The gold penny was the issue introduced, with a value of twenty pence, with the obverse showing the king enthroned, with the legend (King Henry III), while the reverse contained a long cross extending to the edge, with a flower in each quarter, and the moneyer's name in the legend, thus (William of London).
The gold penny was not popular, as Carte in his history of England says that the citizens of London made a representation against them on 24 November 1257, and that "the King was so willing to oblige them, that he published a proclamation, declaring that nobody was obliged to take it (the gold penny), and whoever did, might bring it to his exchange, and receive there the value at which it had been made current, a halfpenny on being deducted, probably for the coinage".
Unfortunately, the issue was undervalued; by 1265 the gold in the coin was worth twenty-four pence rather than twenty, and it is believed that most of the coins were melted down for profit by individuals. Consequently, as this coinage was not a success, gold coins would not be minted again in England until the reign of King Edward III.
Famous quotes containing the words gold and/or penny:
“As in digging for precious metals in the mines, much earthy rubbish has first to be troublesomely handled and thrown out; so, in digging in one’s soul for the fine gold of genius, much dullness and common-place is first brought to light.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
“I had not given a penny for a song
Did not the poet sing it with such airs
That one believed he had a sword upstairs;
Yet would be now, could I but have my wish,
Colder and dumber and deafer than a fish.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)