INTRODUCTION

Henry II reformed the English coinage twice, in 1158 and 1180, and his reform of 1180 included the introduction of centralised mint buildings and salaried exchangers, fundamentally changing the organisation of the coinage. The number of mints in England was reduced from nearly fifty in 1154–8 to only nine at the time of Henry’s death in 1189. He completely eliminated the ecclesiastical mints, and although this policy was reversed by his sons Richard I and John the number of mints normally open between recoinages fell to only four during the reign of Henry III (London, Canterbury, Bury St Edmunds and Durham). An established hierarchy of officials evolved in the royal mints, under the authority of a warden. The old system of periodic recoinages was permanently abandoned after 1158, and the deterioration of the coinage in the long intervals between recoinages became a constant problem for the rest of the Middle Ages. There was a partial recoinage in 1205–7 to deal with clipped coins, and public concern about the state of the coinage had a crucial role in the decisions to introduce new coinages in 1180, 1247 and 1279.