Denomination: Silver penny
Period: Plantagenets
Date: 1158-1189
Origin: Canterbury
mint
Condition: Better
than many of this type on an
irregular flan
Obverse: Crowned bust facing, curl of hair at temple; wearing armour and mantle of many folds with sceptre in right hand, [HENRI:REX:]
Reverse: Large cross potent with small cross potent in each angle; in centre, a small cross in saltire, legend around
Size and Weight: 19mm, 1.34g
References: Spink 1339, possibly class C2
Features and Provenance: The 'Tealby' coinage, named as such after 6,000 of the cross-and-crosslet type coins were found in one hoard at Tealby, Lincolnshire in 1807, are notoriously poorly struck, on irregular flans. Only 600 coins were kept for collections and for the nation, the rest were melted down by the mint. They were struck at some twenty-nine mints, but after this issue was produced, most were then closed.
Henry became king in 1154 and by all accounts was a good king. He never learnt English but as the court spoke Norman French this probably didn't matter too much. He was labelled as scruffy and bad tempered and lacked the charm of his father. However, he can be considered to be one of England's greatest monarchs, developing the laws of the land and uniting a divided kingdom. He is also know for his empire building in Europe, for which he had a fierce reputation. He also wanted to stamp his authority on the church, which did not sit well with the then Archbishop, Thomas Becket. This culminated in the death of Becket in his own church by his altar; this horrified Christians and although Beckett was apparently disliked by the monks in life, in death he became a martyr and religious cult.
Condition Summary . This varies with the age of coin and there are grades between
Uncirculated (U). As struck with no traces of wear
Extremely Fine (EF). Very slight traces of wear, all parts of legend etc present, visible and clear
Very Fine (VF). Some signs of wear on the higher parts of the relief, all parts of legend etc present, but maybe worn
Fine (F). Wear on the coin and parts of legend etc may be missing or not visible
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Code: 21112902