History of the English penny (1154–1485)

The history of the English penny from 1154 to 1485 covers the period of the House of Plantagenet, up to the Battle of Bosworth Field which brought about the beginning of the Tudor period. The Plantagenet era saw an overall rise in quality of the coinage but saw a decline in the number of mints used to produce coins.

The first years of the reign of Henry II saw no change in the production of coins from the reign of Stephen, until the Tealby penny was introduced, minted from 1158 to 1180. These coins' weight and quality of silver were good, but the overall production was poor; as a result, in 1180 the short-cross penny was introduced.

The coinage during the reigns of Richard I and John remained largely unchanged. In 1247, under Henry III, the long-cross penny replaced the short-cross penny to deter clipping. In 1279 Edward I began a new coinage which was admired and imitated on the continent, and included the introduction of the farthing, halfpenny and groat, as well as making clipping easier to detect. This design remained similar throughout the reigns of Edward II and Edward III, with the addition of the quarter noble, half noble and noble in the latter's reign.

During the Wars of the Roses, Henry VI's administration kept a sufficient supply of coins in circulation, with many designs and variations of the penny minted. Henry would later be overthrown by Edward IV, who was in turn succeeded by Edward V, with Richard, Duke of Gloucester acting as Lord Protector. Richard became king in 1483 with only a small number of coins minted in his name, and was defeated at the Battle of Bosworth Field by Henry VII in 1485.