+ DAVE'S : RARE : COINS

II.II Ornamented 'York Group' coinage of king Stephen.

Throughout the long and turbulent reign of king Stephen (1135-1154) a wide variety of, mostly inferior, coinage was struck. Regular issues in Stephens name (much of it below standard and therefore unlawful), several Baronial issues (both with and without royal warrant), a brief Maudian coinage (of the Empress Maud, Stephen's rival for the throne during the civil war), Scottish Border variants (struck by Scottish royalty) those struck using defaced dies (by moneyers unable or unwilling to support one particular claimant), coinage issued by queen Matilda (Stephen's wife) and much local, irregular and uncertain coinage. (Some issues even copy reverses of the previous reign). One rare and beautiful coinage produced at this time stands out as vastly superior to all of these in almost every respect. The 'York Group' and loyalist Baronial issues of Stephens camp.

In terms of die engraving these coins place the others in the shade. They are boldly struck, detailed and central on the (almost perfectly round) flan. As opposed to regular coinage which is often struck flat on irregular shaped discs. In terms of design they bear no resemblance to any known contemporary coinage, foreign or domestic. All but two varieties (that perhaps do not belong in the series at all ?) have ornaments in the legend, or ornaments that replace the legend completely. These coins are known collectively as the Ornamented Series. All of them are believed (with good reason) to be Royalist issues.

The York Group are all struck in the name of Stephen. (Maudian Baronial coins are of a low quality similar to the regular coinage). On these coins Stephen's name is spelt a variety of different ways, eg. STIEFNET and NSEPEFETI. The association of the York mint with this group stems from the name EBORACUM spelt out in full or abbreviated on certain Baronial coins and EVERWIC abbreviated on the 'York Group' Flag type. (The Romans named York Eboracum, the Latin name is probably taken from seals or charters of the period. York in Norman times was known by its Anglo-Saxon name of Everwic. Many different abbreviations of this name appear on countless coins from the middle ages, although very rarely without the moneyers name preceding it. Some Flag type coins read VIDNESI ON EV, although VIDNESI is unlikely, in my opinion, to be the name of a coiner). One York type, N 918, reads WISNEGE-TA (apparently a much-abbreviated Baronial name and title) with ornaments between the legend. This is probably a very early Baronial (York) issue as it is minted with Stephen's name on the obverse. N 920, N 922 and N 922/1 each have ornaments in place of the legend (the guarentee of mint and moneyer) on the reverse. N 918 - N 921 have busts similar in style to the Cross Moline (Watford) first type of Stephen. N 919 is the Flag type, already spoken of, in which the king holds a lance with triple pennon in place of the usual lys-headed sceptre. N 922 has Stephen and Matilda standing facing, supporting a tall sceptre and N 922/1 has the king standing facing, holding a triple standard in his left hand. These also exists a unique cut half featuring a bearded profile (otherwise a very rare feature on Norman coins) and a new reverse cross design, also a certain cut quarter with a reverse similar to the 'Eustace' Baronial issue, and again believed by this author to be unique. These are the known 'York' variants. 

The coins may not have been struck in York at all, one author has advanced the theory that they were minted in Northern France, although this has now been all but discounted. My own opinion is that they were struck closer to Lincoln than York. Various reasons, dates and events have been suggested to account for the striking of this series. For example N 922, king and queen standing was almost certainly struck to commemorate the unyielding support of queen Matilda during Stephen's captivity following the Battle of Lincoln. (She formed an army, and marching to London, inspired the citizens to eject the Empress Maud). The Flag type is said to correlate to Stephens second Great Seal, adopted in June 1139, in which he is shown on horseback with the pennon. One theory states that the whole series was minted to pay the Flemish mercenaries that formed the backbone of Stephens army, who were suspicious of the quality of regular circulating pennies. I am not sure of the truth of this theory, but what does seem certain is that these coins never entered normal circulation. The silver content of the 'York' coins is excellent but the weight of some examples is below that required by law at that time, although they were certainly minted lawfully. This is practically the only negative thing that can be said about them.

I am very proud to state that the coin above, N 920, Lozenge Sceptre type, is a recent addition to my collection. It is rated by North as Extremely Rare. With good reason as only five examples exist, two whole coins, a fragment and two cut halves. Mine is one of the cut halves. Three of the others are in museums, the other cut half was spotted on Marshall Faintich's excellent website, under the 'Coins of the Anarchy' section. It differs from my coin in that the other half (where the lozenge sceptre can be clearly seen) is shown. Mainly unprovenanced, my coin was formerely of the cabinet of Ivan Buck. (It is not poorly struck, it is a worn example). It is also unrecorded, although the Fitzwilliam museum are aware of its existance. The Lozenge type apparently shows French influence in that the seals of three French kings of the period show sceptres tipped with the lozenge (containing a lily, although it is a ringed pellet on the coins). It was supposedly struck to remind the populace of the fact that Stephen had done homage to the French king for Normandy (or probably not in my humble opinion) and to imply tacit French support for the Crown (which seems more likely).  The reverse of the coin shows a saltire fleury over cross patee with ornaments around and is similar in this respect to some reverse designs of the Baronial coinage. The obverse has Stephen's name spelt STIEN with more ornaments. STIEN may be an abbreviation of the French ESTIENNE. A date of 1141 has been suggested for the minting of this type.

An update to this post. April 'o7.  I came across a supposed fragmented example of N 920 on a dealers website recently. I requested pictures, but was informed that the coin had already been sold. And so I cannot confirm this coin as a Lozenge Sceptre. So we are still officially at five coins !! 

Sources : English Hammered Coinage Volume One. J.J. North. Coins of the Anarchy. George C. Boon. Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Anne Savage. E.M.C. website. S.C.B.I. website. Mike Vosper Coins website. Astronomical Symbols on Coins, Marshall Faintich website.  Probert Encyclopedia website.

• Posted by dragonbloodaxe on 05/07/2006.
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