THE COVENTRY HOARD OF COINS OF EDWARD I TO EDWARD III

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Eileen Ford
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1 THE COVENTRY HOARD OF COINS OF EDWARD I TO EDWARD III M A R I O N M. A R C H I B A L D WHILE digging the foundation trench for a garage to be built at 6 Old Road, Foleshill, Coventry (SP 3540/846), on 6 June 967, Mr. J. P. Doyle unearthed a pot of thirteenth- and fourteenth-century silver coins. The finder did not preserve the container and although he later recalled that it had been 'skittle-shaped' he was unable to describe its fabric and size. When the Coventry Museum heard about the hoard just over a week after its discovery, the foundation trench had already been filled with concrete so that an investigation of the immediate context of the find was no longer possible. Despite a thorough search of the spoil heaps no fragments of the container were recovered. At the inquest held at Coventry on 8 July 967 the coins were declared treasure trove and sent to the British Museum for study. A press account of the court proceedings prompted a letter to the editor of the Coventry Evening Telegraph ( July 967) describing what appears to have been a similar find a stone's throw away at 4 Old Church Road in 93. Mr. R. J. Hewitt wrote that he and his friend, then aged thirteen, had dug up 'about two handfuls' of coins like those recently found and had expended them as ammunition for their catapults in bombarding a tin can perched on a nearby hedge. The site of these events, Mr. Hewitt advises treasure hunters, is now covered by a bungalow. It is not possible to be certain of the identification of the coins found in 93 but Mr. Hewitt's recollection of them is not incompatible with their having been a second part of the same treasure buried for greater security in two separate but adjacent hiding places. There are on record several instances of two, or possibly more, medieval hoards of virtually identical composition found in close proximity, e.g. the stycas discovered at Bolton Percy in the 840s and again in 967. A closer parallel is perhaps to be found in the Colchester hoards of 90 and 969, the first of Short-Cross pennies and the second of Long-Cross pennies. Although concealed very close together it is unlikely that these two groups of coins could have formed a single treasure. The duplication of hoards on that particular site is probably to be explained by a succession of wealthy people living nearby. The earlier history of the Coventry findspot also suggests that the hoards are likely to have been two independent caches rather than the whole or part of a multiple-container deposit. The ownership of the area in the fourteenth century cannot be established but the land had formed part of the orchard of Foleshill vicarage for many years: it is referred to in an unofficial copy of the Enclosure Award of 774 as 'Vicarage Land' and it is thought likely that the area had been Church property for a much longer period. 3 I am grateful to Mr. Cyril J. Scott, Museums paper, Interpreting coin-finds in Coins and the Archeolo- Curator of the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, gist, ed. John Casey and Richard Reece, British Coventry, for information about the circumstances of Archaeological Reports No. 4, 974, pp the discovery of the hoard and for drawing my atten- 3 I am grateful to Miss A. Lynes, formerly Librarian tion to the letter in the Coventry Evening Telegraph. in Charge of the Coventry and Warwickshire Collec- Dr. J. P. C. Kent discusses the different types of tion of the City Libraries, for her research into the multiple-deposit hoards of all periods in his recent history of the site and for this information.

2 THE COVENTRY HOARD OF COINS OF EDWARD I TO EDWARD III 6 The find comprises 38 groats, 59 half-groats, and 8 pennies, making a total of 5. The earliest coin is a London penny of Edward I class Ha issued in 80 and the latest pieces are two pennies of the York mint struck during the Treaty coinage c The individual coins in the hoard are unremarkable except for a number of minor dievariants and several rare coins among the pennies including a fine example of a Series A penny of the Pre-Treaty coinage struck from a hitherto unrecorded obverse die with a double annulet at the end of the legend. The presence of one Irish penny of Edward I and two worn pennies of Alexander III of Scotland is predictable but the inclusion of two half-groats of David II is more unusual. Of the two continental coins, one is a variant of the common Meraude sterling of John the Blind of Luxemburg. The other is a passable imitation of an early penny of Edward I but its abnormal style, base metal, and low weight (-5 gr.) proclaim it to be a contemporary forgery. The form of the L with a pellet at the point of the front serif and the tressure inside the letter D can be matched on issues of Gui de Dampierre, Count of Flanders, and suggest that the coin was produced in that area. Since the coins for the most part required only superficial cleaning, the weights given in the catalogue of contents may be taken as being within a little of those at which they had been current at the time of their deposition. The groats and the half-groats had been in circulation for a maximum of some twelve to fifteen years and were little worn. Only one of them, a half-groat of Pre-Treaty Series D weighing 30-7 gr., had demonstrably been clipped although some paring of the edges cannot be ruled out in a few other cases. The pennies were in poorer condition and those of Edward I and Edward II were well worn. Although some of the latter had been clipped, others bore no overt signs of this and had clearly survived the successive reductions in the standard weight because they had been at the lighter end of the weight distribution when they were originally issued, compounded of course by some loss of weight as a result of wear in circulation. The weights of all denominations struck since the introduction of the current standards in 35 form a typical pattern: a few pieces above standard weight, the bulk peaking just below it and a long 'tail' of underweight specimens. The groats range from 65- gr. to 7- gr. with 3 of the total of 38 weighing between 70 and 70- gr. Their average weight was 69-9 gr., the deficiency of - gr. accounted for by the culling of profitably heavy coins. The weights of the half-groats and pennies of the Pre-Treaty coinage follow a similar pattern and their average weights are 34-8 gr. (- gr. below standard) and 7- gr. (0-8 gr. below standard) respectively. The Edward I and II sterlings and the pennies of the Florin issue of Edward III which were struck to a higher standard weight also conform to the expected distribution pattern for earlier survivors of this denomination: a more even distribution about the new lower standard weight with slightly more coins below than above the official current issue-weight but having an average weight very close to it. The average weight of the pennies of Edward I and II is 8- gr. and that of the Florin pennies, 8- gr. Of the English pennies present in the hoard 34-9 per cent had been struck before 30, more than fifty years before the deposition of the hoard. This high figure demonstrates once again the prominent role of pennies of Edward I in the circulation medium at a period long after they had been issued. The hoard closes with five coins of the Treaty B period, the latest of which are two A histogram of the weights of the Edward I and II in connection with the writer's discussion of the Attenpennies in the present Coventry hoard was published borough hoard, BNJ xxxviii (969), p. 63.

