Posted on 12/12/2017

Unpopular during the reign of King Henry III, this penny is cherished by the numismatic world today.

NGC has certified an extremely rare and important gold penny from the reign of King Henry III of England. Struck in London in 1257, it is one of just four known examples in private hands and is now graded NGC MS 63.

This gold penny is among the earliest of the issues that mark the rebirth of gold coinage in Western Europe, and is the only British coin from this period.

Prior to the 13th Century, kingdoms in Western European did not make their own gold coinage. The need for gold in commerce instead was met using Byzantine and various ancient issues.

In 1252, the Republic of Florence issued its Florin, considered to be the first Western European gold trade coin in over 600 years. Only five years later, England experimented with its own gold currency issue: the gold penny of Henry III.