Date: c. 1190-1199 Description: John (as Lord of Ireland) Third coinage, Halfpenny, Carrickfergus mint signature Mint: Carrickfergus Moneyer: Roberd Diameter: 15 mm Weight: 0.69 g References: Withers VI 1/a; O’S, Earliest 1; SCBC 6214 Not a great coin to look at – chipped flan, plus weak strike. Almost Fine (aF) but, crucially, the King’s name…
Counterfeiting in the 19th C The 19th C began as the 18th C had finished – with people being hanged for ‘coining’ (making counterfeit coins) and ‘uttering’ (trying to spend them), with the exception that women were no longer ‘burned at the stake’ for high treason – they were now hanged along with the men.…
Introduction Throughout John’s lordship, he attempted to stabilize the government in Ireland – which was no easy task given the treacherous Irish geo-political situation. England’s claim to Ireland started in 1154 with the Bull Laudabiliter, in which Pope Adrian IV gave a land grant to Henry II of England. The Pope gave Henry II this land…
Background Henry’s Troubled Succession Henry was born in France at Le Mans on 5 March 1133 as the eldest child of Geoffrey the Fair, Count of Anjou, and the Empress Matilda, so titled because of her first marriage to Henry V, the Holy Roman Emperor. Henry’s mother was a very powerful woman: She was the…
Although manufactured and used over 350 years ago, many of these tokens were issued with pretty much the same form of English as we use nowadays, with a few notable exceptions to their alphabet and spelling, e.g. The letter “U” is always represented by the letter “V”, e.g. DVBLIN There was no letter “J” in…
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