AN EARLY NINETEENTH-CENTURY DISCOVERY OF EDWARD PENNIES AT KNARESBOROUGH PRIORY

Transcription

1 AN EARLY NINETEENTH-CENTURY DISCOVERY OF EDWARD PENNIES AT KNARESBOROUGH PRIORY R. H. M. DOLLEY and H. E. PAGAN THROUGH the good offices of Mr. D. G. Liddell of Messrs. Spink & Son we are able here to put on record a total of 1,037 silver coins from a hoard which first came to light early in the last century, all but one of these coins having since been handed down in a well-known Yorkshire family. The coins were believed to have been unearthed at a spot in the immediate vicinity of Knaresborough Priory, and, though there is no record of any container, there is reason to think that the parcel as now published substantially reflects the hoard as discovered and represents about two-thirds of the whole. A few pieces from the parcel may have been given away or lost, two certainly so, but the FIG. 1,036 coins submitted to the British Museum clearly have a single provenance. This should be stressed, if only because this is the first hoard from England, or indeed from the whole of Great Britain and Ireland, which is on record as containing a medieval coin of Sweden. By a fortunate chance, too, the Swedish coin belongs to an issue of which the chronology is highly controversial, and its occurrence in this particular context cannot fail to be welcomed by Swedish numismatists, and the more so because it is now established beyond all shadow of doubt that the coin in question, a fourteenth-century ortug of Visby (Fig. 1) now through the generosity of Mrs. Slingsby in the British Museum, antedates the Hanseatic Witten from which it has been thought to derive. However, the problems of the chronology of the coinage of Gotland are such that they merit somewhat fuller discussion than would be proper in a journal of this kind, and here we think it sufficient to say that publication of the hoard from Knaresborough serves as a timely reminder of the duty incumbent on an official numismatist, no matter what his personal interests, to publish, and not merely list for some hidden file, not only treasure trove but any parcel of coins passing through his hands that has the appearance of being the whole or part of a find.

2 lis AN EARLY NINETEENTH-CENTURY DISCOVERY OF The 1,036 coins submitted to the British Museum are all pennies or of penny size. Generally they are well preserved, though a few are disfigured by a greenish patina, this last proving to be quite a feature of the coins which may be supposed to have been irregular. The classification is basically the work of Mr. Dolley and of Mr. F. Elmore Jones, and the listing and weighing of Mr. Pagan, but on particular problems they have been able to benefit from the advice of Mr. C. E. Blunt and of Mr. B. H. I. H. Stewart. By a happy chance, too, it was possible for Mr. P. Woodhead to work over the whole of the English material, and incorporated in the final catalogue are a number of his corrections and additions. It is hoped, therefore, that this hoard-report may be deemed to enjoy an unusual degree of authority, and those signing it would like to put on record this expression of their appreciation of the generosity with which others have given of their time and skill. A preliminary breaking-down of the parcel gives the following picture: England 1,012 Scotland 1 Continental 14 Imitations, &c. 9 Of the English coins precisely 999 have proved amenable to the system of classification evolved by the Fox brothers, while the remaining 13, those of the Berwick mint, can be arranged after Blunt. The position is summarized in the following tables: Fox Classes I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII XIII XIV XV? Total Bristol Bury Canterbury Chester 2 2 Durham Exeter 1 1 Hull. 1 1 Lincoln London Newcastle York Uncertain N.B. Mules are included under the later of the two classes concerned. Blunt Classes I II III IV V VI VII VIII Berwick Of the 1,012 English coins the latest are the forty-nine pennies of Fox class XV, and it is clear that the hoard belongs to a well-known group associated with the latter part of the reign of Edward II. Largest and also the earliest in point of date is the great Tutbury hoard of 1831 (Inventory 363) which it is indeed difficult not to associate with the downfall of Thomas of Lancaster in the spring of 1322, while later and only less famous is the much more recent find from Boyton in Wiltshire (Inventory 51). Others include the two small finds from Neath Abbey (Inventory, but see BNJxxwiu. ii (1956),

