An Interesting Article on Pennies

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_English_penny_(1066%E2%80%931154)

Monarchs Not Included.

I do not include in this collection of coins from the crowned kings and queens of England, a coin struck in the reign of the Empress Matilda(mother of Henry II) or of Edward V(one of the so called Princes in the Tower)
When Henry I died, Matilda had control of much of the country off and on...had a good claim to the throne...and minted coins, but she was never crowned.  Matilda was also known as the Empress Maud, especially in Normandy.

 

Edward V, while proclaimed king, and minted coins, was never crowned, and was probably murdered in the Tower of  London.  Lets get something straight right now.  Most people think of a king as being king after they are crowned.  I cling to this idea when I realize that a coin from Edward V will cost the earth, if I can find one.  The fact is a little different though.  In England, The king is proclaimed.  He is then king..Who proclaims him is a mystery to me, but it is a fact that a king need not be crowned to be considered king in England.  Lady Jane Grey was not proclaimed queen, but she was crowned...so not the queen.  Louis was proclaimed king but never crowned, so he was  the king, were it not for the treaty he agreed to.

 

Louis of England, who invaded England during the truncated reign of John was never crowned and indeed, he acknowledged that he was never really king.  I have actually purchased one of his coins, but certainly not from his reign in England. Also, he was only the Dauphin of France at the time, so nothing was minted in France during this time period.  The coin I have is from his later reign in France...still fun to have.

Edward VIII though I have included him for interest's sake was never crowned, and did not issue coins that were put into circulation in England.  What a boob this guy was!  The Queen's idiot uncle!

 

If I have the ambition someday, I may look for coins from these people(I have a coin from Edward VIII, and will post it, but it is not from England). The only true coins from Edward were six(I think) gold coins minted on a trial basis that are now worth millions of pounds. Filling in these empty spots will depend on how much they may cost, as all will be quite rare.

Movies That Might Help to Illustrate Who These People Were

William the Conqueror:
The Warlord starring Charlton Heston  Good for costumes and for attitudes, nothing about William himself.

Stephen and Matilda:
The miniseries: Pillars of the Earth  A point of view by peasantry, but some glimpses of society and the lives of Stephen and Matilda and the havoc they wreaked.  The book is a better choice.

Henry II:
A Lion in Winter with Peter O'Toole and Catherine Hepburn... lots of departures from history, but a good taste of the time period and personalities.
Becket with Peter O'Toole and Richard Burton

Richard and John:
Ivanhoe one with Robert Taylor and one by A&E
Robin Hood with Errol Flynn
Kingdom of Heaven  with Orlando Bloom

Edward I:
Braveheart with Mel Gibson

Henry VIII:
The Six Wives of Henry the Eighth    with Charles Laughton
A Man For All Seasons   Paul Scofield and Richard Shaw
Anne of the Thousand Days    Genevieve Bujold and Richard Burton

Elizabeth 1:
Elizabeth Cate Blanchett
Elizabeth The Golden Age  Cate Blanchett
Shakespeare in Love  with Gwyneth Paltrow and Joseph Fiennes, though a comedy, it gives a feeling of the times.
Mary Queen of Scots  Vanessa Redgrave

Charles I :
Cromwell with Richard Harris and Alec Guiness

Charles II:
Restoration  with Robert Downey Junior   Though a comedy, it gives a feeling of the time.

George III:
The Madness of King George with Nigel Hawthorne and Helen Mirren

Victoria and William IV:
The Young Victoria  with Emily Blunt

George VI:
The King's Speech with Colin Firth

Elizabeth II:
The Queen  with Helen Mirren


Then there are the Shakespeare plays in cinema:
Henry V, Henry VI, Richard III

ALSO:
Go to YouTube and search for the names of the king or queen, or search for History of the Kings and Queens of England a great series and not too long and drawn out.

Missing posts.

For some reason, some posts are not showing up in order.  Simply go to the menu to the right, click on June and see the list of posts there.  You can click on them directly there.

