John Penny, short cross type, class 5b2, Durham Mint, moneyer Pieres

John (1199-1216), silver short cross Penny, class 5b² (1205-1207), in the name of his Father, Durham Mint, moneyer Pieres, 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, rev. short voided cross pommée, small cross pommée in each angle, +PIERES. ON. DVR, weight 1.35g (Mass 1488; N 970; S 1351). Toned with some porosity and surface marks, weak in parts otherwise very fine and scarce.

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 "Piers of Durham" 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.

Durham is situated on the River Wear and the Norman cathedral was built between the years of 1093 and 1133. King Stephen advanced to Durham against King David of Scotland in 1135 and peace was signed there in 1139. The castle was later seized by Henry of Northumbria and William Cumin in 1141. Minting activity occurs there from the reign of William I to Henry III though there is hardly any documentary evidence in the 13^th Century. The Bishops of Durham continued to operate the silver mines of the area but the only dialogues on the subject date from the 1140s up to 1195. For further reading consult "The Metal in Britain's Coins" by Dr Graham Birch.

Provenance:

Ex Mark Rasmussen Numismatist, List 31, Spring 2018, item 16.

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