Penny - Edward Small Flan type

The Small Flan type belongs to Edward the Confessor's long reign, during which the English crown exercised remarkable control over its currency — periodic "renovatio monetae" cycles forced moneyers to surrender old coin types in exchange for newly-struck issues, generating revenue for the crown while keeping the coinage relatively uniform. This particular type, datable to roughly 1048–1050, falls between the Expanding Cross and Helmet issues in the sequence established by numismatists working from hoard evidence. Moneyers who struck outside licensed dies faced severe penalties, including mutilation.