two `new` yorkshire hoards of short cross pennies

TWO 'NEW' Y O R K S H I R E H O A R D S OF
SHORT CROSS PENNIES
J. D . B R A N D
and
R . H . M.
DOLLEY
IN the Yorkshire Museum, which was formerly the museum of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society, there is preserved a manuscript book prepared by the Rev. C. Wellbeloved entitled 'A Catalogue of British, Saxon and English Gold and Silver coins in the
Museum of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society' which gives details of two nineteenthcentury Short Cross hoards.
The earlier of these was found in York Minster during the excavations following the
great fire of 1829 and consisted of seventy-four English Short Cross pennies together
with two pennies of William the Lion of Scotland. The whole find was presented to the
society in 1832 by the Rev. W. V. Harcourt and the acquisition was briefly mentioned
in the Proceedings of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society in that year and again in 1913.
Dr. D. M. Metcalf noted these references in his article on northern finds of medieval
coins (BNJ xxx. i (1960), p. 101), but unfortunately gave the contents as being seventysix Long Cross pennies. One should always bear in mind when using old reports of coin
finds that references to coins of Henry II and of Henry III can as well refer to Short
Cross pennies. Even among numismatic specialists it was not until 1863 that the Rev.
W. H. D. Longstaffe propounded the revolutionary theory that the Short Cross pennies
were a continuous issue started under Henry II and continued without break through
the reigns of Richard I and John into the reign of Henry III. Until then some authorities,
including Hawkins in his Silver Coins of England, had attributed all such coins to
Henry II while others, including Ruding in his Annals of the Coinage, had given them all
to Henry III.
For many years after 1863 also, non-specialist numismatists writing on these coins
would refer for their information to the published standard books instead of wading
through the many volumes of the Numismatic Chronicle. The hoard is cited as no. 390
in Mr. J. D. A. Thompson's Inventory, but unfortunately the coins he listed under this
reference are eleven Norman pennies which in fact were found some years later in
Monkgate (see R. H. M. Dolley, 'Coin Hoards from the London Area', Trans. Lond.
and Middlesex Arch. Soc. xx. ii (1960), p. 12).
Wellbeloved played safe in his catalogue of the hoard and described them as' Coins of
Henry lid or Henry Hid, and two coins of William the Lion of Scotland, found in the
North Aisle of the Choir of York Minster, after the fire of 1829'. He noted that Hawkins
gave them as Henry II second coinage and that Ruding, North, and others gave them as
Henry III first coinage. The actual coins cannot now be positively identified in the
museum trays as not only have they been combined with the general collection but a
few have been dispersed. Against the list of readings noted by Wellbeloved are therefore
given the Lawrence classes of coins now in the museum with the same legends. The
latest coins observed that could have been in the hoard were of class VII6. The earliest
coin was probably a YbjVa mule.
T W O ' N E W ' Y O R K S H I R E H O A R D S O F S H O R T CROSS P E N N I E S
T H E Y O R K M I N S T E R (1829)
HOARD
Classes of the coins
now in the Museum
Readings by Wellbeloved
LONDON
TERRI.ON.LVNDE
(7)
(1)
(2)
(6)
(2)
(3)
(1)
(3)
(1)
(4)
(1)
WALTER.ON.LV
(4)
ABEL.ON.LVNDE
ELIS.ON.LVNDE
ELIS.ON.LVNDEN
ILGER.ON.LVND
ILGER.ON.LVNDE
RAVF.ON.LVND
RAVF.ON.LVNDE
RAVLF.ON.LVND
RICARD. ON. LVN
TERRI.ON.LVND
WAL[TERON]LVN
(1)
WILLELM.ON.LV
(1)
Vc, Via, and Vila (1)
VII
VII
Via (1), and VII
Vc, Via, and VII
Vc
Vc
VII
Vb/Va mule
VII
VII
Vc, Via
Via
None (? W I L L E L M . T . V C )
(37)
CANTERBURY
ARNAUD.ON.CANT
(1)
COLD WINE.ON. C
(1)
C O L D W I N E . O N . CA
HENRI. ON. CANTE
HVGO.ON.CANTE
IOAN.ON.CA
IOAN.ON.CANT
IOAN. ON. CANTE
IOAN. ON. CANTER
IVN. ON. CANTE
IVN. ON. CANTER
IVN.ON.CANTERD
OSMUNDE.ON.CA
ROBERD.ON.CAN
ROGER. ON. CANTE
ROGER. ON. RONC
ROGER.ON
SALEMVN.ON.CA
SAMVEL.ON.CAN
SIMON.ON. CANT
SIMVN. O N . C A N T E
TOMAS.ON.CANT
WALTER.ON.CANT
Vb, but only CAN
Vb (another coin, of class
IV, probably came from
the Cook collection)
Vb
VII
None (? HVE, Vb)
? part reading
VII
VII
VII
VII
VII
VII
VII
Vb or Vc
Vic ornamented letters
(1)
(2)
(2)
(1)
(2)
(2)
(1)
(1)
(2)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(2)
(1)
VII
(ROGER.OF.R.ON.C)
VII
VII
Vb
VII
VII
Vic ornamented letters
(29)
B U R Y ST. E D M U N D S
VII
NORMAN.ON.SA. . . (1)
(1)
95
96
TWO ' N E W ' Y O R K S H I R E H O A R D S OF S H O R T CROSS P E N N I E S
IPSWICH
IOHAN.ON.GIPE
(1)
—
Vb
(1)
NORWICH
IOHAN.ON.NORV
(2)
Vc
(2)
ROCHESTER
ALISAN.ON.ROV
(1)
—
Vb
(1)
WINCHESTER
ADAM.ON.WIN
(1)
—
Vb
(1)
UNIDENTIFIED
HICONE.ON.