A Good Early Coin

Ok, so first of all, this coin has qualities unique to the particular coin that makes it better, but the general attributes are some that you should look for in all investment coins.  This Edward IV Groat is fairly evenly placed on the blank.  Not off center.  There is a little wear that loses some detail, but it does not appear to be clipped.  There is some lettering that is very close to the edge, or it may be worn off.  It has a nice even patina all over.  The impression is nice and crisp, with only a few wear marks and dings that marr the pattern, but those could just as easily be in the original die.   Was that in the die(you would have to see a number of other identical coins to know) and the right eye of the obverse is a bit sleepy. The right side pattern is a bit blurred.  That could just be the die being held a bit off straight when the hammer struck.   But, with the even patina, this all occurred very early in  the life of the coin.

A wonderful coin and offered in  the $1100 dollar range including shipping.  I cannot afford such a coin, but then I am not really searching for investment grade coins.

Edward was the father of the pinces in the tower.

About My Scholarship.

I am giving you a brief commentary on each of the monarchs in the Royal line of England and Great Britain.
This is just as much for fun as the collecting of the coins I will show you.  The comments about the kings and queens are by no means scholarly.  They are just there to put the individuals into a place in history, to perhaps enlighten you as to why the coin may be cheap or dear. 
If you truly want to know about these remarkable and sometimes hateful people, you should look them up on Wikipedia for brief biographies.

Harry and I are working on a Shepherd's Hut for my niece, similar to a tiny house on wheels, but a little more open and English in flavor.

 

 

Also, on You Tube, there are a couple of fine series' from BBC about the kings and queens of England and Great Britain. 
There is also a great series of books by Thomas Costain that will enlighten you in a very entertaining way.  These were written some time ago and might reflect opinions that differ from today's, but their entertainment value is still great, as are all his books.

A New Obsession - A Collection of Coins From the Reigns of the Crowned Rulers of England and Great Britain

As I become more informed about my British/Canadian/Welsh/Norman/Danish family, I have increased my interest in English/British history. 
With the recent flurry of interest in Richard III, and rewriting his story, the monarchy running from William the Conqueror to the present has been much on my mind.  If you read a bit in my family history blog:  http://mitchell-day-jones.blogspot.com ,you will discover that my family in several branches arrived in England with William, and were well documented down through the centuries till they came to America in the 1620s, and landed in Canada after fleeing from the revolutionaries in the US. (burned out of two different houses, one in Bucks County, Pennsylvania and one in White Plains, New York before they decided that Nova Scotia and New Brunswick looked interesting.).

 

Anyway, I decided that it would be fun to collect coins from all the monarchs of England and Great Britain. 
I am by no means an expert, and may never actually complete the collection, because some of them are priced stratospherically, and some are virtually unattainable( think of the little princes(Edward V and his brother{Richmond} in the Tower of London, and how long he was king and in the position to make coins.)
I will try to communicate all that I learn about these coins, and to give you a few tips on collecting old coins as I learn them.
You have to understand too, that I am not doing this for the investment value.  I just love the idea of doing it.  I do not have the resources to buy the best coins available, and it is likely that many will be terrible coins, as best are available but out of most any one's price range really. 
Well, more on all that later, how to buy, what to buy and how to take care of them will follow eventually. 

I love this coin with the symbols of the four consolidated countries of Great Britain.  The rose for England, the thistle for Scotland, the shamrock for Ireland and the leek for Wales.  A sixpence is traditionally placed in the shoe of a bride on her wedding day.

 

 

Already, as of this writing, I have  almost all of the different monarchs collected, leaving only 1 more to buy...probably a pretty difficult one to find.  I have also purchased an Interregnum coin of Oliver Cromwell, who does not figure as a sovereign or as my total of coins collected. Some of the list were king two times, and though it would be nice to have one coin for each reign, I will be satisfied with one for each of the 38 kings or queens(crowned and ruling), no matter how many times they were on the throne.  I also do not count those who were never crowned.  That may save me from having to find that elusive Edward V, and Edward VIII may not be represented as he only had coins from outside the country by the time he abdicated. Although, some Commonwealth coins are shown.
Also, my English family history goes back only to William the Conqueror, so earlier Saxon kings and queens will not be included.  I probably could not afford them anyway...William is expensive enough, but earlier...God help me! Let me rephrase that.  I do have earlier history in my family in the Welsh line, and likely, if I eventually follow every line, I will go right back to the beginnings of royalty in England.