3 EDWARD PENNIES AT KNARESBOROUGH PRIORY 119 pp and iii (1957), pp ) which cannot well be dissociated from the actual overthrow of Edward II in the autumn of Other Yorkshire hoards in this significant grouping are those from Bootham at York (Inventory 385), Scotton (Inventory 325), and Wyke (Inventory 382), and in all of them there is present a proportion of pennies of Fox class XVc. It will be remembered that with the downfall of Edward II the new regents were involved in difficulties with the Scots, and so the balance of the evidence must be that the Knaresborough hoard, like those from not so distant Bootham, Scotton, and Wyke, was concealed in or about the year It is understood, though, that the chronology of Fox classes XVc and XVd is a subject to which Mr. Woodhead has been giving very considerable thought, and it is to be hoped that an authoritative note from his pen will be appearing in the pages of the British Numismatic Journal in the not too distant future. FIG. 2 Of the English coins in the Knaresborough hoard one is quite outstanding. This is the late Edward II penny of Bury St. Edmunds (Fig. 2) which is of Fox class XVc, and which has minute wedges as stops in the legend. It now graces the cabinet of Mr. Woodhead, and it is by his courtesy that we are able to illustrate it here from enlarged direct photographs. Clearly it belongs late in the series, and as such it is one of the more significant pieces for dating the hoard after rather than before the death of Edward II on present thinking all coins of Fox class XVd must belong to Edward III together with some, though by no means all, the coins of Fox class XVc. The present paper was put together in the summer of In the January of 1964, when the typescript was with the editors and about to go to press, Mr. P. V. Addyman, Assistant Lecturer in Archaeology at the Queen's University of Belfast, chanced to show one of the authors a piece of thin card found among his father's effects, with the remark that it appeared to relate to a hoard unrecorded in Mr. Thompson's Inventory. The wording of the card runs as follows: (OBVERSE) / EDWR.ANG.DNS.HYB. / (REVERSE) / CIVITAS. CANTOR. / (Edward, King of England & Lord of Ireland. / Coined at the City of Canterbury.)* / May Over 1600 of these / coins chiefly EDWARD 1st, found / by Masons in old wall near the / Priory, waterside, KNARESBOROUGH. / * Also York, Durham & Newcastle. / See Speight's' [s/c] Nidderdale.

4 120 AN EARLY NINETEENTH-CENTURY DISCO VERY OF Attached to the card by a small safety-pin is a pierced London not Canterbury! penny of Edward I which on examination has proved to be a class XalIX mule by the Fox classification. As is well known, thesauri non sunt multiplicandipraeter necessitatem, and the conclusion seems irresistible that the 1,036 coins shown at the British Museum are a parcel from a hoard of 1,600 coins found at Knaresborough Priory more than a century and a half ago. In this connexion it is noteworthy that Xa/lX London mules were unusually well represented in the parcel, and that in both cases there is the remarkably precise association with the priory and not just with the vicinity of Knaresborough. Mr. Addyman has carried kindness further by writing to Mr. C. E. Hartley, the distinguished Harrogate antiquary, and this correspondence has established that there are several records of the finding in local histories. The prime authority, it emerges, is not H. Speight's 1884 Nidderdale (pp. 255 and 256) where the account is purely derivative, and still less W. Grainge's 1865 History of Knaresborough, but W. Langdale's 1832 revision and enlargement of Hargrove's History of Knaresborough (p. 73). The relevant passage runs as follows: On the 30th of May, 1805, as two labourers were employed in taking down an old wall within the precincts of this place [The Priory], they discovered a large quantity of silver coin, amounting to near 1600 pieces, mostly of the coinage of Edward I. whose head is represented on each, crowned with an open crown of three fleur-de-lis, with two rays or lesser flowers, not raised: and circumscribed E.D.W.R.ANG.DNS.HYB. ; the translation of which is EDWARD, KING OF ENGLAND, AND LORD OF IRELAND. On the reverse is a cross, with 3 pellets in each quarter: circumscribed CIVITAS CANTOR: coined at the city of Canterbury. There are others coined at York, Durham, and Newcastle. It will be noticed that there is no mention of Irish or Scottish coins, and we have seen that the parcel of 1,036 coins shown at the British Museum in 1963 was quite remarkable for its omission of all Irish pieces and for the fact that only one Scottish coin was present. It would seem then that the hoard noticed by Langdale reproduced one of the more notable of the characteristics of the Spink parcel, and so the identity of the hoards may be thought certain. That the hoard originally numbered some 1,600 coins (or exactly 10 marks) appears very likely, and a division of the hoard by the two finders on a 2:1 ratio may seem not impossible, with the Spink parcel representing the landowner's purchase from one of the actual finders. If a proportionate sharing of the hoard in fact occurred, and the background of the Shaftesbury find of 1940 (Inventory, but cf. NC, 1956, pp ) bears witness to a similar basis of division in this century, it is indeed fortunate that the Swedish coin, before cleaning one of the least attractive coins in the hoard, should have been included in the larger parcel, and thus been preserved for study in an age more sensitive to the potentialities of hoard-evidence for the ordering of all series. At this point we may give a detailed listing of the surviving coins from the Knaresborough find on the basis of those classification most widely used by English numismatists. Weights are given in grains. ENGLAND EDWARD I ( ) AND EDWARD II ( ) N.B. Pennies of Blunt classes I III and of Fox classes I-IX are all of Edward I, as are most of the coins of Blunt class IV and of Fox class X. Pennies of Blunt class V and of Fox classes XI-XV6 are all of Edward II, as are most of the coins of Fox class XVc.

