A coin from "bad old" prince and later king, John

[BillJones]

 

Here is my latest addition to my all British kings collection, an Irish half penny of John, Lord of Ireland. As king John was fellow who lost almost all of the French territory that his forbearers, including his brother, Richard the Lion Heart, had held or conquered. In an effort to win it back, John levied very high taxes on the British nobleman. His conduct became so excessive that they forced him to sign the Magna Carta.

 

This "moon face" coin was made when John was the Lord of Ireland. He also had farthings struck in his name, but there were no Irish John pennies until he became king. Oddly there were no English pieces that were struck with his name on them. The British pennies of John's time all bore the name of his father, Henry II. It is for that reason that I purchased this Irish coin for my collection.

 

The English grading system drives me nuts. According to the dealer from whom I purchased this coin, and it wasn't cheap, this piece still grades some sort of VF under their system. Almost of half of the mint luster remains on this piece on the obverse, and it's almost all there on the reverse. Using U.S. standards this coin would grade AU-55, quite easily.

 

This piece is very tiny; it is smaller than a gold dollar.

[brg5658]

...

The English grading system drives me nuts. According to the dealer from whom I purchased this coin, and it wasn't cheap, this piece still grades some sort of VF under their system. Almost of half of the mint luster remains on this piece on the obverse, and it's almost all there on the reverse. Using U.S. standards this coin would grade AU-55, quite easily.

 

...

 

Don't let the grading system of the Brits bother you too much, it's just different, period. You simply can't equate the two systems, even if they use the same abbreviations for grades at some levels (e.g., VF, EF, etc).

 

Are you excluding queens for some reason? Just wondering, as you called it your "All British Kings" collection...

 

Gorgeous original surfaced coin Bill! You don't disappoint!

 

-Brandon

[BillJones]

No, I have all of the queens too. My favorite queen is Elizabeth I.

 

 

My least favorite British Monarch is her half sister, Mary, who had over 280 people burned at the stake because of their religious beliefs.

 

[physics-fan3.14]

That piece is cool! I love the patina and toning. Very attractive.