THE COIN COLLECTOR - World eBook Library

UNITED KINGDOM
Henry III., unless we regard as such the halfpenny
struck under Henry II. In the proclamation of 1222
against clipping, mention is made of farthings, but none
are at present traceable. This very protracted reign,
however, witnessed three remarkable novelties or expe-
riments : in the insertion in some pieces of the word
Terri, Terci, or III., to distinguish the money from
that of the preceding Henrys ; in the issue of a gold
piece weighing two sterlings and current for 20 silver
pence ; and in the effort to supplement the penny itself
by the coin already existing in France and Italy under
the name of the gros or grosso = 4 pence. The latter
does not seem to have been actually struck in 1249,
when, according to Grafton, it was sanctioned by Par-
liament ;
but the gold money was not only issued, but
remained in circulation many years, and in 49 Henry III.
was ordered to pass for 24 pence. This highly interest-
ing monument, of which two of the four known speci-
mens are in the British Museum, differed from the
occasional essays in the same metal in France of anterior
date in being a serious effort, which did not, however,
succeed, to institute a gold coinage in England nearly
a century before the actual date. With the reservation
of the gold penny of Henry III., of which Colonel
Murchison's (previously Mr. Martin's) fetched ^140,
the Anglo-Norman series is less rich in costly rarities
than the Anglo-Saxon, although there are many pieces,
such as the so-called Stephen and Matilda penny and
certain rare varieties of Stephen and Henry I., with a
few baronial coins, which command good prices. At
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