British Kings "Bullet Book, Stephen, 1135 – 1154
• Upon Henry I’s death, his daughter, Matilda, was his only surviving legitimate child. Henry asked the nobles to accept her as their queen, and they agreed, but once Henry was dead, they went back on their word. The nobles rejected Matilda, and Stephen was chosen instead. Stephen was the son of one of William the Conqueror’s daughters.
• A woman could not rule on her own in Stephen’s time. When she married a king she became queen. As queen she could represent the king at events in his absence and run the government for a short time when he was away out of the country, but she could not be the sole head of state.
• Matilda fought to gain her birthright, which resulted in the first English civil war. She briefly gained the upper hand twice but was never crowned as queen. At one point she famously escaped confinement from a castle during a snowstorm by wearing a white robe to blend in with the surroundings.
• Stephen’s coins are scarce and almost always of very low quality. Although the coin above does not look like much, it is actually an exceptionally nice example.
Comments
One has to wonder why the king would tolerate such a low quality "look" to his coins. The coins were a way for the public to get to know their king.
Things will improve shortly.
There are also coins issued for Matilda. From what I have learned they are very rare. One dealer told me he had one about 25 yeras ago. It was broken in two and held together with glue. He regretted that he sold it.
As I posted in the U.S. forum, these coins often look like something that cat dragged in. I quipped that given the prices for these unattractive coins, I'd buy the cheap dead mouse. Even though a Matilda coin might be interesting, I think I would pass on the one held together with glue.