3 THE COVENTRY HOARD OF COINS OF EDWARD I TO EDWARD III 6 York pennies with the annulet before EDWARDVS which correspond to Mr. Potter's class b at London dated to the period following the opening of the Calais mint on 0 February 363. How soon after this terminus the hoard was actually buried is difficult to say, especially since the later coins of the Treaty period were produced in much smaller quantities than those of the previous phase and consequently their absence from the hoard need not necessarily be chronologically significant. If, however, we look at the Attenborough hoard buried in c. 40 and therefore late enough for anomalies in the representation of Edward Ill's issues to be unlikely, we find that from the mint of York there were 68 Treaty pennies against only 47 of Pre-Treaty Series G while in Coventry there are 3 Treaty against 4 series G. Similarly in the half-groat denomination 3 out of a total of 55 were of the Treaty issue in Attenborough whereas only out of a total of 57 English coins in Coventry is of this issue. The Coventry populations are of course very small for statistical exercises of this kind but the figures would appear to indicate that Treaty coins are indeed under-represented in this hoard and that it would therefore be justifiable to say that the deposition date is likely to have been in or shortly after the date of the latest coins, c The hoard was acquired in its entirety by the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, Coventry, which provided the money to pay the reward of the market value to the finder. CATALOGUE OF COINS ENGLAND EDWARD I AND II Pence Fox class Weight!gr. Bristol IIIc 6-3 Hid Bury XIII Canterbury IVa 0-5, IVc 0-3, 7-8 IXb Xb 9-0- Xc-f () 0-3,6-9 Xc-f (? ) Xc-f (3) Xc-f (? 3) XIII 9-6 Durham Sede vacante XIa London Ha lib IIIc Hid 6-, 5-9 EDVR Illd 7-93 IHg 5-7 4_5 IVa 6-6, 5-5 V e 9 " Va IXb 7- i W. J. W. Potter, 'The silver coinage of Edward III', NC 96, pp. 6-8.

4 THE COVENTRY HOARD OF COINS OF EDWARD I TO EDWARD III 63 Pence Fox class 9 Xa/IXb Xb 8-6, Xc-f () -4, 9-0, 8-5, 6-9, 6-8, One reads hyb Xc-f () 0-3, 9-3, Xc-f (3), -0, 0-7, 0, Xc-f (3)/XIb York Royal mint Hlb 6-6 EDWARD III Florin Coinage Pence Fox class fveight/gr Canterbury 4 9-4, Durham 8-5, 7-7 () London B/I 8-5, /II 7-7, / 0-8, 0-3, 9-7 (), 8-5, 7-7, 7-6, 7-4, /II 9-7, /III York 4 8, 6- Pre-Treaty Coinage Groats number Weight jgr. 7- C DEI G all arches fleured 7-4, DEI G top arches not fleured DI G all arches fleured 7-6, 70-8, D G all arches fleured 7 7-4, 70-5, /3 70-8?/ D G top arches not fleured, MEV 3 (var.) D EDWARD D G REX ANGL'^' 0 FRANC DFLY B -P / No stop after DEVM 7/9 (var.) 7-87 c for E, normal F in FRANC, no stop 6 (var.) 69 after T 88 E No stops on obverse / EDVARD / , EDWAR D D G RE X ANGL" FRANC -/6 7-3 D HYB 95 Obverse legend uncertain? )» >>? c and E broken on both sides E/F 4 7-3