5 EDWARD PENNIES AT KNARESBOROUGH PRIORY 121 MINT OF BERWICK-ON-TWEED Blunt la Ila 21-7, IVa 22-8, 22-7, 19-7, IV6 22-4, 21-5, IVc V 22-8, MINT OF BRISTOL Fox II 22-0, 21-3, 21'0(2) 4 III early's' 21-1 (3), 20-1, 19-8, 19-1, III late's' X6 star on breast 21-7, 21-4, 21-2, 20-8, 20-7, 20-5, 20-2, 17-8, , ABBATIAL MINT OF BURY ST. EDMUNDS Fox IVa X6 21T 1 xc-j 22-7, 22-1, 21-1, 20-6, 19-5, 19-2, 19-1, XI a and b 21-8, 21-5, 20-9, 19-7, XIII XIV 22-2, 22-0, 21-8, 21-6, 21-5 (3), 21-4, 21-3 (2), XV a and b 23-1, 23-0, 22-8, 22-3 (2), 21-5, 21-2, XYc 22-5 (small wedge punctuation) 1 36 COMBINED REGAL AND ARCHIEPISCOPAL MINT OF CANTERBURY Fox II 17-7, II/III III early V 21-5, 21-1, 20-8, 20-2 (2), 191, 19-0, III late's' 21-8, 21-2, 21-0, 20-0, 19-9 (2), 18-0, IVa-c 22-0, 21-7, 21-1, 20-7, 20-3, 20-2, 20-1, 19-9, 19-7, I Yd 21-2 (2), 21-0, 20-7, 206, IV dje mule IVe 20-5 (2) 2 V IXa star on breast X6 star on breast 21-9, 21-3 (2), 21-2, 20-8, 20-7, 20-3, , 21-1, Xa 22-5, 22-0, 21-2, 21-1, 21-0, 20-9, 20-8, 20-2, X6 22-0, 21-9, 21-7, 21-6, 21-3, 21-1, 21-0 (2), 20-9, 20-8, 20-5 (2), 20-0, 19-6, 19-5, 19-4,

