The Introduction & Development of the Groat in Medieval England, Richard II, Henry IV & Henry V. Part II

by Ivan Buck

This article first appeared in Coins & Antiquities Dec.1998 Vol.2 & is reproduced with the kind permission of Ivan Buck and Greenlight Publishing Ltd. Ivan and I (Mike Vosper) are numismatic colleagues and as some of you may be aware we attend numismatic shows, fairs and societies together. As you will see from the article below, Ivan and I would be interested in receiving any correspondence from you regarding Groats or any other numismatic related subjects.

In the first part of this article (Coins & Antiquities November 1998 issue) I covered the introduction of the groat at 89 grains. during the reign of Edward I, and the subsequent reduction in weight to 72 grains, when the coin was reintroduced during the reign of Edward III. In the period covered by this present article the weight of the groat was reduced even further to 60 grains.

I also looked at early records in Ruding's Annals of the Coinage of Great Britain to provide some background history about the proposals put forward concerning the minting of the groat, and also a few details about the administration side of the mint.

It would now be prudent to re-examine the written word in relation to the next three monarchs, namely: Richard II, Henry IV, and Henry V. Whilst doing so we must still bear in mind the fact that recent research may not coincide with the views expressed by the Reverend Rogers Ruding in the early 1800s. Nevertheless, as previously pointed out in the first article, we ignore the evidence of the written word at our peril.

Richard II 1377-1399

Richard was the son of Edward, the Black Prince, and grandson of Edward III whom he succeeded to the throne at the age of eleven. At this period, 1378-1379, much of England's gold and silver coinage was being taken abroad and that which remained in this country was much subject to clipping (to such an extent that this represented a loss of up to 20% to the exchequer). There was also a shortage of small change in the country and this resulted in the common people having no suitable money to pay for the essentials in life such as small quantities of food and drink.

Despite these obvious problems, Ruding records that in 1396 an unusual grant was issued to Margaret, Countess of Norfolk, and D.B. Goldsmith of London, and I consider it to be worth mentioning in passing. They were licensed to melt down groats, half groats and sterlings (pence) to the value of £100 to make a silver vessel for the use of Margaret.

The Rolls of Parliament show that a remedy for the shortage of small change was promised as soon as the king could provide bullion for that purpose.

As a matter of interest there is record, again in Ruding, that at this time it was thought that the people of Ireland did not have a lot of money in circulation and most trading was done by barter, mainly using cattle. One well-recorded incident to support this theory was when Mac Murrough, an Irish Chief, met the Earl of Gloucester, Richard's commander-in-chief, in 1399. Mac Murrough was reputed to be riding a horse, which it was said cost him four hundred cows.

During this reign there were four issues of groat, once again at a weight of 72 grains.

The first issue is easily identified being of similar style to the Post Treaty issue of Edward III; it had an obverse legend similar to that of Edward but with the name changed to Richard. The French title was preceded by "F" and therefore reads as follows: RICARD DEI GRA REX ANGL F [retrograde] FRANC DNS HIB F [retrograde] AQT - or variations thereof. The reverse legend was the usual POSUI DEUM ADIUTOREM MEUM, or abbreviations, together with the mint signature on the inner circle CIVITAS LONDON.

Richard II London Groat.

The second issue has new lettering in that different letter punches were used to make the dies, and instead of the retrograde F in the obverse legend it has been replaced by a retrograde Z.

The third issue has a bust with very bushy hair and the new letter punches have "fishtail' serifs.

The fourth issue is by far the rarest having a new style bust and crown and there is a most distinctive crescent on the monarch's breast.

All are from the Tower Mint in London and all four issues have for their mint mark the cross pattee.

Meanwhile, what was going on at the Tower mint during this reign? Again, reference to Ruding provides us with some answers. During years one to fourteen Gautron de Bardes was Master of the Mint and other years found Nicholas Malakin (a Florentine), Geoffrey Mullekyn (same family?) and John Wildeman in charge.

There is no record of the Comptroller under Richard II but it may have been Gauter de Bard (Gautron de Bardes?). The duty of Assay Master was most important at this time. Quite apart from the pot assay he was also charged with keeping records of the bullion brought into the mint. The coinage could not be issued for circulation until sanctioned by the Assay Master following the trials of the Pyx.

John Leicester (Leycestre) held the position for the first fourteen years followed by John Wildeman, Richard Clytherowe, Walter Merwe and John Feld, most of whom held responsibility for striking coins from Calais as well as the Tower in London.

The office of Cuneator was unique in that it was hereditary and was probably the only office in the history of the mint that was so. It would seem that this official had the responsibility for appointing the engravers of the dies. However, halfway through Richard's reign the king himself made those appointments.

The next office is that of Engraver. It was decreed that they were not to make dies anywhere other than the Tower; early evidence shows that Calais and York dies were made at the Tower and not locally. The engraver was also required to return to the Clerk of the Irons any faulty or damaged dies, which were to be defaced in the presence of the Warden, Master, and the Comptroller. Reference to the St. Edmundsbury register would indicate that this was the specific duty of the Cuneator and no mention is made to the officers designated above.

