Set of 20 Medieval Style Pennies

Start your own treasure trove with this set of 20 hand struck pewter coins! These coins make excellent gaming tokens to go with our decks of cards. They are knight-head style pennies of Silberbyrg and are based on an early 13th century silver denier of the Crusader Kingdom of Antioch, attributed to King Bohemund IV, and the long cross penny type of King Henry III of England.

This is not an exact replica, as we are legally required to include differences in coins so they won't be passed off as historic originals. Instead this secularized design is used as a gaming token, based on extant medieval coins. We have omitted the cross on the knight's helmet that indicated his role as a Crusader in the Holy Land, and in place of the King's name on the original, the inscription is abbreviations for "secula media currens", an approximation of "Current Middle Ages" in Latin. On the cross side of the coin, a double lined long cross is depicted, going to the edge of the coin, a style that was introduced in 1247 and continued into the reign of Edward I up to 1279. This was the last medieval type to name the individual moneyer on the coin. The original inscription was the moneyer's given name and the name of the mint city. On this one, the inscription reads "IAN ON VIL(la) ARG(ens)". The moneyer is Ian Cnulle. "Villa Argens" is Latin(ish) for 'Silver Town'. "Silberbyrg" is pseudo-Anglo-Saxon for 'Silver Town', the home of the artist.