Mints and Money in Medieval England

A definitive study of coin production in medieval England, tracing the development, significance and wider context of mints and money.

Martin Allen (Author)

9781107564985, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 9 July 2015

596 pages, 55 b/w illus. 11 maps
14.6 x 19 x 3 cm, 1.15 kg

'This is a well-written and readable book that draws together an often complex array of documentary, statistical and archaeological material and presents it in a comprehensive and digestible format. In the history of English numismatics there are few authors that can claim to have succeeded in delivering such a comprehensive overview of their subject area; indeed the volume is unmatched in European medieval numismatics. This will be a mainstay for students of English medieval currency for a generation.' The Society for Medieval Archaeology

Money could be as essential to everyday life in medieval England as it is today, but who made the coinage, how was it used and why is it important? This definitive study charts the development of coin production from the small workshops of Anglo-Saxon and Norman England to the centralised factory mints of the late Middle Ages, the largest being in the Tower of London. Martin Allen investigates the working lives of the people employed in the mints in unprecedented detail and places the mints in the context of medieval England's commerce and government, showing the king's vital interest in the production of coinage, the maintenance of its quality and his mint revenue. This unique source of reference also offers the first full history of the official exchanges in the City of London regulating foreign exchange and an in-depth analysis of the changing size and composition of medieval England's coinage.

1. Moneyers and mints, c.973–1158
2. The centralisation of minting, 1158–1278
3. Mints and their men, 1279–1544
4. Mint workshop practice and equipment
5. Standards of weight and fineness
6. Profits
7. The exchanges in the city of London
8. The sources of bullion for the English coinage
9. Mint output
10. The changing size of the currency
11. The currency in circulation
Conclusion
Appendices.

Subject Areas: Economic history [KCZ], Early history: c 500 to c 1450/1500 [HBLC], British & Irish history [HBJD1]