Coins and Historical Medals

Edward III (1327-1377), Pre-Treaty Period, Groat, Series E related, mm. cross potent, top cusps fleured, obverse reads, edward d g rex angl z franc dhy, letter puncheons and bust of irregular style, rev. c for e in mev, annulet stops both sides, 4.65g/8h (LAL p.84 (a); Doubleday 439, same obv. die; Potter p.148; Stewartby p.259; N 1163; cf. S 1567). Good very fine and extremely rare; of neat, unusual and quite pleasant style £300-£400

Within the regular Pre-treaty Groat coinage there are to be found two obverse dies of quite distinct and unusual style, characterised by their use of anomalous puncheons for the mint mark, lettering and the the bust. The obverse dies are found paired with two distinct groups of reverse dies; the first are quite ordinary and belong to Series E, the others are anomalous, making the use of the same irregular puncheons. The current coin belongs to the latter category.

Potter put forward the view that these dies were unofficial, the work of some disgruntled mint employee who had access to the equipment required to produce such dies. Potter proposes that the obverse dies were created and then paired with official obverse dies pilfered from the mint. When these correct reverse dies were exhausted, the culprit set about replacing them with dies of his own manufacture.
This arrangement is, in our humble opinion, a little fanciful. We note with interest that the coin is both full weight and is, according to our XRF analysis, struck from sterling silver.