6 122 AN EARLY NINETEENTH-CENTURY DISCO VERY OF Xb reads EDWR'R 21-7 Xc-f 22-7,22-5 (2), 22-3 (2), 22-2 (3), 22-1 (2), 22-0 (3), 21-9 (6), 21-8 (5), 21-7(3), 21-6(4), 21-5(8), 21-4(9), 21-3(11), 21-2(8), 21-1(3), 21-0 (14), 20-9 (2), 20-8 (8), 20-7 (2), 20-6 (5), 20-5, 20-4, 20-2 (3), 20-1 (2), 19-8, 19-7(4), 19-5, 19-0, 18-7(2), 18-2, 18-1, 17-7, 17-6, 17-5 reads CIVI/TAS/TAS/TOR 20-5 reads EDW 18-5 XI a and b 22-3 (2), 22-2, 21-7 (5), 21-6 (2), 21-5 (5), 21-4 (5), 21-2 (2), 21-1 (2), 21-0, 20-9, 20-7, 20-2 (2), 19-8 (3), 19-7 (2), 18-2, 17-5 XI blc mules 22-0,21-4(2) XIc 21-8 XII 22-2 XIII 22-5, 22-3 (2), 22-1 (2), 21-7, 21-0, 20-4, 20-2 XIV 22-9, 22-4 (2), 22-1, 22-0, 21-9, 21-7, 21-6 (2), 21-5 (4), 21-4, 21-3, 21-1, 21-0, 20-9, 20-8, 20-7, 20-4, 17-6 XV a and b 22-6(2), 22-4, 22-2, 22-0(2), 21-9, 21-8, 21-7(2), 21-6, 21-5, 21-3 (3), 21-1, 21-0, 20-4 XVc 20-4 Uncertain penny of Edward II Fox III early 's' 21-5,19-7 MINT OF CHESTER Fox II 20-3 III early's' 20-0, 19-9, 17-5 III late's' 20-2 IVa 20-9 EPISCOPAL MINT OF DURHAM Bishop De Insula Fox VI cross moline both sides 22-7 I Xb star on breast 21-3, 19-2 I Xb no star on breast 22-3, 21-7 Bishop Bek (before deprivation of temporalities) King's Receiver Fox 1X6 star on breast 22-9, 22-4, 21-8, 21-7, 21-4, 20-6, , 17-8, 17-7 IX/X mules no star on breast 23-8, 17-6 Xa 20-8, 20-4

7 EDWARD PENNIES AT KNARESBOROUGH PRIORY Xb 20-0 Xc-f 22-7, 22-5, 22-3, 21-3, 20-5, 19-3 Bishop Bek or King's Fox Xc-f 24-8, 21-1, 20-6, 19 1, 18-9 Receiver Bishop Bek (after restoration of temporalities) Fox Xb 21-3 Xc-f 24-0 (2), 23-7, 22-8, 22-6, 224, 21-8, 21-5, 21-3, 21-2 (2), 21-1, 20-6 (2), 20-3, 20 0, 19-9 (2), 19-7, 19-5, 19-3, 18-8, 18-1, 17-4, 17-1 FoxXIfl 22-6, 17-3 Bishop Kellawe Fox XI a and b 27-6, 23-9, 22-4, 22-2, 22-0, 21-3, 21 0, 20-9, 20-6, 20-0, 19-8, 18-3, 16-3 Fox XIII 20-4,19-2 XIV 21-5, 20-1, 20-0 XV a and b 22-4,17-8 X\b from a London obverse die 19-6 XVc 23-3,22-8,21-4,20-0 Uncertain (perhaps X\b or XIII?) 20-6 Bishop Beaumont Fox I Xb star on breast 21-6 MINT OF EXETER Fox 1X6 star on breast 20-9 MINT OF KINGSTON-UPON-HULL MINT OF LINCOLN Fox III early's' 22-0, 21-9, 21-8, 20-2,* 20-1, 20-0, 19-2, 18-4* 111 late's' 21-4,21-2 MINT OF LONDON Foxlc 21-5, 21-1, 20-6, 20-1, 19-4 II 21-4, 21-0, 20-6 (2), 20-2, 16-7, 16-5, 16-2, 15-1, 14-6 * Coins of Fox III/unrecorded by Fox brothers.

