On 23 January, a numismatics sensation was auctioned off at the London auction house Spink & Son: one of the first gold coins to be minted in medieval England.
King Henry III (1207-1272) spent the longest time on England's throne and had the country's first gold coins minted during the early Middle Ages in 1257. Silver currency had been common in England and the rest of Europe since the 7th century. The increasing trade and contact with the gold-rich Orient spurred a need for England's own gold coin minting.
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The gold coins were minted by Willem FitzOtto of Gloucester, the king's goldsmith, who in return was allowed access to gold from the king's personal fortune, which Henry had at his disposal despite the many financial problems that characterised his reign.
Henry III had himself depicted on his gold coins in the perfect manner of a ruler on a magnificent throne with the imperial insignia in his hands and a crown on his head.
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Only eight of these gold coins are known to date, including the present example, which was accidentally discovered by a hobby archaeologist while he was using a metal detector in a field in Devon. Most of them are in museums.
As the find was legally unearthed under a British law of 1996, the lucky finder, who initially had no idea what he was dealing with, can now look forward to a portion of the £540,000 auction result.
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