A resource for collectors, metal-detectorists and students
Group 3 (1280 - 1281)
Type 3b - Spink 1431; North 1044
Halfpennies of Type 3b, like those of Type 3c-e (southern mints), have Crown A, but the two types are distinguished by the form of the king's drapery. On Type 3b the drapery consists of an arc of a circle below two wedges, although the latter are sometimes not clearly discernible. The letter A is barred, C and E are open, N is normal and S is composite. The bars of the A's and N's, however, are sometimes weakly struck and indistinct. Contractive marks are usually crescents, but commas and half-circles are occasionally found. The attribution to 3b is questionable - see section entitled Observations.
Obverse legend: EDW R ANGL DNS HYB
Mints: London only
Type 3c-e (southern mints) - Spink 1432, 1439, 1440; North 1045/1
Halfpennies of Type 3c-e (southern mints), like those of Type 3b, have Crown A, but the two types are distinguished by the form of the king's drapery. On Type 3c-e (southern mints) the drapery consists of two wedges alone, either overlapping, similar to pennies of Type 3c, or separate, similar to pennies of Type 3d. Because of the difficulty of distinguishing between the two forms on many halfpennies, all are designated 3c-e. The letter A is barred, C and E are open, N is normal and S is composite. The bars of the A's and N's, however, are sometimes weakly struck and indistinct. Contractive marks are usually crescents. See section entitled Observations for comment on the 3c-e designation. Gallery images 1, 2 and 3 illustrate London, Bristol and Lincoln coins respectively.
Obverse legend: EDW R ANGL DNS HYB
Mints: London, Bristol, Lincoln
Type 3c-e (York), 3e (Newcastle) - Spink 1442, 1441; North 1045/1, 1045/2
Halfpennies of Type 3c-e (York) and 3e (Newcastle) have crown B, which is apparently from the same punch as Crown A, but with an undamaged or less damaged left ornament found only on coins of the two northern mints. The drapery also differs from the preceding types. It is a one-piece collar, rather like the arc of a circle found on Type 3b, but slightly hollowed at the centre and without wedges above. The letter A is barred, C and E are open, N is normal and S is composite. Contractive marks are either crescents or commas. Newcastle halfpennies have a unique reverse type with only one pellet, rather than three, in each angle of the cross. See section entitled Observations for comment on the 3c-e and 3e designations. Gallery images 1 and 2 illustrate York and Newcastle coins respectively.
Obverse legend: EDW R ANGL DNS HYB
Mints: Newcastle, York
Group 3 (1280 - 1281) and Group 4 (1285 - 1289)
Type 3g - Spink 1433, 1439; North 1045/3
Halfpennies of Type 3g have Crown C, and the drapery may be either as Type 3b or as Type 3c-e (southern). A new one-piece punch is used for the letter S, which is readily identifiable by its wide waist. The letter A may be barred or unbarred, C and E are open and N is normal. Contractive marks are usually crescents, but wedges also occur. Although dies of this type were certainly made and used during the late Group 3 period, it is likely that some of them were re-used during the issue of Group 4. It is also possible that new dies of the same type were made during the issue of Group 4, but if this is the case, it is not yet possible to distinguish between them. See section entitled Observations for comment on the 3g designation. Gallery images 1 and 2 illustrate London and Bristol coins respectively.
Obverse legend: EDW R ANGL DNS HYB
Mints: London, Bristol
Type 4c - Spink 1433A, 1439; North 1046/1
Halfpennies of Type 4c have Crown D, which is quite similar to Crowns A and B, but can be distinguished from them by having more markedly out-turned side-fleurs, a short, well defined arrowhead as the left ornament, and a right fleur, the centre leaf of which points directly upwards rather than turning inwards. The drapery consists of two wedges of unequal size. The letter S may either be of the composite type, or the wide-waisted one-piece type. The letter A may be barred or unbarred, C and E are open and N is normal. Contractive marks may be crescents, commas or wedges. The attribution to 4c, at least for some coins of this type (i.e. coins with Crown D), is untenable - see section entitled Observations. Gallery images 1 and 2 illustrate London and Bristol coins respectively.
Obverse legend: EDW R ANGL DNS HYB
Mints: London, Bristol
Group 4 (1285 - 1289)
Type 4d - Spink 1433B; North 1046/2
Halfpennies of Type 4d are technically mules with the obverse of either 3g or 4c, and the reverse of 4e. The reverse is readily recognisable, as it has a pellet before the L of LON. A 3g obverse may be distinguished from the obverse of a true 4e coin by the form of the drapery and the size of the lettering. The drapery on 3g coins consists of two wedges (sometimes above a segment of a circle), while that of 4e coins is a one-piece collar (usually with three pellets on it). The lettering of 4e is also smaller than that of 3g. See section entitled Observations for comment on the 4d designation.