8 124 AN EARLY NINETEENTH-CENTURY DISCOVERY OF III early's' III late IVa-c 22-8, 21-9, 21-6, 21-5 (3), 21-4 (3), 21-3, 21-2 (2), 20-8 (3), 20-5, 20-4, 20-2 (2), 20-1, 19-9, 19-7 (2), 18-8, 18-7, 18-5, 18-4, 18-2, 18-0 (2), 17-9, 17-6 (2), 17-3, 17-2, 17-1, 16-8, 16-3, , 21-2, 20-8, 20-7 (2), 20-6, 19-8, 19-2, 18-4, 18-2, 17-2, (4), 21-9, 21-6 (2), 21-5, 21-4, 21-3, 21-1 (2), 21-0 (4), 20-8 (2), 20-7, 20-6, 20-5, 20-3 (2), 19-3, 19-1 (2), 18-9, 18-2, 18-1, 17-8, 17-4 (2), 16-0, 15-7 lyd 22-2, 22-1 (2), 22-0, 21-5, 20-8, 20-6, 20-1, 19-9, 19-5, 19-1, 17-4 IVe 21-8, 21-7, 20-7 (2), 19-7 Vila 20-8 VII VIII 22-5, 22 0, 21-7 (2), 21-2, 19-0 IXa star on breast 21-9, 21-4, 21-3, 20-2, X6 star on breast 22-5, 22-4, 22-1, 21-8 (2), 21-7, 21-6, 21-5 (2), 21-4, 21-3, 21-2, 21-1 (2), 21-0, 20-8 (5), 20-7, 20-6 (2), 20-4, 20-1, 20-0, 19-2, 18-1, , 22-4, 22-0, 21-8, 21-7 (3), 21-6, 21-4 (2), 21-3, (2) 21-2, 21-0, Xa/IX mules X6-IX mules Xa Xb 20-9 (2), 20-7 (2), 20-6, 20-2, 20 0, 19-9, 19-7, , 21-9 (3), 21-8, 21-7, 21-4 (2), 21-2 (2), 20-9, 20 7, 20-5, 19-0, 18-9, and one pierced , 21-5, , 21-6, 21-4 (2), 21-3, 21-2, , 22-0, 21-9 (2), 21-8, 21-6 (2), 21-5 (3), 21-4 (4), 21-2, 20-8, 20-6 (2), 20-5, 20-2, 19-5, 18 1 Xb reads EDWRR 21-1, 20-5, 201 Xc-f 23-3, 22-9, 22-5 (2), 22-4 (5), 22-3 (4), 22-2 (8), 22-1 (5), 22-0 (4), 21-9 (6), 21-8 (13), 21-7 (12), 21-6 (7), 21-5 (11), 21-4 (14), 21-3 (12), 21-2 (7), 21-1 (5), 21-0 (12), 20-9 (3), 20-8 (5), 20-7 (6), 20-6 (5), 20-5 (7), 20-4 (10), 20-3 (4), 20-2 (3), 20-1, 20-0 (2), 19-9, 19-8 (2), 19-7, 19-6, 19-5 (4), 19-3, 19-2 (2), 19-1 (2), 18-9, 18-6, 18-5 (2), 18-3, 18-1, 17-9, 17-7, 17-4, 16-7, 16-3, 15-5, 15-0 X-XI transitional XI a and 6 XIII XIV XV a and b XYc 21-8, , 22-5, 22-0 (2), 21-8 (3), 21-7 (3), 21-6 (4), 21-5 (3), 21-4 (4), 21-3, 21-2 (3), 21-1 (3), 21-0 (3), 21-0 (3), 20-9 (2), 20-8 (2), 20-7, 20-0, 19-8, 19-0, 18-5, 18-1, 17-7, 17-5, (2), 21-6, 21-0, 20-8, , 22-2, 22-0, 21-8 (3), 21-0, 20-8 (2), , 22-3, 22-1 (2), 22-0, 21-9, 21-7, 21-4, 21-3, , 22-1 (2), ? Fox III early's' X6 star on breast 21-7, 21-5, 21-0, , 16-0 MINT OF NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE 1 The coin shown by Mr. P. V. Addyman.

