A FURTHER FIND of EDWARD PENNIES at NEATH ABBEY In
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A FURTHER FIND OF EDWARD PENNIES AT NEATH ABBEY By R. H. M. DOLLEY In November 1956 a small hoard of exactly 100 silver pence of the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries was found in the course of Ministry of Works maintenance work on the western range of the monastic buildings at Neath Abbey. An earlier paper has suggested, it is hoped convincingly, that the concealment of the hoard is to be associated with the search for the fugitive Edward II who was arrested at Neath in the late autumn of 1326.1 Early in April 1957 in the course of further works there was discovered a second hoard, this time of 66 coins, concealed in a "putlog" hole of the vault at a slightly lower level and some three feet away from the cache which had contained the original parcel. Again there is no trace of a container, and the archaeological evidence is that the two groups of coins had been con- cealed in separate hiding-places at about the same time. A detailed study of the coins favours this hypothesis, and in the paper that follows it is hoped to demonstrate that the weight of the evidence suggests very strongly that the two parcels had been concealed by the same individual on the same occasion. At an inquest held in June a further verdict of treasure trove was returned. The finders have received the full market value of the hoard which has been acquired by the National Museum of Wales. The 66 coins, again all silver pennies, may be listed as follows. Weights are given in grains, the coins being weighed before any chemical cleaning so that if anything the weights are a trifle on the high side. ENGLAND EDWARD I Mint of Berwick-upon-Tweed grains Blunt, N.C. 1931, pp. 28-52, Class IVc 2179 1 Mint of Bristol Fox, N.C. 1917, pp. 279-97, Class Hid 17-82 1 Class 1X6 (with star) 19-82 1 Mint of Bury St. Edmunds (Abbatial) Fox, Class IV e1 20-95 1 Xc 22-39, 20-77, 16-01 3 1 B.N.J., vol. xxviii, part ii (1956), pp. 294-9. 2 The Fox brothers considered these coins to belong to Class IVe though lacking the pellets that are the most obvious characteristics of this variety. They claimed that the irons are the same as those used for undoubted IVe coins of London, and, of course, it is more tidy to have any gap inserted between the Robert de Hadeleie and the mint-signed issues. Mr. Elmore Jones has made the suggestion that it might be desirable to consider the problem afresh, and the present writer would agree that the possibility that the IV« coins "be reclassified as IVc should be investigated. B 7054 N N 556 A Further Find of Edward Pennies at Neath Abbey Mint of Canterbury (King and Archbishop) grains Fox, Class Illg 21-19 IVa-c 20-23 IVrf 21*11 X6 20-75 Xb var. (EDWR. R) 19-47 Xc- 21-82, 21-23, 20-34, 19-95 Mint of Durham (Episcopal) King's Receiver Fox, Class 1X6 (no star on breast) 20-97 1 Xc- 24-35,20-66 2 Mint of London Fox, Class Id 20-85 1 IF 20-66 1 IIIc and d 20-51, 18-89 2 III/ 21-49 1 IHg 21-49 1 IVa-c 20-56, 18-78, 17-82, 17-07 4 IVd 19-98 1 We 21-90 1 VIII 21-12 1 IV6 (no star on breast?) 21-53 1 Xa 2i*ii 1 Xc- 21*85, 21-61, 21*42, 21*30, 21*06, 20*99, 20*89, 20*88, 20-51, 20-28, 17-08 11 Mint of Newcastle upon Tyne Fox, Class 1X6 (no star on breast ?) 20-86 1 Mint of York (Royal) Fox, Class 1X6 (no star on breast) 21-85 1 EDWARD II Mint of Bury St. Edmunds (Abbatial) Fox, Class XI6 20-81, 20-77, 18-84 3 Mint of Canterbury (King and Archbishop) Fox, Class XI6 21-49, 21-11, 19*52 3 XIII 20-83 1 XV6 21*08 1 Mint of Durham (Episcopal) Sede Vacante ?2 Fox, Class XI« 18*26 1 Mint of London Fox, Class Xla 21-17 1 XI6 21*86,21*83 2 XIV 21*60 1 1 According to Mr. G. L. V. Tatler's classification (B.N.J., vol. XXVIII, part ii (i956)> pp. 288-93) the coin ranks as a "116". 