I rarely purchase Medieval coins, but my local shop owner was selling off some hammered English coinage from his own collection, so I bought this one. He has it listed as a King John Penny, London, 1199-1216. I guess I would ask: Does the attribution look correct? I'd wanted to find a King John penny some day. If so, is there enough detail to make a guess at the subtype? Thanks for any help, advice of general comments!
Wow. With the lack of detail on the crown, which is one primary way to identify 'classes' (Britspeak for variants and subvariants), and the state of the mint signature (upper left on the reverse), I'm clearly out of my league. From here, the moneyer (from the upper right on the reverse) is looking like a variant of 'WILLELM.' We're out of luck there, too, because moneyers with that name are thick as flies, from one mint (and class) to the next. More impressionistically, the portrait style does look earlier than Henry III (son of John, who continued the type).
This is true and it is strange how some of these coins retain what you need to ID with very little detail and others are simply not cooperative. Below is a penny of another Willelm who was most cooperative providing his last initial .L. as well as the LV of London. It is nice to have full legends but the cut half below is also from the same Willelm L ON LV despite the fact that his firs name is represented by half of the M. Some we win; some we lose.
John I (1199 - 1216 A.D.) AR Penny Short Cross type, class Vb1 O: HENRICVS R-EX, crowned facing bust of John, right hand holding scepter. R: + ILGER ON LVND, voided short cross, quatrefoils of connected pellets in all quarters. Ilger moneyer London Mint 1.33g 18mm Cf. SCBI 56 (Maas) 1408; North 970; SCBC 1351.
The form of the letter E at 8 o'clock obverse on the op seems to be appropriate for classes assigned to John. Sharper photos would be a plus.
It's looking more all the time as if @dltsrq nailed it. That letter form (also at 12 o'clock on the obverse), and, less cogently, the rounded 'X' in 'REX' (9 o'clock on the obverse), are saying this is class VI. While there are several subclasses, Stewartby dates the whole range to King John, 1210-1216, continued into 1217. (Pp. 43-4. Much of this is anticipated by North, v. 1, pp. 219, 222.)
Thanks to all for the help! I had trouble getting clear photos of this one. I'll mark it as (tentatively) King John, Class VI silver short cross penny, London, 1210-1216
