British RARITIES From English King's Harold II, William I and Edward III

SPECIAL MEDIEVAL COINS TELL THE HISTORY OF BRITAIN

- BY GREG REYNOLDS

Medieval coins hold great historical importance and tell especially fascinating stories. Some of the most significant British rarities capable of illustrating history were recently sold at auction. These rarities from English Kings Harold II, William I and Edward III, medieval coins that help to chronicle the story of Britain, were included in six landmark auctions at the New York International Numismatic Convention (NYINC) held in January 2025 at the InterContinental Barclay hotel, New York. Heritage Auctions; Classical Numismatic Group, LLC (CNG); St. James's Auctions (Stephen Fenton, director); Dmitry Markov Coins & Medals; Stack's Bowers Galleries and Spink & Son were the auction companies that staged the events that exhibited and offered these extraordinary numismatic artifacts and, by selling these important coins, made history themselves.

Coins of King Harold II Godwinson, William I the Conqueror and Edward III are especially meaningful. These three kings each had an enormous impact on the history of Europe. In terms of coin collecting and monetary history, the gold coins of Edward III were pathbreaking.

King Harold II Godwinson ruled for less than 10 months in 1066, the most important year in the history of the British Isles. Harold II was replaced by King William I the Conqueror. Edward III was King of England for about half a century, from 1327 to 1377.

Earlier, King Athelstan, grandson of Alfred the Great, ruled Southern England from 924 to 927 and England overall from 927 to 939. He held together a network of former Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. Moreover, Athelstan's armies and allies defeated Viking strongholds and independent Scandinavian societies in England. His takeover in 927 of a Viking-founded society based in York was a landmark event.