2 The writer is not convinced that this coin does not belong to the last months of Bek s disgrace of 1305-1307. A Further Find of Edward Pennies at Neath Abbey 557 IRELAND grams 17-90 1 FLANDERS COUNT ROBERT DE BETHUNE Mint of Alost As Chautard no. 12 but R 20-12 1 PORCIEN COUNT GAUCHER II DE CHATILLON Mint of Florennes As Chautard 250 19-40 1 LORRAINE Temp. DUKE FERRY IV Mint of Tout As Chautard 198 16-94 1 CONTEMPORARY FORGERIES Very crude style and light weight 14-40 1 Good style but apparently base 17-85 1 For the numismatist as such the most significant coins are the con- tinental sterlings of Porcien and Lorraine. Coins of the former are far from rare in English finds, but almost invariably they prove to be from mints of Yves and Neufchateau. The Inventory of British Coin Hoards, indeed, does not include Florennes in its index of mints, though, in fact, it lists a single specimen as occurring in the Tutbury hoard. Hence the occurrence of a second example in a slightly later context is of some importance for the continental as well as the English student. The anonymous sterling of Toul is by no means a rare piece, but its pre- sence in a hoard from Wales beside English coins all to be dated before c. 1325 is yet another nail in the coffin of the theory which sought to associate this issue with the episcopacy of Thomas de Bourlement.1 It is satisfactory, too, that an example of the group which read EC(ce) MONETA NOSTRA should have occurred in a small parcel that is so closely associated with another containing a specimen of the group which read H1C for ECCE. Clearly, little or no chronological signi- ficance attaches to the variety, but, though the Inventory records specimens of one or other grouping as having been present in a number of hoards from the 1320's, this would seem to have been the first occasion when both were represented in the same context. The date of deposit of the new hoard can be fixed with some precision. Included in it are coins of the last three Fox classes, i.e. 1 Cf. N.C. 1914, p. 382, a statement of the facts that seems to have been overlooked by subsequent writers the other side of the Channel. 558 A Further Find of Edward Pennies at Neath Abbey nos. XIII, XIV, and XV, associated with the reign of Edward II, and in this respect the hoard is paralleled exactly by the earlier parcel. It is true that the latest coin in the new find is of Fox Class XV& whereas the earlier discovery also included XVc, but the XV& coin is appreci- ably worn, while, as we shall see, there is a very plausible explanation of the two deposits which suggests that in amassing the second their owner was deliberately eschewing new money of good weight. There is, then, every reason to believe that the two hoards were concealed on the same occasion, and, as the report on the earlier find suggested, there is a very obvious explanation in the general hue and cry which accompanied the hunting down and arrest of Edward of Carnarvon at Neath in the late autumn of 1326. It remains to consider the relation- ship between the two hoards, and in particular it is necessary to decide whether we are, in fact, confronted with two separate parcels of coins or simply with a single hoard from which some coins have trickled down to another level. The respective contents of the two groups can be summarized as follows: English Foreign b « s to ^ 3 -8 e 0 « -si "o 13 s 5 s £ Si S 0 s <s s S 0 Q (a CqCQCQOC|K-|i-|2;>CQ O Q >-1 £ < N SQ C«o O« (£, 'S § S S § S o s§oo Hoard A 2 3 4 33 11 I1 39 . 3 112.. Hoard Bi 2 7 14 44. 330° 1 I 1 1 ..32 The position as regards the pence amenable to the Fox classification is as follows: 1-1 1-1 >-H 1-1 1-1 1-1 1-1 >-1 * 1-1 1-1 N H H * g * g g H * * g £ £ £ £ H. £ £ £ HH £ £ £ £ £ £ Hoard A 2 9 9 r II 38 11 I 3 9 Hoard B I 1 6 9 1 5 23 IO I 1 1 At first sight there seems to be little essential difference in the com- position of the two parcels, but the following frequency-table of weights presents another picture: 0 OV O* CL C* o> O* 0 CS\ o\ OV c> o* C> o* 0* o\ o\ TF Tf CTI OL o\ RJ- o\ ;T Tt" in •£> vo 00 CO 6\ a\ 0 0 W H IN w M M T—1 M n w M M M M N (S 1 1 1 1 O O O O O O O O 0 O O 0 O O 0 0 9 Y"> O U1 O 1n O >n 0 <n 0 V O •n 9 in in in O O CO 00 a\ O 0 W M PI PI M H M M W H M M H w C-I M « N PI N Hoard A I I 2 I I 8 6 30 23 19 5 3 Hoard B I I 2 4 I 3 2 4 6 16 13 II 1 1 On average the coins in the second hoard weigh just over i gr.