Long Cross Pennies

[Sunny]

Of all my coin finds I have always been particularly attracted to English Long Cross pennies, issued during the reign of Henry III. These were issued between 1247 and 1279 only; so a relatively short period of history.
Here are my personal finds:

[painshill]

Nice.
For the benefit of the non-Brits, the cross was extended to the edges of the coin during the reign of Henry III to discourage the practice of “clipping” (illegally cutting the edges off silver coins with a pair of snips and selling the clippings). Henry died in 1272 but these coins continued to be issued posthumously while his son Edward “Longshanks” made a leisurely two year journey back home from the 9th Crusade and for another five years thereafter before Edward had his own coinage as Edward I.
For years, the silver penny had been the only coin in common circulation and the cross design (whether long or short) served another purpose. It helped ensure that “cut” pennies were divided fairly. Pennies were commonly guillotined to provide small change, so a halfpenny was exactly that (a halved penny) and so too the quarter-penny known as the “fourthing” (later farthing).
Here’s one I found years ago (I have a fourthing somewhere too, but can’t immediately lay my hands on it):

[JoshinMO]

Nice finds Sunny and Roger!

[2ndoldman]

Thank you both for the pics and information about the long cross. I have several friends who make a yearly pilgrimage to England hoping to find just that type of find. I personally was beyond lucky when I found the 1551-1553 shilling here in Victoria.

[Sunny]

2ndoldman wrote: Thank you both for the pics and information about the long cross. I have several friends who make a yearly pilgrimage to England hoping to find just that type of find. I personally was beyond lucky when I found the 1551-1553 shilling here in Victoria.

  Any coin find is a bonus....and we all have our favourites.  But what you guys lack in really ancient coins you more than make up for in superb stone points