(1)
? NICOLE YORK
'Blundered'
(1)
—
(74)
SCOTTISH
Both had ' Rude head in profile to the right, sceptre before' on the obverse, and ' Short double cross,
with a mullet of six points in each angle' on the reverse.
1.
obv.
+LE.REI.WILA
2. Obv. Probably as above, much defaced.
Rev.
+HVEWALTERO
Rev.
+HVEWALTERY
Both coins would be of Mr. B. H. I. H. Stewart's Third Coinage.
The second of the Short Cross hoards is described in the manuscript catalogue as
'Part of a hoard found near Barnsley, in the year 1856. The Curator is not certain as to
the date—as he could obtain no information from the finder—who was afraid of the
Lord of the Manor—respecting either time or place.' Twelve coins only were acquired,
all of provincial mints, and were no doubt specially selected by Wellbeloved as not being
already represented in the museum collections. It is possible that this was an early
parcel from the 'Yorkshire 1861 Hoard' (Inventory 393) though the lapse of five years
before a large quantity of these coins came on the market in 1861 renders it somewhat
unlikely. The date of acquisition in 1856 is indeed confirmed by an independent reference
in the Proceedings of the Society. All twelve were probably of class Vb with the exception
of the coin of Durham which was probably of Vc. The list of the coins as made by
Wellbeloved is as follows:
N E A R B A R N S L E Y (1856)
Bury St. Edmunds
Chichester
Durham
Exeter
Ipswich
Lincoln
FVLKE.ON.S.AD
PICRES. ON. CIC
PICRES.ON.DVR
RICARD.ON.EC
ALISANDRE. ON. G I 1
HVE. ON.NICOLE
1
Lynn
Oxford
Rochester
York
York
York
HOARD
NICOLE.ON.LEN
H E N R I . O N . O C ( ? S)E
HVNFREI.ON.RO
D AVI. O N . EVER
N I C O L E . O N . EVE
NICOLE.ON.EVER
There is now no coin of this moneyer in the Museum collection.
97 T W O ' N E W ' Y O R K S H I R E H O A R D S O F S H O R T CROSS P E N N I E S
The dating of the deposit of the York Minster hoard can be fixed within reasonably
narrow limits. It contains coins of the London moneyer Terri who first appears in the
records as a moneyer in 1221-2. On the other hand, it does not contain any coins of
the London moneyers Adam, Ledulf, and Ricard who were all appointed in 1229-30.
The hoard may therefore be dated with some confidence to the decade 1220-30, and
may perhaps be associated in some way with the very similar hoards from Hickleton,
Yorkshire (Inventory 189), and from Clifton, Lancashire (Inventory—, but see NC 1947,
pp. 80-82).
The 'Near Barnsley 1856 Hoard' presents greater problems as the coins listed were
only a selection from a larger find. The fact that they are all of class V helps to prove
only that it was deposited after c. 1208-10. Coins ceased to be struck at the provincial
mints after about this time with the exception of very small, and very rare, issues from
Durham, Winchester, and York in or about 1218, and the small though fairly regular
issues from the abbatial mint of Bury St. Edmunds. We are therefore left with the
possibilities that this could have been deposited quite late in the Short Cross period or
could, perhaps more probably, have been as early as the period c. 1208-15.
The latter theory would date it with the 'Yorkshire 1861' hoard (.Inventory 393), of
which it may be an early parcel, which was discussed by Mr. R. H. M. Dolley in BNJ
xxix. ii (1959), pp. 313-15. A reconsideration of the 1861 hoard, however, shows that it
most probably ended with class VIa, and Mr. Dolley would accept Mr. Brand's revision.
