Historical Context

Richard II succeeded to the English throne on 22 June 1377 following the demise of his grandfather, Edward III. Because his father, Edward of Woodstock (the Black Prince), had died the preceding year, the ten-year-old sovereign assumed power during a precarious regency period characterized by continual councils and heavy fiscal burdens. His twenty-two-year reign witnessed severe military confrontations in the Hundred Years' War, the social upheaval of the Great Rising of 1381, factional strife against the Lords Appellant between 1386 and 1388, and his eventual deposition in September 1399 by Henry of Bolingbroke, who took the crown as Henry IV.

The gold noble functioned as the premier denomination of international and domestic English commerce. Initiated by Edward III in 1344 and regularized under the Fourth Coinage indentures of 1351, the denomination carried a statutory face value of six shillings and eight pence (6s 8d), corresponding to eighty silver sterlings or exactly one-third of a Troy pound sterling. In accordance with established royal indentures, the noble was struck at a weight standard of 120 grains Troy (approximately 7.78 grams) and a fineness of 23 carats 3.5 grains (.9948 fine), an exceptionally pure standard maintained without alteration throughout Richard II's reign.

While the primary output of gold coinage took place at the Tower Mint in London, the continental garrison town of Calais held an essential role. Following the surrender of Calais in 1347, Edward III had instituted a regional overseas mint there in 1363 to service military operations, facilitate the wool staple trade, and convert continental bullion into English coin. Under Richard II, Calais mint activity was irregular, generating slightly more than £120,000 in total gold output. Operations experienced a complete hiatus between January 1384 and January 1387 before reopening under revised administrative controls. Because of these disruptions and lower overall volume, nobles struck at Calais remain substantially rarer than their London counterparts.

Obverse Iconographic Composition

The obverse composition displays a full-length, crowned depiction of King Richard II standing facing forward aboard the waist of an armed medieval cog navigating stylized oceanic waves. In his right hand, the king grasps an upright sword; upon his left arm rests a heater-shaped shield displaying the quartered royal arms of France ancient (semy-de-lis) and England (three lions passant guardant in pale). The vessel features rigged lines rising to a central mast, structural gunwales, an ornate rudder, and elevated forecastle and sterncastle platforms.

Issues produced at the Calais mint are distinguished iconographically by an English heraldic pennant flying to the left from the sterncastle turret. In contrast, standard London dies omit this flag. Later emissions within the series incorporate minute marks upon the vessel's components: on specific varieties, such as Type IIIc, a tiny lion passant appears on the surface of the rudder, accompanied by discreet pellets located in the field above and below the royal shield.

Obverse Epigraphy and Inscriptions

The obverse inscription is rendered in late medieval Gothic (Lombardic) epigraphy within an outer beaded border. The legend runs peripherally, split at the twelve o'clock position by the ship's mast and terminating before the bowsprit.

The standard verified reading across mature dies is:

RICARD DI GRA REX ANGL Z FRANC D HIB Z AQ

Expanded in Latin, the legend reads:

Ricardus Dei Gratia Rex Angliae et Franciae Dominus Hiberniae et Aquitaniae

In English, this translates as:

"Richard, by the grace of God, King of England and France, Lord of Ireland and Aquitaine."

Minor die-level variations in abbreviation exist across the series, such as DEI for DI, DNS for D, and AQT for AQ. Epigraphically, the series exhibits a deliberate distinction between production phases: Type II coins systematically drop the title of France (FRANC), presenting a shortened royal style, whereas Type III resumes the claim (Z FRANC or Z FRAnC). Word separation is routinely indicated by double saltire stops.

Reverse Iconographic Composition

The reverse design presents an intricate late-Gothic cruciform schema framed within an octilobe (a tressure of eight curved arcs). At the absolute center of the coin, within a floriate compartment or rosette, sits the Lombardic initial letter R for Ricardus.

From this central compartment, four limbs of an ornate cross fleury project outward, each terminating in three stylized fleurs-de-lis. A crowned lion (heraldic leopard) passant guardant occupies each of the four quadrants between the cross arms. The cusps of the outer tressure are embellished with trefoils, while small trefoils or fleurs-de-lis occupy the spandrels between the arches and the outer beaded border.

Reverse Epigraphy and Inscriptions

The reverse legend is preceded by an initial mark consisting of a cross pattée located at the twelve o'clock position. The inscription is executed in Gothic Lombardic characters and reads:

+ IHC AVTEM TRANSIENS PER MEDIV ILLORVM IBAT

Minor contraction variations appear on individual dies, including MEDIVM or ILLORV.

Expanded in Latin, the phrase reads:

+ Iesus autem transiens per medium illorum ibat

This text quotes the Gospel of Luke 4:30 and translates into English as:

"But Jesus, passing through the midst of them, went His way."

Throughout the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, this scriptural citation served as an apotropaic charm widely invoked by long-distance merchants, seafarers, and travelers. It was believed to afford divine protection against highway robbery, shipwreck, and deceit in monetary transactions, reinforcing the perceived integrity and security of English high-value gold currency in overseas markets.

