Henry IV Silver Halfpenny 1399-1413AD

Henry IV Silver Halfpenny 1399-1413AD
12x13mm, 0.46g

There was a shortage of coinage during this unstable period of English history, driven by low silver and gold prices compared to Europe. Henry IV coins are divided into ‘heavy coinage’ (before 1412AD), minted at London and York, where coin weights had not been adjusted to reflect the continental price of silver, and ‘light coinage’ of 1412–13AD, minted at London, York and Durham, when silver content was reduced and corresponded to the continental price of silver, which stopped the illegal export of English coinage that had been damaging the economy.