Henry II Silver Penny

Timeline

1. 1066–1154Winchester · EnglandThe Norman kings continued the Anglo-Saxon silver penny system, establishing the accounting tradition of 240 pennies to the pound of silver; portraits and inscriptions changed with each succession, providing the institutional foundation for 12th-century English monetary stability.
2. 1154–1170London · EnglandHenry II strengthened royal control of the mints, cracked down on clipping and private coining, standardized the penny's weight, and used monetary stability to support taxation and military financing across the Angevin Empire's English and French lands.
3. c. 1175–1180England · EnglandHenry II's pennies circulated widely in urban and rural markets, church tithes, and feudal contracts, alongside southern French silver coins and Flemish commercial credit, becoming the core small-denomination payment tool of English economic activity in the later 12th century.
4. c. 1180–1189London · EnglandIn Henry II's late years the penny's design stabilized, paving the way for the famous Short Cross penny reform under his son Richard I; the high-fineness reputation of the English silver penny thus continued into the 13th century.