1100 - 1135, HENRY I, AR Penny, Struck 1125 - 1135 at York, England

Obverse: HENRICUS : R - . Crowned bust of Henry I, facing three-quarters to left, holding short sceptre topped with fleur-de-lys over his right shoulder.
Reverse: -- ULF : ON : EVERW surrounding quadrilateral figure with concave sides, each angle terminating in a fleur-de-lys, over a cross fleury with pellet in each angle, all within beaded circle.
Possibilities for the moneyer “ULF” include, amongst others, HEAWULF, HARTHULF and HEARDWULF.
BMC Type 15 "Quadrilateral on Cross Fleury" issue
Diameter: 20mm | Weight: 1.4gms | Die Axis: 2h
Flan chipped and cracked, legends largely illegible.
Found near Womersley, West Yorkshire, England. Recorded by UKDFD, February 2012, # 36152
SPINK: 1276
Rare

Henry I's coinage is remarkable for its deterioration in quality, and the public, losing faith in its silver content, often cut or mutilated them. In 1124, alongside his purge of the moneyers, Henry ordered that his coins be cut at the time of their issue so as to force the public to accept all his circulating coinage. This is why his later coins often contain a 'snick' or cut, it was to prove to people that the coins were silver all the way through.
In 1984 David Walker pointed out that only 11 of the 106 moneyers of type 14 recorded in Brooke's BMC were also known at the same mint in type 15, and that the number of mints declined from 46 to 19. J D Gomm suggested that this apparent upheaval was the result of Henry I's assize of moneyers in 1124-25. Brooke disputed that on the basis that he did not believe that type 15 could have remained in production for around ten years until the end of Henry I's reign in 1135. However, Gomm's suggestion has now received strong support from Blackburn's analysis of the activity of moneyers in the reign of Henry the first. This analysis has shown that the turnover of moneyers between types 14 and 15 was substantially greater than that between any of Henry I's other types. Blackburn also estimated that the loss of moneyers caused by the assize is likely to have been about 80-85 against the 94 victims of the purge recorded by the Margam annals which he thinks might have included mint officials whose names did not appear on the coins as moneyers.

After the death of William II in an alleged hunting accident in the New Forest, the fourth son of William the Conqueror, Henry I, was crowned King of England. Henry was well educated (hence his given epithet of 'Beauclerc') and he was the first Norman king able to speak fluent English. He appears to have been an energetic and decisive ruler, he increased the royal revenues and he made peace with Scotland by marrying Matilda of Scotland. Henry I died in 1135, reportedly from a 'surfeit of lampreys', leaving his only heir, his daughter also called Matilda, in line for the throne. However, within a month, Stephen of Blois, Matilda's cousin, had himself crowned king starting what was to become a bitter struggle for power during a period which became known as “The Anarchy”. Stability only returned when Henry II, son of Matilda, was crowned king on the death of Steven in 1154.