penny, short cross type, class 5a2, York Mint, Moneyer Nicole

John (1199-1216), silver short cross Penny, class 5a² (1204-1205), in the name of his Father, York Mint, moneyer Nicole, facing crowned head with linear collar, hand holding sceptre at left, Latin legend and beaded borders surrounding both sides, commences upper left with round top Rs, hENRICVS. R EX, the S retrograde, rev. short voided cross pommee, small cross pommee in each angle, cross pommee for initial mark, +NICOLE. ON. EVER, weight 1.41g (Mass 1344; N 969; S 1350B). Unevenly toned, a bold very fine, with a great portrait.

All of the English coins dating to the reign of King John by class, are depicted in the name of his Father King Henry II as are those of Richard I who preceded him. The legend therefore reads "Henry King" on the obverse and "Nicole of York" on the reverse.

The younger brother of Richard the Lionheart and at time estranged, John was pronounced heir to England on 11^th March 1194, he being the youngest son of Henry II born on 24^th December 1166 and at first nicknamed Lackland on the assumption he would never inherit much land. In contrast to this name and as Henry II's favourite son, John had been appointed Lord of Ireland in 1177 by the age of ten and given lands in England and on the Continent and later proclaimed King on Richard's death in 1199. John married twice but had multiple mistresses and illegitimate children. First he married Isabella Countess of Gloucester from 1189-99 ending in annulment, then Isabella Countess of Angouleme who was no older than 15 upon their marriage in 1200 who bore home five children from 1207-1215.

John called a conference of moneyers in 1205 which reformed the administration of the coinage and class 5 short cross pennies are thought to coincide with the results from this meeting, though the coins continue to be still in the name of his Father Henry.

Otherwise during this reign, King Philip II of France agreed to recognise John's possession of Angevin lands at the peace Treaty of Le Goulet in 1200. War again broke out with France in 1202 and though John achieved early victories but later due to shortages of supplies and because of his treatment of his Nobles in that area the empire in northern France collapsed by 1204. He tried to regain these lands for the next decade, was excommunicated after an argument by Pope Innocent III in 1209 not resolved until 1213, and eventually suffered defeat by Philip at the Battle of Bouvines in 1214. Upon return to England he faced rebellion from multiple nobles and barons leading to the Magna Carta peace treaty of 1215, from which neither side really complied leaving to more civil unrest and a stalemate. John died of dysentery in 1216 after campaigning in the east of England and famously losing much of his baggage train and treasure in the flooding marshes and quick sands of the Wash in East Anglia, he died within a week or two of this happening by the 19^th October 1216 with his body carried south for interment at Worcester Cathedral. In the aftermath his nine year old son was proclaimed King Henry III under the protector-ship of William Marshall who resuscitated the terms of the Magna Carta in edited form from 1217 as the basis for government in the future.

The City of York at the junction of the River Foss and River Ouse, about 190 miles north-west of London has been an archbishopric since 753 with some gold Thrymsa coins being produced. It was the early minting place of coins of the Kings of Northumbria in both copper and silver as well as the Archbishops of York. The mint name first appears on some of the occupational Viking coinages making the city their capital from 867. In 919 the city passed to the Hiberno-Norse Kings of Dublin and back to the English in 927 when taken from Guthfrith. Between 939 and 943 the Vikings were back in town and again from 947-954 but otherwise remained under English rule with the Norman castle even holding out to a Saxon/Danish occupation in 1069 being relieved by William I who built a second castle on the right bank of the Ouse, the City having been burnt. As soon as William departed the Vikings returned but upon William's return they fled back to their ships and the Normans harried Yorkshire. Later minting activity occurs from the reign of Aethelstan onward, incorporating Viking Kings of York coinage, through a long period right through to King Edward VI, as well as a Civil War Mint for King Charles I and a branch mint for the milled recoinage of William III.

Provenance:

Ex Spink Coin Auction, 10^th December 2019, lot 80.

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