5 THE COVENTRY HOARD OF COINS OF EDWARD I TO EDWARD III 64 Groats number Weiglit/gr. 99 F POSVI (var.) / LON/DEN c and E broken on reverse only G (a) annulet in civi quarter 7-, (a),, TAS quarter 3/ DON (6) LON quarter, /EMMEV/ 7/ (C) saltire in LON quarter Half-groats 09 B Top arches not fleured FRANCI" / C (a) All arches fleured ANGLI FRANCI 3 36-, FRACI unnumbered b) all arches fleured ANGLI FRANC, 9 (var.) 35- /DEVM / 5-8 (c) top arches not fleured ANGLI , 35-, 35-, 4 FRANCI (d) top arches not fleured ANGLI 6 (var.) 36-4, 36-3, 36-, 9 FRANC, all without annulet before 35-9, 35-5, 35-3, ADIVT 35-, 34-8, FRANC" -/ /7 35-6, /? No annulet after DEVM 6/0 (var.) ANGL FRANC Uncertain readings of Cd type? 36 0, C/D All arches fleured FRANC LON/DEN TAS in st quarter Top arches not fleured FRANC 3/ FRANC' -/ D Top arches not fleured FRACI,/ ADIVT/ 3/- 34-5, / C for E, annulet after EDWARDVS 5 (var.) Obverse stops illegible POS 3 /VI(?)DEV/? 30-7 ADIVT 46 D/E C for E, reverse R illegible? E/D ANGIL F inverted in FRACI E, */D, E ANGL FRACI 0 5/? POS/VIDE V/A 5/ pos/vrdev/a, c and E broken on 5/ reverse 5- Reverse stops uncertain 5/? 36-, ANGIL FRACI F ANGLI FRACI POS/VA civi in st quarter /7 (var.) E/G ANGL FRACI LON in st quarter 7 (var.) F/G ANGLI FRAC POS/VPDEV/ F, 5/? G (a) top arches not fleured FRANC (b-f) arches at top and by hair not fleured 9-9

6 Half-groats 60 E Pence 65-7 C THE COVENTRY HOARD OF COINS OF EDWARD I TO EDWARD III 65 York Durham D G 83 A London A/C C 9 C/? D D/C D E F/Ga Ga/Gc York D E 08- G -3 Half-groat 4 I London End of obverse legend uncertain?/3 number ANGL FRA///?/4 ANGL FRACI C and E broken on obverse? (var.) ANGL F RACI C and E broken on 3 (var.) obverse, EBO in st quarter ANGLI ANGLI ANGIL T ANGLIT ANGLI^ (b) ANGLI (d) ANGLI-T (g) end of obverse legend uncertain (g/h) trefoil of pellets on breast Sub-type uncertain ANGLIEO Lombardic NS both sides, annulet above T in TAS AnGLIE ANGL ANGLIE Pellet in CIVI quarter Pellet stops, pellet below bust, saltire in LON quarter 3 unnumbered or 3 (var.) Ecclesiastical mint unnumbered Royal mint, obverse details uncertain -6 (# ) Ecclesiastical mint Ecclesiastical mint, details uncertain? Treaty Coinage if) double annulet stops/double saltire stops F , , 7-7 (), 7-3 (), 6-3, , , (), 7-3, 6-9, 6-8 (), , 6-9, , 7-3, 7-, , , 7-6, 7-3, ,

7 66 THE COVENTRY HOARD OF COINS OF EDWARD I TO EDWARD III 66 Pence number London 5 (f) Double annulet stops HYB, saltire after DON 7-6 York Ecclesiastical mint ANGLI pellet stops annulet before 7-8-, 6-8 EDWARDVS IRELAND EDWARD I Penny 9 Dublin Allen class Hi, Dolley 6th coinage large lettering on reverse 9-3 SCOTLAND ALEXANDER III Pence 0 mullets of 6 pts., stars of 7 pts. 4 mullets of 6 pts. nd Coinage 80-6 St., E St., G/E DAVID II 39-7 Half-groats nd Coinage Edinburgh DAVID x DEI x REX X SCOTORVM Saltire stops Dns/PROT /ECTOR/ME(VS) St., A5, B DAVID+DEI+GRA+REX+SCOTORV' cross stops Dns/ PROT/EC(TOR/M)EVS St., A6, B CONTINENTAL Imitation of English type probably struck in Flanders 4 As early Edward I penny of London but pellet topped L and tressure in D Luxemburg, John the Blind Meraude iohaes DEI GRA (REX B) Ch. 79 (var.)

THE 1961 FIND OF FOURTEENTH-CENTURY SILVER COINS FROM MAREHAM-LE-FEN IN LINCOLNSHIRE

THE 1961 FIND OF FOURTEENTH-CENTURY SILVER COINS FROM MAREHAM-LE-FEN IN LINCOLNSHIRE By R. H. M. DOLLEY ON October 9th 1961, a labourer digging a trench for a sewer at The Green in the village of Mareham-le-Een