Throughout the month of December, ill be looking back at historical moments from the past. From conflicts to coronations, sporting moments to royal memories, and famous firsts and lasts. With my love of all things shiny and precious, ill be trying to tie these events in with coins that have been created to commemorate these moments.
II: Profile / cross fleury Type Penny Moneyer: Wulfine of London
On 1 December 1135 England mourned when King Henry I passed away at Lyons-La-Foret in France, aged 66. It was supposed after his death that the cause of his sudden demise was from eating too many lampreys; a jawless fish known for its toothed, funnel-like mouth, which the King had been forbidden from consuming by his doctor.
Lampreys
Henry was the fourth son of William the Conqueror and Matilda of Flanders, and he rose to power after the death of his brother during a hunting expedition in New Forest. He quickly organised his coronation, and it was rumoured that he may have been complicit in his brother’s death.
King Henry I
Despite this, he was a particularly popular king among the Saxons due to his English roots, and ruled until his abrupt death in 1135. He was buried at Reading Abbey, but the tomb was lost after the Abbey’s destruction during the Reformation.
The reign of Henry I is notable for the deteriorating standard of coin manufacture and lots of forgeries were made. In 1124 Henry held an Assize of Moneyers (a kind of trial) at Winchester where dishonest moneyers who made poor quality coins were punished.
The British Museum
Due to the poor quality of minting, the public at the time, had little trust in the coinage of Henry I. So much so that many of thencoins in circulation were damaged througg constantly being tested for purity and weight. This lead to many coins being rejected by vendors, as they were not only dissatisfied by the coins appearance (damaged), but couldnt themselves fully trust the legitimacy of them. This then lead to the government and mints at the time purposefully damaging all new coins entering circulation,, commonly known as the "snick".... The thouggt process behind this was: "if all coins appear damaged, then all coins must then be accepted"!!! I can actually see the stupid logic in their thinking.
King Henry did come to recognise the need for confidence in circulating coinage, and so began to change standards and procedures. He punished forgers, debasers and poor minting standards harshly, leading to a sudden correction in circulating coinage standards at the time. In 1124, he went a step further and started to replace the MONEYERS (money makers) with a new set of trained minters, and this further restored faith in the coins of the time.
SOURCE:ROYAL MINT CHARDS
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