INTRODUCTION

Mint output statistics are the essential starting point of all estimates of the size of the English currency between the reform of Edgar and 1544. The mint output of a complete recoinage should, in principle, provide a reasonably reliable estimate of the size of the currency, with due allowance for the normal output that might have been expected if there had been no recoinage. The reliability of this method may, however, be open to question when the mint output statistics of a recoinage are only estimates based upon die studies, without supporting documentary evidence. In the late Anglo-Saxon period there is also considerable uncertainty about the completeness of recoinages and the extent of exports of English coins to Scandinavia during the issue of each type. These additional elements of uncertainty do not apply to estimates based upon die statistics for the recoinages of the second half of the twelfth century, which are arguably more reliable in consequence.

From the thirteenth century onwards mint output records provide the means to estimate the currency at various dates between recoinages, using hoard evidence to calculate the contribution of the coins of a particular mint output period to the total currency. The application of this method might be relatively straightforward when the recorded output consists of only one denomination (the penny), but this is no longer the case after 1279. Some published estimates of the English silver currency between 1279 and 1351 have been based upon calculations for the penny alone, but these are incomplete figures, and the most recent estimates include additional allowances for groats, halfpence, farthings and foreign coins. The process of estimation becomes even more problematic after 1351, because the outputs of the various denominations are no longer recorded separately, and the proportion of the denominations in mint outputs could vary considerably from period to period. A final complicating factor is the need to take account of the effects of wastage of coins from circulation. Estimates based upon the full output of a particular period may be too high, because wastage would be expected to eliminate some of the coins of the period before it ended. In general, the most reliable estimates may be those based upon well-documented and relatively brief periods of output, combined with good hoard evidence.