In medieval times, there was a huge shortage of coinage, especially silver coins for day-to-day transactions. The population responded to this by cutting silver coins in half (and even quartered them) so that more currency was available.
So a Silver Penny became two “cut” Half Pennies or four “cut” quarter Pennies. The coin we offer here is a nice example of a cut Silver Penny of King Henry III of England (1207 – 1272)
Please see following scan of both the obverse and reverse of our Silver Cut Half Penny on offer….
For those interested, here are more info on King Henry III, medieval King of England: -
Henry III, King John's son, was only nine when he became king. By 1227, when he assumed power from his regent, order had been restored, based on his acceptance of Magna Carta.
However, the king's failed campaigns in France (1230 and 1242), his choice of friends and advisers, together with the cost of his scheme to make one of his younger sons King of Sicily and help the Pope against the Holy Roman Emperor, led to further disputes with the barons and united opposition in Church and State.
King Henry III
Although Henry was extravagant and his tax demands were resented, the king's accounts show a list of many charitable donations and payments for building works (including the rebuilding of Westminster Abbey which began in 1245).
The Provisions of Oxford (1258) and the Provisions of Westminster (1259) were attempts by the nobles to define common law in the spirit of Magna Carta, control appointments and set up an aristocratic council.
Henry tried to defeat them by obtaining papal absolution from his oaths, and enlisting King Louis XI's help. Henry renounced the Provisions in 1262 and war broke out. The barons, under their leader, Simon de Montfort, were initially successful and even captured Henry.
Henry III lands in Aquitaine, from a later (15th century) illumination. (Bibliothèque Nationale, MS fr. 2829, folio 18)
However, Henry escaped, joined forces with the lords of the Marches (on the Welsh border), and finally defeated and killed de Montfort at the Battle of Evesham in 1265. Royal authority was restored by the Statute of Marlborough (1267), in which the king also promised to uphold Magna Carta and some of the Provisions of Westminster.
The tomb of King Henry III in Westminster Abbey, London
The old king, after a long reign of fifty-six years, died in 1272. Although a failure as a politician and soldier, his reign was significant for defining the English monarchical position until the end of the fifteenth century: Kingship limited by law.
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