BRITISH COINS, Henry IV (1399-1413), Gold Noble, heavy coinage (1399-1412), Calais mint (1399-1404), King standing in ship holding sword and shield, semée of four lis in upper left quarter, flag at stern of ship, rigging with three ropes to left, and one rope to right, ornaments on top line of hull 1-1-1-1 with lions right, quatrefoils 4/4 on castles, coronet horizontal on rudder, beaded inner and outer circles surround legend both sides, saltire and comma stops, hEn RIC’x DEI’x GRA’x REXxx AnGL’x Zx FRAnC’x D’x hIB’Z AQ T, n of FRANC struck over C, rev h at centre, ornate cross with lis terminals, crown over lion in angles, all within beaded and linear tressure of eight arcs, large fleurs in spandrels, initial mark cross pattée, double saltire stops in legend, +IhC’xAVTEMxx TRAnSIEnSxx PERxx MEDIV’x ILLORVMxx IBAT, 7.73g (Blunt type IIa, Schneider 193; N 1338 var; S 1707). Fully round, struck from rusty dies with associate raised pimples but an excellent depiction of the King, some light scrapes and abrasions to high points with a little residual dirt in devices and light red discolouration on reverse, otherwise very fine and of the highest rarity in full round state, only four of this type known. The Heavy Coinage gold coins issued by Henry IV are amongst the greatest rarities in the regular denominations of the medieval gold series. Being followed by a lighter gold coinage almost ensured that very few heavy coins survived intact to the modern day, unless deposited in a hoard or as part of a shipwreck pre-1412 in date. The Calais mint heavy Gold Nobles are far rarer than the London mint issue. The Calais mint closed from March 1404 until it was reopened by Henry VI in 1422, and the account of gold coined has survived revealing a total face value in heavy gold of all denominations at a mere £15,643 from 1399-1404 or 55 months of production. In a similar period (upto late 1403) the London Tower Mint produced £27,950 worth of the heavy gold and though later accounts are not quite complete (38 months missing), the total known to have been coined in London upto September 1408 was £45,096 (107 months), as shown in the Schneider Sylloge Volume I page 23. Christopher Blunt in his article “The Heavy Gold Coinage of Henry IV” in the British Numismatic Journal Volume 24, 1946, pages 23-27, illustrates the Heavy Gold Noble housed at British Museum which does not appear to be as nice as the example offered here. This coin also appears to be on par in preservation with the Schneider Collection example (also the Spink Catalogue plate coin), and this coin is fuller of flan showing most of the outer beaded border, and is evidently struck later than the Schneider example, because it has a couple of raised flaws subsequent to the Schneider example. The only other example we can trace of specifically the Calais heavy gold in private hands has a weaker and off-centre reverse, sold in the MPO Auction, 30 May 2003, lot 1426, front cover coin.
