Lancaster and York

A recently discovered new type of Halfpenny for Richard III links the halfpenny series more closely with the Groats and Halfgroats.’

The halfpence of Henry IV are divided into two broad issues: a ‘heavy’ coinage struck for the mainstay of the reign, and a ‘light’ coinage of lower weight standard ordered in 1411 but produced only from 1412 onwards. Of the ‘light’ coinage, fewer than twenty examples were thought to be known by Withers – though more have been brought to attention in recent years thanks to the efforts of metal detectorists. This note describes a new variety of Withers type 3 recently discovered near Cambridge, displaying a different obverse legend to those listed in the relevant ‘small change’ guide.

‘Page 28 of the Galata ‘small change’ guide to halfpennies of Henry IV, V and VI currently lists different two obverse legends for Henry V type 9. Whereas the standard issue usually reads: +hENRIC REX ANGL, there is also a less common variety (9a) inscribed: +hENRC REX ANGLIE F. However, this article describes two newly-discovered examples representing an apparently unrecorded second variety of the main type (provisionally assigned 9b). On these two pieces, the obverse instead reads: +hENRIC REX ANGLIE.’

Described in this article is a new variety of a halfpenny of London, from the later part of Henry VI’s first reign, and of the Cross Pellet issue. The coin shows an interesting feature – the addition of a definite pellet between the R and I of HENRIC; a feature previously unrecorded on the coins of this issue.

WIth the development of increasingly sensitive metal detectors many small coins are now coming  to light. With them are numerous issues of halfpence and farthings, and it is not surprising when coins from previously unknown issues come to light (cf Henry III round halfpence, farthings, Newcastle Farthings of Edward I etc). A recent discovery of a halfpenny that  is probably a Henry VI Lis Pellet issue is described in this brief article.

In BNJ 2017 Martyn Frederickson published a quarter-noble of Henry VI that he tentatively assigned to the Trefoil Issue, an issue of which no quarter-nobles were previously known. A reverse die duplicate of the Frederickson coin appeared for sale in a provincial auction in 2018 and prompted the following re-examination of the attribution.