We often feature very old coins unearthed. This one was found by metal detecting in a field somewhere in Devon and dates from Henry III‘s reign. It was part of a special consignment of pennies, minted by William of Gloucester with African gold. It features the Great Pavement of Westminster Abbey, which he updated, and was sold at auction for £648,000.
Few survived Henry’s reign as their monetary value exceeded their bullion value and Edward I‘s reign returned to using silver for pennies. Apart from those in private collections, the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge and the British Museum hold at least one each.
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