The London moneyers Abel, Ilger, Ravf, and Walter, who were extraordinarily prolific
in classes late Vc and Via, at a time when this was apparently the only mint striking
coinage, together total 291 coins out of the total recorded of 476, or 61 per cent. As the
latest theories on the chronology of the Short Cross series, the reasons for which will be
discussed elsewhere, date the commencement of class VI to c. 1208-10, and the commencement of class VII to 1218 this does not invalidate, but indeed strengthens, Mr.
Dolley's suggested dating of the find. Before leaving the subject of the 'Yorkshire
1861' hoard, to which Dr. D. M. Metcalf has now attributed a find-spot at Cawthorne
some four miles from Barnsley (BNJ xxx. i (1961), p. 123), a slight amendment to the
Inventory account should perhaps be noted. Sir John Evans in his paper entitled 'The
Short Cross Question', NC 1865, p. 293 n., remarked of this hoard that 'The coin of
Alisandr., placed under Canterbury, is of Ipswich'. On the same page he also says, 'All
the coins were of my third class' (i.e. of Lawrence classes V and VI), a claim which must
surely mean that it contained no coins of Lawrence class VII.
A summary of the first of the above two hoards in Inventory format could be as
follows:
390. YORK, n o . 7, M i n s t e r , 1829.
76
English and Scottish.
Deposit 1220-30.
(74 pennies): John-Henry III: Short Cross pennies—Bury St. Edmunds: Norman, 1
(Lawrence class VII); Canterbury: Arnavd, 1 (VZ>); Goldwine, 2 (V6?); Henri, 2 (VII); ' H v g o ' (Hve?),
2 (V6?): loan, 6 (VII); Ivn, 4 (VII); Osmvnde, 1 (VI I); Roberd, 1 (V6 or Vc); Roger, 2 (VIc. Ornamented,
VII); Roger of R, 1 (VII); Salemvn, 1 (VII); Samvel, 1 (VII); Simon, 1 (V/j); Simvn, 1 (VII); Tomas,
2 (VII); Walter, 1 (VIc. Ornamented); Ipswich: Iohan, 1 (Wb)\ London: Abel, 7 (Vc, Via, Vila); Elis,
3 (VII); Ilger, 8 (Vc, Via, VII); Ravf, 4 (Vc); Ravlf, 3 (VII); Ricard, 1 (Vb/Va mule); Terri, 5 (VII);
Walter, 5 (Vc, Via); Willelm (Willelm T?), 1 (Vc?); Norwich: lohan, 2 (Vc); Rochester: Alisan, 1 (V6);
Winchester: Adam, 1 (V6); York: Nicole, 1 (V6?); Blundered: 1.
ENGLAND
SCOTLAND
c 2220
(2 pennies): William the Lion—without name of mint, Stewart type 3. Hve Walter, 2.
II
98
TWO ' N E W ' Y O R K S H I R E H O A R D S OF SHORT CROSS PENNIES
J. D. Brand and R. H. M. Dolley in UA'/xxxii (1963), pp. 94-98 correcting earlier accounts therein
cited.
Disposition: The Yorkshire Museum, York. Presented by the Rev. W. V. Harcourt, in 1832, and
catalogued by the Rev. C. Wellbeloved. Found in York Minster after the fire of 1829. The classes
given have been arrived at on the basis of coins in the museum collection in 1963 since the hoard has
been broken up and dispersed through the collection so that individual coins cannot always be
distinguished.
In the same way the second find can be reduced to Inventory format as follows:
(near), Yorkshire, c. 1 8 5 6 .
An uncertain number of
English pennies (12 listed).
Deposit c. 1208-15.
J o h n : Short Cross pennies, all Lawrence class V ?
Bury St. Edmunds: Fvlke, 1. Chichester: Pieres, 1. Durham: Pieres, 1. Exeter: Ricard, 1. Ipswich:
Alisandre, 1. Lincoln: Hve, 1. Lynn: Nichole, 1. Oxford: Henri, 1. Rochester: Hvnfrei, 1. York:
Davi, 1, Nicole, 2.
J. D. Brand and R. H. M. Dolley in BNJ xxxii (1963), pp. 94-98.
Disposition: twelve coins were presented by the Rev. C. Wellbeloved in 1856 to the Yorkshire
Museum. They may represent a selection f r o m an early parcel from no. 393 but this is unlikely.
BARNSLEY
It only remains for the authors to thank Mr. G. F. Willmot, B.A., F.S.A., the Keeper
of the Yorkshire Museum, for all his help and especially for the facilities he gave for
inspection of the museum's collections and records.