XIII. THE FIRST GOLD COINS OF ENGLAND. (See Plates X. and XI.) It has not infrequently occurred to me that there are two separate issues of English coins, which have not received from numismatic writers the full amount of attention, to which for more than one reason they are fully entitled. The issues to which I refer, are those of the gold penny by Henry III, and of the florin and its parts by Edward III. With regard to each of them I propose to say a few words, and in doing so, to treat both of the actual coins and of their history. Though there is little new to add, it will be well to gather together what has already been said on the subject. First, as to the gold penny of Henry III. In the year 1736, Martin Folkes published "A Table of English Gold Coins from the eighteenth year of King Edward the Third, when gold, was first coined in England, to the present time," thus clearly showing that he was unaware of any gold coins having been struck under Henry the Third. In 1745 and again in 1761 the work was re- printed with the same title, but to the edition of 1763, in which the Tables of English Silver and Gold Coins were reproduced by the Society of Antiquaries, a Supplement This content downloaded from 2.138.132.162 on Tue, 28 Sep 2021 08:50:23 UTC All use subject to