Obverse legend: EDW R ANGL DNS HYB
Mints: London only
Type 4e - Spink 1434; North 1046/3
Halfpennies of Type 4e have Crown C, as Type 3g, but are readily identifiable by the king's drapery and smaller face. The drapery consists of a wide one-piece collar, usually with three pellets on it. The letter S is again composite, but all the lettering is noticeably smaller than on any of the earlier coins. The reverse legend is also distinctive, as there is a pellet before the L of LONDON, and the V of CIVI is taller than the other letters. The letter A is unbarred, C and E are open and N is normal. Contractive marks are commas or wedges.
Obverse legend: EDW R ANGL DNS HYB
Mints: London only
Group 6 (1292 - 1296)
Type 6 - Spink 1434A; North 1047
Halfpennies of Type 6, like those of Type 7, have Crown E, which is possibly from a recut punch of Crown C. The punch becomes progressively more damaged throughout the issue of these two types, and various stages of disintegration are indicated by the designations E1, E2 and E3. The progression establishes that Type 7 actually pre-dates Type 6, with the state of the crown ranging from E1 to E2 on the former, and E2 to E3 on the latter. Coins of Type 6 can be differentiated from those of Type 7 by the letter E, which is closed, the king's face, which is narrower, and the drapery, which is often weak - the king appearing to have bare shoulders. On some coins there is a curved line below the drapery (image 2), similar to that on some Group 3 coins. There are usually no contractive marks, but occasionally small wedges are used. The letter N is normal or unbarred, but the reverses of some coins have double-barred N's, and these are arguably 6/7 mules. However, the sharing of reverse dies between the two types would appear to be routine. See section entitled Observations for comment on the Type 6 designation.
Obverse legend: EDW R ANGL DNS HYB; EDWA R ANGL DNS HYB; EDW R ANGL DN HYB (error)
Mints: London only
Group 7 (1291 - 1294)
Type 7 - Spink 1435; North 1048
Halfpennies of Type 7, like those of Type 6, have Crown E, which is possibly from a recut punch of Crown C. The punch becomes progressively more damaged throughout the issue of these two types, and various stages of disintegration are indicated by the designations E1, E2 and E3. The progression establishes that Type 7 actually pre-dates Type 6, with the state of the crown ranging from E1 to E2 on the former, and E2 to E3 on the latter. Coins of Type 7 can be differentiated from those of Type 6 by the letter E, which is open, the king's face, which is broader, and the drapery, which is a curved one-piece collar of variable width. The letter N is usually double-barred on the obverse (image 1), but also occurs apparently unbarred (image 2). The reverses of some coins have a one-piece S and normal N's, and these are arguably 7/6 mules, but the sharing of reverse dies between the two types would appear to be routine. See section entitled Observations for comment on the Type 7 designation.
Obverse legend: EDW R ANGL DNS HYB
Mints: London only
Group 8 (1294 - 1299)
Type 8 - Spink 1436; North 1049
Halfpennies of Type 8 have Crown F, which is trifoliate with an axe-shaped central fleur. The same crown was also subsequently used for Type 10-11 (3) and Class 3 star-marked halfpennies of Edward III. Some have the large face of Type 7, and some the smaller face of Type 6. (Withers W7 and W8 respectively). The letter A is unbarred, N's may be either normal or double-barred (a reverse barred N in ANGL also occurs on at least one die, see example illustrated), C and E are closed and S is of the small one-piece type. Contractive marks may be small wedges or there may be none.
Obverse legend: EDW R ANGL DNS HYB; EDWA R ANGL DNS HYB
Mints: London only
Group 10 (1301 - 1305)
Type 10ab (1) - Spink 1437; North 1050
Halfpennies of Group 10 are readily identifiable by their obverse legend, which doesn't occur on any other halfpennies in the series. Coins of 10ab (1) are the first to use Crown G, but the same trifoliate crown is also used on halfpennies of Group 10-11 (1) and on the Class 1 star-marked halfpennies of Edward III.
Obverse legend: EDWAR R ANGL DNS HYB
Mints: London only
Type 10ab (2) - Spink 1437; North 1050
Halfpennies of Group 10 are readily identifiable by their obverse legend, which doesn't occur on any other halfpennies in the series. Coins of 10ab (2) are the first to use Crown H, but the same bifoliate crown is also used on halfpennies of Group 10-11 (2) and on the Class 2 star-marked halfpennies of Edward III.
Obverse legend: EDWAR R ANGL DNS HYB
Mints: London only
Group 10-11 (1305 - 1335)
Type 10-11 (1) - Spink 1472; North 1069/1
The obverse dies for halfpennies of this type were made using the same trifoliate crown punch (Crown G) as was previously used for Type 10ab (1) and subsequently used for the Class 1 star-marked halfpennies of Edward III, but the coins are readily distinguished by the different forms of their obverse legends. See section entitled Observations for comment on the 10-11 designation.
