Coins, Tokens and Historical Medals

Henry I (1100-1135), Penny, Large Profile/Cross and Annulets type [BMC VIII], Exeter, Duning, dv[ – ]nc : on exe ·, 1.20g/6h (EMC 2018.0060; Brettell –; N 864; S 1269). A recent field find struck on a large oval flan with some loss of excess metal but without loss to the legends, dispersed iron deposits, perfectly attributable, fine or better, an important addition to the corpus of Exeter’s Norman coinage, UNIQUE £1,000-£1,200

This piece has been designated a find of regional importance by the Portable Antiquities Scheme, being the first BMC VIII example on record for Exeter and also the first Henry I penny to be recorded with the scheme from Wales. It is indeed interesting to consider the find spot as it was, in the early 12th century, in the Lordship of Gower, a title which had been bestowed upon Henry de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Warwick by Henry I in c. 1107. It was Beaumont who built Swansea Castle and established it as the Caput of his Lordship. Soon afterwards the southern part of the Gower peninsula was colonised by English speakers and subsequently formally divided into Welsh Gower and English Gower. This movement of English speaking people into Gower provides one possible context for the transportation of this piece from the Devon mint of Exeter into the area