…a long cross silver penny of Edward I, minted in London in 1280/1.

In the late 1270’s, seven years into his reign, Edward was in desperate need for money to repay loans to Italian bankers that had funded his wars with the Welsh. Conveniently, the coins in circulation were in a poor state, many being considerably worn and dating from the time of his father, Henry III. Calling these in, and re-minting coins, such as this one, proved a profitable exercise and also restored confidence in what had been an increasingly debased currency. But the story of how Edward achieved it is not an uplifting one.