Stephen (1135-1154)

Silver Penny

York (Lincoln?) mint

Crowned bust right holding sceptre, +STIEFNE R. around, rev. Cross Voided and Quadrilateral type similar to William I bonnet type, WIZ.S.DE.GDEGANT, 1.39g, (M.R. Allen, NC 176 (2016), ‘The York Local Coinage of the Reign of Stephen’ (1135–54), p.284, Fig 1(b) this coin illustrated and p.303, Phase I, Dies Aa, No.1 this coin, Pl. XXXI, 1 this coin; S.-, N.-). Small and expertly performed edge repair at 7 o’clock, otherwise full, round and deeply toned with all the main attributes clear, very fine and excessively rare

Provenance:

Purchased by the current owner 14th October 2013
Discovered Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, ca. 2013, 14 miles from Lincoln
Recorded with the Early Medieval Corpus at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, Ref. 2015.0394
Published in the British Numismatic Journal Coin Register, 2016???, Pl.???, No.???

Notes:

- Gant’s uncle, Robert de Gant, was Dean of York Minster and Lord Chancellor under Stephen
- The second recorded specimen of this type was discovered in August 2016 at Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, just 17 miles from the discovery site of this piece at Gainsborough. If a line is drawn from Lincoln to the two discovery sites and then joined together a perfect triangle is formed. With a total of two discoveries of this type found 17 miles apart and just 14 miles and 13 miles respectively from the city of Lincoln, could it be that they were actually minted there? It would seem significant that the two discovery sites are in the very nucleus of what would have been from c.1149, the heartlands of Gant’s Lincolnshire Earldom.

Two current theories have been put forward for the placement in the series and reverse legend on this coin. The first being that the reverse names the 1st Earl of Lincoln (1149-1153), Gilbert de Gant, a baron loyal to Stephen; this would date the coin to c.1150. Perhaps Gilbert de Gant wanted to maintain the Royal prerogative (due to his close allegiance to Stephen) by having the regnal title on the obverse and relegating his name to the reverse. The second interpretation is that it was struck under a Flemish moneyer (Wizso or Wizs of Ghent) – see M.R. Allen; 'The York Local Coinage of the Reign of Stephen (1135–54)', The Numismatic Chronicle (1966-)Vol. 176 (2016), pp. 283-318 for more on this theory. Allen places the coin at the head of the series

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