Typology and Documented Variants

Numismatic classification of Richard II's nobles is grounded in the studies of Jeffrey J. North, Peter Woodhead, and Timothy G. Webb Ware, categorizing the coinage into four principal groups based on punch progression, epigraphy, and rudder symbols:

Type I: Transitional and Early Lettering (c. 1377)

Produced during the opening months of the reign using punches carried over directly from the late Post-Treaty period of Edward III. The earliest Calais obverses were struck from altered Edward III dies where the royal name was re-engraved from EDW to RIC, paired with reverse dies displaying the central letter R.

  • Catalog references: London: North 1302, Spink 1654; Calais: North 1306, Spink 1660; Schneider 138–142.

Type II: Omission of the French Title (c. 1377–1384)

Distinguished by the exclusion of FRANC from the obverse legend (RICARD DI GRA REX ANGL DNS HIB Z AQ). Calais issues systematically incorporate the stern flag.

  • Type IIa: Coarse, heavy lettering with a plain rudder.
  • Type IIb: Neater, well-proportioned lettering; occasionally features a trefoil ornament over the mast.
  • Type IIc: Marked by a broad, heavier facial punch frequently characterized as porcine in style.
  • Catalog references: London: North 1303, Spink 1655; Calais: North 1307(1), Spink 1661; Schneider 143–155.

Type III: Resumption of the French Title (c. 1387–1399)

Marked by the restoration of FRANC or FRAnC in the obverse titulature, coinciding with the operational resumption of the Calais mint in 1387.

  • Type IIIa: Plain rudder without field pellets; Calais pieces retain the stern flag.
  • Type IIIb: Features a pellet placed above the royal shield.
  • Type IIIc: Displays a flag at the stern (Calais), a pellet above the shield, a pellet below or to the lower right of the shield, and a distinct lion passant punch on the rudder.
  • Catalog references: London: North 1305, Spink 1656–1657; Calais: North 1307(2), Spink 1662–1663; Schneider 167–180.
  • Institutional benchmark: The Cleveland Museum of Art records Richard II noble 1969.162, ex-Norweb Collection, at 7.683 grams and 3.4 cm. A precise Type IIIc assignment is not established here; it requires a documented comparison of the relevant die diagnostics.

Type IV: Late Reign Transition (c. 1398–1399)

Features advanced lettering punches transitioning directly into the early heavy coinage of Henry IV. Struck exclusively at London.

  • Type IVa1: Escallop stops in the obverse legend.
  • Type IVa2: Escallop mark punch upon the rudder.
  • Type IVb: Crescent mark upon the rudder.
  • Catalog references: North 1304; Spink 1658; Schneider 183–187.

Scholarly Debates and Attribution Limitations

Numismatic scholarship continues to examine several critical facets of Richard II's gold coinage:

Chronology of Rudder Privy Marks

Twentieth-century numismatists frequently treated distinct rudder symbols—such as the plain rudder, crescent, lion, and escallop—as successive annual privy marks indicating strict chronological years of manufacture. However, comprehensive die-link analyses by T. G. Webb Ware and Lord Stewartby demonstrated that these punch varieties overlap across shared reverse dies, particularly following the 1384–1387 mint hiatus at Calais. As a result, individual rudder marks cannot be treated as rigid annual markers, and absolute calendar dating for specific Type III emissions remains unattainable.

Motivations for the Omission of the French Title

Historians and numismatists have debated whether the suppression of Rex Franciae on Type II nobles was a deliberate diplomatic concession during peace negotiations with the French crown in the early 1380s or merely an administrative adjustment in legend length. Surviving mint indentures offer no explicit instruction mandating the removal of the French title, and the presence of shared lettering punches across transition periods indicates that workshop die-sinker habits and punch survival operated alongside diplomatic considerations.

Limitations Concerning Uninspected Specimens

Attribution of a gold noble of Richard II requires direct, high-magnification examination of specific diagnostics: the presence of a stern flag (separating Calais from London), the presence and form of rudder marks, the placement of field pellets, and detailed punctuation styles. External museum benchmark specimens, such as the Norweb noble in the Cleveland Museum of Art, provide comparative typological standards but cannot be used to extrapolate the strike date, exact weight, or mint origin of uninspected private specimens without direct die study.

References

  1. Noble: Richard II Standing on Ship with Shield of Arms (Obverse); Ornamental Cross with Lis Terminals (Reverse) (Accession 1969.162). Cleveland Museum of Art, Department of Decorative Art and Design, accession record 1969.162
  2. Some late Richard nobles. Lord Stewartby and T. G. Webb Ware, British Numismatic Journal, vol. 77 (2007), pp. 281–282
  3. Richard II – a neglected reign (Typescript, 1987/1992). Jesus College Cambridge Archives, Stewartby Papers, Item JCPP/Stewartby/5/2/WEBB WARE/1992/1
  4. The Herbert Schneider Collection, Volume I: English Gold Coins and Their Imitations 1257–1603 (SCBI 47). Peter Woodhead, Sylloge of Coins of the British Isles 47 (London: Spink & Son, 1996), nos. 138–187, esp. no. 180
  5. English Hammered Coinage, Volume II: Edward I to Charles II, 1272–1662 (3rd rev. ed.). Jeffrey J. North (London: Spink & Son, 1991), pp. 52–54, catalog nos. 1302–1307