Classical Numismatic Group, LLC
Electronic Auction 527 16 Nov 2022
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YORK. Edward IV. First reign, 1461-1470. AR Penny (15mm, 0.83 g, 7h). Heavy coinage, type IV. Durham mint under John Orwell; im; plain cross. Struck 1461-1462/3. Crowned facing bust / Long cross pattée with rose at center; triple pellets in quarters. North 1544; SCBC 1988A. Toned, slightly ragged and wavy flan, red wax deposits, die break. Fine.
From the Arthur M. Fitts III Collection.
The Durham and York mints were the primary source of pennies struck during the latter part of Henry VI's reign and the subsequent reign of Edward IV. According to Allen's study of the Durham mint, in 1460, John Orwell, a prominent London goldsmith, agreed to rent the mint for a year. Upon the acceptance of the succession of Edward IV, the dies Orwell had inherited from the previous mintmaster were rendered obsolete. Nonetheless, Orwell had been the King's engraver in London from 1431 to 1445, so he either made or commissioned new dies for Edward's coinage. Though technically unofficial dies, his dies were accepted for use in striking official currency until 1462/3 when the mint was apparently closed. The Durham mint resumed operation in 1464, at which time it received its first official dies of Edward's reign. This period of closure was probably due to the revocation of the temporalities of the bishop by the king (7 December 1462-17 April 1464), but it also coincides with a general shortage of silver in England. Allen's analysis of the mint, synthesizing a wide array of contemporary records, conclusively debunks the earlier analysis of Blunt and Whitton, who thought that official dies were used until the revocation of the bishop's temporalities, and the local dies were used until his restoration of in 1464. Thus, the present issue is not a 'king's receiver' coinage, as it did not occur while the king held the bishop's temporalities, but rather during a period in which the mint was rented to a mintmaster under the bishop's authority.
From the Arthur M. Fitts III Collection.
The Durham and York mints were the primary source of pennies struck during the latter part of Henry VI's reign and the subsequent reign of Edward IV. According to Allen's study of the Durham mint, in 1460, John Orwell, a prominent London goldsmith, agreed to rent the mint for a year. Upon the acceptance of the succession of Edward IV, the dies Orwell had inherited from the previous mintmaster were rendered obsolete. Nonetheless, Orwell had been the King's engraver in London from 1431 to 1445, so he either made or commissioned new dies for Edward's coinage. Though technically unofficial dies, his dies were accepted for use in striking official currency until 1462/3 when the mint was apparently closed. The Durham mint resumed operation in 1464, at which time it received its first official dies of Edward's reign. This period of closure was probably due to the revocation of the temporalities of the bishop by the king (7 December 1462-17 April 1464), but it also coincides with a general shortage of silver in England. Allen's analysis of the mint, synthesizing a wide array of contemporary records, conclusively debunks the earlier analysis of Blunt and Whitton, who thought that official dies were used until the revocation of the bishop's temporalities, and the local dies were used until his restoration of in 1464. Thus, the present issue is not a 'king's receiver' coinage, as it did not occur while the king held the bishop's temporalities, but rather during a period in which the mint was rented to a mintmaster under the bishop's authority.