1 Penny - Edward I Sterling type, class 8b

Class 8b falls within Edward I's major recoinage effort of the 1280s and 1290s, a campaign designed to drive out the clipped and debased "pollards" and "crockards" — low-grade Continental imitations flooding English trade. The 1279 recoinage had established the sterling penny as a rigorously controlled instrument, with moneyers held personally accountable for weight and fineness. By the time class 8b was being struck, provincial mints at Durham and Canterbury were operating alongside London to meet demand.

North 1034/2 distinguishes this subtype by specific letterform and crown variations — details that matter considerably for attribution, as the class 8 series encompasses several overlapping die marriages.