9 EDWARD PENNIES AT KNARESBOROUGH PRIORY 379 IX/X mules star on breast 21-9, 21-2, 19-5, 191 IX/X mules no star on breast 21-2, 20-9, 20-7 X Fox II 20-5 III early's' 21-7, 20-8, 20-3 (2), X6 star on breast 21-9, 21-2, 210, , 20-9 ROYAL MINT OF YORK Fox III early's' 21-2 ARCHIEPISCOPAL MINT OF YORK Fox III early's' 23-1 UNCERTAIN MINT SCOTLAND ALEXANDER III ( ) Second (Long Single Cross) Coinage Burns Group II, class I, no. 29 (= Stewart Class D) 3 mullets of 6 and 1 star of 7 points 20-1 COUNTY OF FLANDERS ROBERT DE BETHUNE ( ) M INT OF ALOST Cf. Chautard with trefoil stops (5) or saltire (1) 22-1, 20-7, 20-5 (2), 20-1, 19-6 COUNTY OF PORCIEN GAUCHER DE CHATILLON ( ) MINT OF YVES Cf. Chautard 242 (2), 244 (3), and 245 (2) 21-5, 20-4, 19-8, 19-7, 19-2(2), 18-4 CITY OF VISBY (GOTLAND) ANONYMOUS ISSUE C Cf. Hauberg, Aarb.for Nord. Olclk. og Hist., 1891, p

10 126 DISCOVERY OF EDWARD PENNIES AT KNARESBOROUGH UNCERTAIN IMITATIONS OF LONDON PENCE OF EDWARD I AND II 20-8, 19-1, 18-8, 18-2, 17-3, 17-1, 16-5, 14-7, Patently the hoard is one that merits inclusion in the next edition of the Inventory, and in the meantime possessors of interleaved copies of that work may care to have the following summary modelled on but simplifying Mr. Thompson's summary of Mr. D. F. Allen's account of the Boyton hoard: KNARESBOROUGH PRIORY, Yorkshire, 30 May c. 1,600 IR English, Scottish, and Foreign (1,036 described). Deposit: c. 1328±1. ENGLAND (1,013+ pennies). Edward I and II Berwick: Blunt cl. I, 1; II, 2; IV, 8; V, 2. Bristol: Fox cl. II, 4; III, 8; IX, 11. Bury St. Edmunds: Fox cl. IV, 1; X, 9; XI, 5; XIII, 1; XIV, 11; XV, 9. Canterbury: Fox cl. II, 2; II/III, 1; III, 16; IV, 19; V, 1; IX, 12; X, 151; XI, 40; XII, 1; XIII, 9; XIV, 22; XV, 19; uncertain, 1. Chester: Fox cl. Ill, 2. Durham: (Bishop de Insula) Foxcl. II, 1; III, 4; IV, 1: (Bishop Bek): Fox cl. VI, 1; IX, 4; (King's Receiver) Fox cl. IX, 10; IX/X, 2; X, 9: (Bishop Bek or King's Receiver) Fox cl. X, 5: (Bishop Bek restored) Fox cl. X, 26; XI, 2: (Bishop Kellawe) Fox cl. XI, 13: (Bishop Beaumont) Fox cl. XIII, 2; XIV, 3; XV, 8. Exeter: Fox cl. IX, 1. Kingstonon-Hull: Fox cl. IX, 1. Lincoln: Fox cl. Ill, 10. London: Fox cl. I, 5; II, 10; III, 51; IV, 52; VII, 2; VIII, 6; IX, 58; X/IX, 19; X, 235; XI, 46; XIII, 6; XIV, 10; XV, 14. Newcastle: Fox cl. Ill, 1; IX, 6; IX/X, 7; X, 1. York (Royal): Fox cl. II, 1; III, 5; IX, 6. York (Archiepiscopal): Fox cl. Ill, 1. Uncertain Mint: Fox cl. Ill, 1. SCOTLAND (1 sterling). Alexander III 'Rex Scotorum' type: Burns gp. II, cl. I, no. 29,1. FOREIGN (23+ (?) sterlings): FLANDERS: Robert de Bethune, Alost, Ch , 6. PORCIEN: Gaucher de Chatillon, Yves, Ch. 242, 2; 244, 3; 245, 2. SWEDEN: Anonymous ortug of Visby c. 1325, 1. UNCERTAIN IMITATIONS OF ENGLISH PENCE: Edward I & II, London, 9. UNDESCRIBED PENNIES: 2. R. H. M. Dolley and H. E. Pagan in BNJ xxxii (1963), pp : Hargrove's History of Knaresborough, 7th edn. (ed. Langdale), 1832, p. 73. Disposition: Parcel of 1,036 coins sent to British Museum for examination in The Swedish coin was presented to the British Museum, and the rest dispersed on the London market. There is no record of any container.