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Irish Coinage of Edward IV Part II (1470 to 1483) |
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Index
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Introduction to Irish Coins of Edward IV's second reign (1471-1483)(this page is unfinished and contains only a brief summary) xxxxx This page is quite long and is divided into sections corresponding to the main Irish coinages of the period. To jump directly to a point on this page select one of the topics below.
Portrait, Cross and Pellets Coinage with English Titles (1470-1472)The following 23 years until Edward's death in 1483
were witness to a continual struggle between the local
Irish authorities striving to maintain a lower Irish
standard, the King trying to exercise control over
coinage struck in his name which sometime circulated in
England (to the great annoyance of the English merchant
class because of the lower standard) and the unscrupulous
activities of a series of Irish mintmasters.
In short there are six distinct designs. Two of which have more than one weight standard. There are factions between Eastern and Southern mints. There are base metal and billon issues and there are lots of mints (some of which were illegal, and some of which are still unrepresented by a surviving coin).
As a final act Edward IV attempted another revision of the Irish coinage before his death in 1483. But this new coinage did not emerge until after his death. Richard III did implement his brother Edward IV's new
coinage (see next section) but the earliest coins in his
name are of the last type of Edward (with Richard's name
often stamped over Edward's on the die). |
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