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COIN
Unique ID: SWYOR-EE887F
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Awaiting validation 
A silver hammered coin dating from the Medieval period, re-used contemporaneously as a pilgrim token. The coin is a long cross penny of Edward I (1272-1307) or Edward II (1307-1327). Mint of London. Only the reverse can be seen, the coin has been neatly folded in half along the line of the cross. The C of CIVITAS is closed, but not angle-backed, suggesting the coin is of Class 6-11a (N. 1030-1043; 1060), consequently dating it from AD 1292-1314. There is an area of iron staining on one side: this is probably the result of depositional contagion, but possibly the remnant of some form of attachment - although the staining is not centrally positioned.
Sarah Randles highlights that putative pilgrims would bend a coin 'at the time of making a vow to go on a pilgrimage' (Randles S., 'Signs of Emotion', in Feeling Things: Objects and Emotions Through History, ed. by Downes, S., Holloway, S., and Randles, S., Oxford: OUP, 2018, p. 55). Sarah Blick elaborates: 'Before setting forth on their journey, some pilgrims took coins and bent them. When an inanimate object such as a coin was damaged or "killed" in this way, it was symbolic of the coin's transfer from a physical to a spiritual plane. By destroying its normal use, the bender rendered the coin functional only for supernatural purposes. Once bent, the coin was intended for the saintly personage to whom it was promised, and no one else. The presentation of that particular coin to the shrine fulfilled the pilgrim's vows.' (Blick, S., 'Bent Coins' in Encyclopedia of Medieval Pilgrimage, ed. By Larissa J. Taylor et al, Leiden: Brill, 2010, pp. 47-48). Randles also notes that sailors, or passengers on a vessel in a storm, might bend a coin 'as they called out to saints' to quell the storm, vowing pilgrimage to the shrine of the saint: the 'act of bending' imbued the token with an 'amuletic power' (Randles, 2018, p. 55).
The manner of bending of this example is interesting. Does the covering of secular authority, (the image of the king), leaving only the cross, symbol of spiritual authority, visible have particular significance?
Class:
Pilgrim token
Evidence of reuse: Neatly folded in two, probably for use as a pilgrim token
Subsequent actions
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Chronology
Broad period: MEDIEVAL
Period from: MEDIEVAL
Period to: MEDIEVAL
Date from: Exactly AD 1292
Date to: Exactly AD 1314
Period of reuse: MEDIEVAL
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Length: 18.34 mm
Width: 9.66 mm
Thickness: 2.72 mm
Weight: 1.3 g
Discovery dates
Date(s) of discovery: Tuesday 3rd September 2019 - Tuesday 3rd September 2019
Personal details
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Materials and construction
Primary material: Silver
Secondary material: Iron
Manufacture method: Struck or hammered
Completeness: Complete
Coin data (numismatics)
Denomination: Penny
Ruler/issuer: Edward I - III
Mint or issue place: London
Category: English coin Edwardian type 1279 - 1377
Type: Penny of Edward I - III, not further defined
Obverse description: Obverse obscured by folding
Obverse inscription: Obverse obscured by folding
Reverse description: Long cross with three pellets in each quadrant
Reverse inscription: CIV[I]TAS LONDON
Degree of wear: Worn: fine
Coin references
No coin references available.
Spatial metadata
Region: Yorkshire and the Humber (European Region)County or Unitary authority: Leeds (Metropolitan District)
District: Leeds (Metropolitan District)
Parish or ward: Micklefield (Civil Parish)
Spatial coordinates
4 Figure: SE4333
Four figure Latitude: 53.79154507
Four figure longitude: -1.34876038
1:25K map: SE4333
1:10K map: SE43SW
Grid reference source: GPS (from the finder)
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 1 metre square.
References cited
| Author | Publication Year | Title | Publication Place | Publisher | Pages | Reference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blick, S. | 2010 | Bent Coins | Leiden | Brill | |||
| Downes, S., Holloway, S., and Randles, S. (eds.) | 2018 | Feeling Things: Objects and Emotions Through History | Oxford | OUP | |||
| North, J.J. | 1991 | English Hammered Coinage: Volume 2. Edward I to Charles II, 1272-1662 | London | Spink and Son Ltd | |||
| Withers, P. and Withers, B.R. | 2006 | The Galata Guide to the Pennies of Edward I and II | Llanfyllin | Galata Print |
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Timeline of associated dates
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