TWO PENNIES, CONSIDERED TO BELONG TO HENRY VI. AND A HEAVY DURHAM PENNY OF EDWARD IV. I think it desirable to put this singular Penny on record. I am rather disposed to consider that the blank originally was not sufficiently expanded for the size of the die, than that it has been clipped, the outer edge of the coin being of nearly a uniform thinness, which would not be the case if the coin had been clipped, which at first I thought it was. The weight is 10 grains. The inscriptions appear to be,― Obv. HENRIC+DI+RA+D. Rev. VILAL, D? After the last D on the obverse, there seems to be the stump of an N: and after the last L on the reverse a lozenge or D.* The obverse, I think, probably was intended to read, HENRIC DI GRA DNS HYB: and the reverse, allowing for a blunder in misplacing the A, to have been intended to read, VILLA DROGHEDA, or, VILLA DE TRIM; and that it is a penny of Henry the Sixth's. The Calais pennies that I have seen without the annulets read,Obverse. HENRICUS REX ANGLIE. Reverse. VILLA CALISIE; with a rose after the E. The Calais pennies with the annulets differ only in the reverse, reading, VILLA CALIS. Weight 134 grains. * 18 June, 1847.-I have now before me two pennies, apparently Henry the Sixth's, on which the lozenge is introduced in the inscriptions. Obverse. HENRICUS REX ANGLIE. Mint-mark, cross-crosslet, with a small cross on each side the bust. The present weight 124 grains, but has been more. Reverse. CIVITAS EBORACI, with a lozenge between CIVI and TAS. The second: Obverse. HENRICUS REX ANGLIE; with a lozenge between REX and ANGLIE. Mintmark, plain cross. Weight 13 grains. Reverse. CIVITAS DUNOLMI and a lozenge. Dr. Smith has favoured me with these observations on this coin:"I return your penny. It appears to me that the engraver of the die omitted the letter G in GRA: there is certainly a + before RA. Considering all the peculiarities of the coin, I think it is not unreasonable to claim it for Ireland. I do not see any reason for giving it to the Calais mint, except that the lozenge after AL occurs, I believe, only on some of the coins of that mint, while, on the other side, the head and legend are in favour of your appropriation. "From the Petition (9 Henry VI. see my Essay, p. 6) it would appear that there was not any mint in Ireland at that time, except at Dublin. "In 1460 coins were ordered to be made at Dublin and Trim; but the type does not correspond with your penny." July 18, 1846.-Dr. Smith has given me a Calais half-groat, with the annulets on each side the bust, assigned with every probability by Mr. Lindsay to Henry the Sixth, which reads on the reverse, VILLA CVLIS Is this blundered? or is it an authorised variation from Calis? If the A in VILLA had not what we may call a bar across its upper part, I should suppose the engraver had, in a mistake, turned the a upside down. But the form of the v is totally different from the a, and leaves it a moot point. This penny I consider to be Henry the Sixth's, and coined during his short Restoration, A.D. 1470. The inscriptions are Obverse. HENRICUS REX ANGLI. Reverse. CIVITAS DONELM or DUNELM. Weight 12 grains. The bust resembles that of Edward the Fourth, being broader, and filling up the field of the coin more than those of Henry's previous to A.D. 1460. DURHAM HEAVY PENNY OF EDWARD THE FOURTH. This penny, weighing nearly 14 grains, I apprehend belongs to the heavy coins of Edward the Fourth struck previous to his fourth year, at the rate of 60 grains for the groat (which, however, like those of Henry the Sixth, they seldom do weigh); and, according to that standard, this should be 15 grains; but it is evidently clipped. I was at a loss to what mint it had belonged, but have ascertained that it was Durham, from a round and tolerably well preserved penny of Edward the Fourth, weighing 10% grains, the reverse of which I have also had engraved; and the peculiarity of the rose of five leaves in the centre of the cross, and the form of the cross itself on both pennies, I think sufficiently establish their issuing from the same mint, and most probably this lighter penny immediately followed "The Stout Gentleman." PAPERS READ AT THE NUMISMATIC SOCIETY ON PENNIES OF EDWARD THE FIRST OR THIRD, AND ON THE COINS OF EDWARD THE FIFTH; AND CONSEQUENT CORRESPONDENCE WITH MR. CUFF AND MR. BERGNE. ON THE ATTRIBUTION OF CERTAIN COINS TO EDWARD THE THIRD AND EDWARD THE FIFTH. [Read before the Numismatic Society, January 23, 1851.] To James Dodsley Cuff, Esq. Cork, January 9, 1851. MY DEAR SIR,-Your very short stay in Cork, last summer, prevented me soliciting your opinion on some numismatic questions, on which I was very anxious to have the benefit of your superior experience; and I therefore now send you the coins, propounding my doubts, and requesting your judgment. My first query respects some pennies of Edward the First, Second, or Third, though I consider their appropriation to rest between Edward the First or Third, and the balance of probabilities to incline to Edward the Third. No. 1. A large and peculiar bust,* inscribed— Having two annulets separating ANGL. from the preceding and succeeding words; and all the N's, on both sides, are the English, and not the Roman N. This coin weighs 184 grains. No. 2. Contains three pennies with a peculiar and spread bust; similar inscriptions; the ANGL. is also separated by annulets. The Roman N on both sides. They weigh 18, 16, and 15 grains. No. 3. Is a penny with a similar bust, and the annulets separating ANGL. On the obverse, the N is English; on the reverse, Roman. Weight, 164 grains, No. 4. Contains four pennies; similar busts; without annulets. No. 5. Obv. Similar bust. Rev. CIVITAS DVNELM. On the reverse, the N English. On the obverse, the N cannot be ascertained. Weight, 17 grains. No. 6. Obv. A large bust. Rev. CIVITAS DVNELM. Obverse, Roman N; reverse, English N. Weight, 164 grains. No. 7. Obv. A bust, similar to Nos. 2, 3, 4, and 5. Rev. CIVITAS EBORACI. Obverse has the Roman N. Weight, nearly 16 grains. The foregoing seven inclosures I consider the debateable coins; those which follow are admitted coins of Edward the Third. No. 8. Obv. +EDWARDVS REX ANGL. Rev. CIVITAS DVNOLME. Reverse, English N. A coin of Bishop Hatfield, with the crosier to the spectator's left. Unusual. Weight, 14 grains. No. 9. Obv. +EDWARDVS REX ANGLIE. Rev. CIVITAS DVNOLM. English N on the reverse. Being without the crosier, it may be supposed to be from the King's mint. Weight, 17 grains. No. 10. Obv. +EDWARDVS REX ANGLI.* Rev. CIVITAS LONDON. On the obverse, the Roman N; on the reverse, the English N. Weight, 17 grains. No. 11. Obv. +EDWARD. ANGL. R.: DNS. HYB. Rev. CIVITAS LONDON X English N on both sides. Each word on the obverse separated by two annulets. A small cross after London. Weight, 16 grains. No. 12. An electro-type of a London half-groat, Edward the Third. English N in London. * See Plate XXVIII, coin No. 8. |