2 Sterlings - John I

John I of Brabant issued these double sterlings in direct imitation of the English penny, a deliberate monetary policy that capitalized on the sterling's dominance in North Sea trade networks during the late thirteenth century. The Low Countries were flooded with English coin at the time, and Brabantine mints were effectively standardizing to a foreign benchmark. Witte 260 is well-documented within the type but individual die combinations vary, and collectors working the series closely distinguish struck examples by the arrangement of stops and pellets in the field.