Penny - Stephen Cross and piles type

Struck during the final, exhausted years of "The Anarchy," the 19-year civil war between King Stephen and Empress Matilda that left royal minting authority so fragmented that dozens of unauthorized local moneyers operated with near impunity. The cross and piles type belongs to Stephen's last coinage phase, issued after the 1153 Treaty of Wallingford effectively ended the conflict by naming Henry of Anjou as heir — meaning many of these coins circulated into a reign they were never meant to serve.