Description:
This English coin was minted during the rule of King Henry III. The obverse depicts the crowned King, holding a lis-tipped scepter with the Latin inscription HENRICUS REX III, translated to "King Henry III". The reverse shows a long cross with the legend inscription of the London mint and the moneyer’s name Ricard. The English silver penny was introduced around the year 785 by King Offa of Mercia, a Kingdom of Anglo-Saxon England. The penny stayed in circulation continuously until the creation of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707.
Henry III, was crowned King of England at age 9 in 1216 and reigned for 56 years, until his death in 1272. England prospered during his reign and his greatest monument is Westminster. Henry designated Westminster as the fixed seat of power in England. Westminster Hall became the greatest ceremonial space of the Kingdom and where the council of nobles met. In 1245, Henry ordered the renovation of Westminster Abbey in the Gothic style, with the centerpiece being a shrine to Saint Edward the Confessor. After completion in 1269, the Saint's relics were then installed.
Though not seen as the most tyrannical of Kings, unlike his son Edward I "Longshanks", discontent was common during Henry's time and the earliest Robin Hood sources and tales suggest that the heroic outlaw lived during Henry's reign.
