The Numismatic Bibliomania Society

PREV ARTICLE       NEXT ARTICLE       FULL ISSUE       PREV FULL ISSUE      

V24 2021 INDEX       E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 24, Number 25, June 20, 2021, Article 27

GOLD COINS BELIEVED LOST IN THE BLACK DEATH

Gold coins believed lost in the Black Death era are discussed in this BBC article passed along by Arthur Shippee. Found via The Explorator newsletter. To subscribe to Explorator, send a blank email message to: explorator+subscribe@groups.io. Aidan Work passed thids along as well. -Editor

Edward III gold coin find A "very rare" Edward III gold coin lost in the wake of the Black Death has been found by a metal detectorist.

The 23-carat leopard was discovered with another gold coin, called a noble, near Reepham, Norfolk.

Finds liaison officer Helen Geake said the leopard was withdrawn within months of being minted in 1344 and "hardly any have survived".

After the Norman Conquest, the only coins in circulation were silver pennies.

"The royal treasury might talk in terms of pounds, shillings and pence, but the physical reality was sacks of silver pennies," said Dr Geake.

"Then Edward III decided to reintroduce the first gold coins in England since the Anglo-Saxon era - and no-one knows why."

The coins, called a florin, a leopard and a helm, were minted in early 1344, but withdrawn within months.

Dr Geake said: "For some reason they didn't catch on, but when one or two pennies were the equivalent of a day's wages at today's minimum wage rate, perhaps very few people used them."

The Reepham find shows the leopard, which was worth three shillings, was in circulation for much longer than previously thought.

Dr Geake said: "We asked ourselves why and realised the Black Death reached England in 1348.

"It was hugely cataclysmic, a third of the population was dying.

To read the complete article, see:
Gold coins lost in Black Death confusion found in Reepham (https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-norfolk-57520248)

Kenny E-Sylum ad02 Books Literature



Wayne Homren, Editor

Google
 
NBS (coinbooks.org) Web

The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org.

To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com

To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum

PREV ARTICLE       NEXT ARTICLE       FULL ISSUE       PREV FULL ISSUE      

V24 2021 INDEX       E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

Copyright © 1998 - 2021 The Numismatic Bibliomania Society (NBS)
All Rights Reserved.

NBS Home Page
Contact the NBS webmaster
coin