The only Engraver identified and mentioned by Ruding was in the twelfth year of Richard's reign when the King appointed one Jo. Edmund.

At this time when the engraver finished his dies they were to be delivered to the "Custos Cunei" or Keeper of the Dies, later to be called the Keeper of the Irons. Again during Richard's reign records show that from year five to year twenty Stephen Rummylowe was "Custos Guneorum aur and aug" (i.e. gold and silver) and was responsible for both London and Canterbury.

This is by no means a comprehensive survey of the persons involved in running the mint, indeed there were many lesser officers. However, I trust sufficient information has been provided to give an idea of the organisation of the mint.

Henry IV 1399-1413

To move back to the coinage, I will now look at the groats of Henry IV, 1399 to 1413. Initially the silver coinage was produced at the same weight as during the previous reign, that is at 72 grains. However there are no heavy groats known and all the fractions are very hard to come by. The light coinage was introduced at 60 grains in 1412 and three basic types of groat exist.

Top: Henry IV Groat of London.
Lower: London type three. Nine arches to tressure.

Type I is an altered die of Richard II and has a pellet to the left and an annulet to the right of the crown. All groats of. Henry IV are rare, to say the least, but this first issue is the rarest of them all.
Type II was struck by newly prepared dies. There is an annulet to the left and a pellet to the right of the crown. Another significant variation is that there are eight or ten arcs to the tressure whereas up to this time the norm had been nine arcs (with the obvious exception of the four arcs only on the pieces struck under Edward I).

Top: London type two. Ten arches to tressure.
Lower: London type three. Obverse muled with Henry V reverse.

Type III groats are very similar to those of Type II except that they revert back the normal nine arcs to the tressure. During Henry's reign all coins carry the cross pattee mint mark.

Henry died on the 20 March 1413.

Henry V

After the death of Henry IV, his only surviving son by Mary de Bohun ascended the throne at the age of about 26 years and became Henry V; he was to go down in history as a wise king. At the time there was a considerable struggle going on in France between the Dukes of Burgundy and Orleans, and Henry saw his chance to revive the English claim to the French crown. Several very successful forays into France culminated in the Treaty of Troyes. Henry agreed to marry Princess Catherine and Charles VI was left in possession of his crown on the understanding that it should pass to Henry and his heirs upon Charles' death.

The groats of Henry V were still issued at 60 grains. Although I propose to follow the standard references to the coinage of this period, I am a little sceptical about the attributions of the early pieces and suspect that they will, one day, be re-allocated to the previous reign; however, much work needs to be undertaken yet.

Left: Class A 'Emaciated' bust (no neck) with broad short lettering.
Right: Class B "scowling' bust.

Class A. Known as the "emaciated bust' type, it has no neck and is very scarce. The die sinker used short, broad letter punches. When you have seen one or two specimens they are most distinctive. A few pieces exist which have been muled with either the obverse die or the reverse die of a coin from the previous reign, whilst others are muled with a later reverse of Henry V. The mint mark in use is the broad cross pattee with a central pellet.

Class B. Still a scarce coin but normal letter punches were used to produce the so-called "scowling bust' coinage which has depressed corners to the monarch's mouth. Specimens also exist with a mullet, or five pointed star, in the centre of the king's breast, and also another with the, mullet to the right of the breast. The scowling bust also occurs muled with pieces of Henry IV (and also later groats of the reign under consideration). The mint mark in use is the pierced cross with pellet in centre.

Left: Class C without mullet on breast.
Right: Class C with mullet on breast.

Class C. The commonest of the groats have what is known as a normal bust. Perhaps one of the easiest ways to identify this type is to bear in mind that the busts on the previous issues are either described as emaciated or as scowling. In this type the king looks relatively happy, although it is sometimes known as the "frowning bust". Most of this issue have a mullet on the right shoulder, although not all of them. They are also found, but rarely, muled with the reverse of a Henry IV coin. Those coins with a quatrefoil after HENRIC in the obverse legend usually carry the mint mark cross with pellet centre. Those without the quatrefoil usually have the mint mark cross with sunken centre.

Class G, normal bust with no marks

Class G. The last class is G, there being no classes D, E or F. This again is described as having a normal bust but it has no obvious distinguishing marks built into the design. However, the legend on the obverse ends in FRANC. Reference to The British Numismatic Journal, Volume 30, of 1960-1961, is helpful in that we are told that on class G the letter N has no serif at the top of the left hand upright.

Henry died of fever at Vincennes, in France in 1422 at the age of 35 and after a reign of ten years. His ten month old son Henry VI succeeded him as king both of England and France. And so began one of the most interesting, albeit complicated series of coinages, and these we shall go into in some depth in future articles.

This article first appeared in Coins & Antiquities Dec.1998 Vol.2 & is reproduced with the kind permission of Ivan Buck and Greenlight Publishing Ltd. Ivan and I (Mike Vosper) are numismatic colleagues and as some of you may be aware we attend numismatic shows, fairs and societies together. As you will have see from the above article, Ivan and I would be interested in receiving any correspondence from you regarding Groats or any other numismatic related subjects.