Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
Penny - Civil War Angevins, Empress Matilda
| Issuer | Crown of England |
|---|---|
| Year | 1141-1145 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Crude hammered obverse depicting a facing bust of Empress Matilda in a highly stylised Anglo-Norman manner typical of the Anarchy period. The bust is rendered with schematic facial features, a diademed or crowned head, and flanking pellets or decorative elements in the field. The design reflects the provincial workmanship of the Cardiff mint, with irregular flan shape and somewhat flat strike. The abbreviated Latin legend is partially visible around the bust, reading IMPEAT[RI], denoting her imperial title. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Plain (irregular) |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Matilda never secured a coronation. She was proclaimed "Lady of the English" at Winchester in April 1141 following Stephen's capture at Lincoln, but her brief dominance collapsed within months — driven out of London by a popular uprising before she could be crowned, and Stephen was ransomed back before the year was out. These pennies were struck during the narrow window of her effective control, primarily from mints in the west and southwest where her support was strongest, particularly Bristol under the influence of her half-brother Robert of Gloucester.
The Anarchy produced coins from multiple competing authorities simultaneously, which makes attribution genuinely difficult. Sp#1326B sits within a contested body of types.