Obverse legend: EDWARDVS REX ANG; EDWARDVS REX ANGLI
Mints: London only
Type 10-11 (2) - Spink 1472; North 1069/2
The obverse dies for halfpennies of this type were made using the same bifoliate crown punch (Crown H) as was previously used for Type 10ab (2) and subsequently used for the Class 2 star-marked halfpennies of Edward III, but the coins are easily distinguished by the different forms of their obverse legends. See section entitled Observations for comment on the 10-11 designation.
Obverse legend: EDWARDVS REX A; EDWARDVS REX AN; EDWARDVS REX ANG
Mints: London only
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Type 10-11 (2*) - Spink 1472; North 1069/2
The obverse dies for halfpennies of this type were made using the same crown punch (Crown H) as was used for Type 10ab (2) and Type 10-11 (2), but the crown was altered on the die from a bifoliate to a trifoliate form by the manual addition of an extra leaf to the left and right-hand fleurs. I have designated the modified crown H*. Three coins of this type, all from the same obverse die, are known to me, two of which are illustrated here as gallery images 1 and 2. The type is not listed elsewhere. See section entitled Observations for comment on the 10-11 designation.
Obverse legend: EDWARDVS REX AN
Mints: London only
Type 10-11 (3) - Spink 1472; North 1069/3
The obverse dies for halfpennies of this type were made using the same trifoliate crown punch with axe-shaped central fleur (Crown F) as was previously used for Type 8 and subsequently used for the Class 3 star-marked halfpennies of Edward III, but the coins are easily distinguished by the different forms of their obverse legends. See section entitled Observations for comment on the 10-11 designation.
Obverse legend: EDWARDVS REX; EDWARDVS REX ANG; EDWARDVS REX ANGL; EDWARDVS REX ANGLI
Mints: London only
Star-Marked Issue (1335 - 1343)
Class 1 - Spink 1540; North 1100/1
The obverse dies for halfpennies of this type were made using the same trifoliate crown punch (Crown G) as was previously used for Type 10ab (1) and Type 10-11 (1), but coins of the present type are readily distinguished by the presence of a star at the end of the obverse legend, and before either CIVI or LON on the reverse. The stars have six sharp points, some of which are sometimes broken. The letter N may be normal or unbarred.
Obverse legend: EDWARDVS REX AN*; EDWARDVS REX ANG*
Mints: London only
Class 2 - Spink 1540; North 1100/2
The obverse dies for halfpennies of this type were made using the same bifoliate crown punch (Crown H) as was previously used for Type 10ab (2) and Type 10-11 (2), but coins of the present type are readily distinguished by the presence of a star at the end of the obverse legend, and before either CIVI or LON, or after DON on the reverse. The stars have six points and may be either angular and well defined or blob-like with irregular rays. The letter N may be normal, unbarred, or rarely of Lombardic form (see 2nd gallery image).
Note: Under the Withers classification, some coins of Reading (with no obverse star) are grouped with this type - see note below under Class 5.
Obverse legend: EDWARDVS REX AN*; EDWARDVS REX ANG*
Mints: London, see above
Class 3 - Spink 1540, 1541; North 1100/3, 1103/1
The obverse dies for halfpennies of this type were made using the same trifoliate crown punch with axe-shaped central fleur (Crown F) as was previously used for Type 8 and Type 10-11 (3), but coins of the present type are readily distinguished by the presence of a star at the end of the obverse legend, and before either CIVI or LON on the reverse (after VILLA in the case of Reading). The stars have six clearly defined points, some of which are sometimes broken. The middle leaf of the central fleur breaks off the crown punch during this issue, and is sometimes replaced by a manual addition to the die. The letter N may be normal, unbarred, or rarely - on the reverse only - of Lombardic form.
Obverse legend: EDWARDVS REX AN*; EDWARDVS REX ANG*
Mints: London, Reading
Class 4 - Spink 1540A, 1541; North 1102/1-5, 1103/2
The great majority of obverse dies for halfpennies of Class 4 were made using a new crown punch (Crown J), and the coins were struck in far greater quantity than any of their star-marked predecessors. They have a star of six or eight points at the end of the obverse legend, and before CIVI, or after DON, on the reverse (after NG in the case of Reading). The stars are often blob-like, with poorly defined rays. The letter G is usually large, and N is unbarred. All have the same obverse legend. Several rare varieties exist, including one that has no star on the reverse, and others that have crowns as Class 1 and Class 2. Another variety (Withers Type 4 - see gallery image 2) has a larger, smiling face with slightly different eyes.
Obverse legend: EDWARDVS REX ANG*
Mints: London, Reading
Class 5 - Spink 1540A, 1541; North 1102/6, 1103/3
The obverse dies for halfpennies of Class 5 have a bifoliate crown, which was possibly made by recutting an earlier punch. The obverse legend lacks the usual star, and the reverse has a star of six points before CIVI or LON, or after RADING, in the case of Reading (as image). The coins are extremely rare.
Note: Under the Withers classification, this type (designated Type 3c) is grouped with coins of Class 2, which are placed after those of Class 3 (designated Type 2).
Obverse legend: EDWARDVS REX ANG
Mints: London, Reading
