Doing research of Old English short cross penny

thatboyaintright

I have a brief history of the coin, but I need more details. Silver content, weight, key peices, and any historical anectodes of interesting facts about the series. Feel free to note any good references for me.

Thanks

Sapyx

The silver content was sterling, or .925 fine - the standard fineness of British silver coins for most of the period from the time of the Norman Invasion to the 20th century.

In pre-Norman times, the weight of a silver penny was 24 grains, or 1/240th of a troy pound, or a "pennyweight". It is from the weight of a silver penny that the term "pennyweight" derived. By the time of the Short Cross penny, the official standard had declined to 22 grains; an unclipped specimen should weigh about 1.42 grams.

Trivia: Short Cross coinage was issued from 1180 (towards the end of the reign of Henry II) through to 1247 (halfway through the reign of Henry III). The reigns of kings Richard II and John were also included in this period, though those kings continued to put the name "Henricus" on their coinage. So the only coins that actually have Richard II's name "Ricardus" on them are Anglo-Gallic deniers (struck in the parts of France controlled by the English monarch) and the only coins that actually have John's name "Iohannes" on them are Irish pennies.

thatboyaintright

Thanks for the insight Sapyx , any good books or articles on the subject i could find and pass off as my own insightful work ?

laurentyvan

Not mine, but here's a decent image: