Money Monday - Edward III Treaty coinage, gold noble (1312-1377 CE)

Obverse: ANGL DNS HYB ACQ [Edward by the grace of God King of England Lord of Ireland and Aquitane]

Reverse: IHC AUTE TRANSIES P MEDIUM ILLORR IBAT [But Jesus passing through their midst went His way]

Edward III, son of Edward II, son of Edward I, was a good king. He earned the right to be called a good king because:

a) he was less of a bad king than his father, who was very bad at beating the Scottish, didn’t do very much and then got deposed.



b) he was a good fighter. He defeated the French King Philip IV’s army at Crécy and, after a hiatus due to the Black Death, took the French King John II captive, signed a treaty and won most of his French possessions with full sovereignty. He was helped a fair bit by his son Edward, better known as the Black Prince.

c) He secured the English Channel in the Battle of Sluys, one of the first engagements of the Hundred Years War, and secured the English Channel for the duration of the conflict. This is almost definitely why Edward is featured in a ship on this coinage.

This coin is most likely a full noble minted during his fourth coinage in the Treaty period (1361-1369CE). The Treaty Period comes after the Treaty of Brétigny of 1360 (later the Treaty of Calais), signed soon after the capture of John II and which gave Edward a whole host of French lands but also required him to surrender his claim to the French throne. Interestingly, the first Franc was also minted when John II paid his own ransom.

Edward’s surrender of his claim to the French throne is reflected on the Obverse, which no longer claims France as a title but only Aquitane. The Gold Noble also reflects England’s new power and stability, being the first gold coinage successfully minted and circulated by a medieval English monarch.

Oh, and Edward was also founded the Order of the Garter, the highest order of chivalry in the United Kingdom. He also issued the Statute of Pleading which made English mandatory in law courts, and opened Parliament in English for the first time. And Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales during his reign.

We could do so much on Edward III, but that’ll have to do. Plantagenets rule.

Image:

Edward III, Bruges Garter Book (1430), William Bruges (1375–1450), British Library, Stowe 594 ff. 7v



Coins featured in Money Monday are a part of the University of Reading’s Stenton Coin Collection. For more information or to view the collection, please contact us: specialcollections@reading.ac.uk

