215 



A most important addition to the existing coins of this and 

 the succeeding reigns was made in the year 1833 by the acci- 

 dental discovery at Beaworth in Hampshire of a hoard consist- 

 ing of scarcely less than twelve thousand of the silver pennies 

 of William the Conqueror and his son Rufus, all in a state of 

 perfect preservation, having never been in circulation. ^ The 

 number of the coins in this collection, which had issued from 

 the York mint, is comparatively small, amounting to about 

 eighty. As the coins of the Conqueror and his son closely 

 resemble each other, and present no characteristic mark by 

 which they can be satisfactorily distinguished, numismatists 

 have experienced great difficulty in the appropriation of them. 

 It cannot therefore be stated specifically which of the York 

 coins in any of the hoards I have spoken of were of the mintage 

 of King William II. The following are the several varieties 

 they afford of the names of York moneyers : — 



Of the coins of King Henry I., except those minted at 

 London and Canterbury, specimens are extremely rare. The 

 other places of mintage in his reign are comparatively few. 

 Ruding describes only a single coin struck at York :^ — 



Obv. HENRI REI 

 Rev. IV N EBO 



In a large collection of coins of Henry I. and his successor, 

 discovered at Watford in the year 1818, two York coins of the 



• Description of coins of William the Conqueror discovered at Bea-worth in 

 Hampshire ; By Edward Hawkins Esq. Archaeol., Vol. XXVI., p. 1. Ruding, 

 Vol. I., p. 161. 2 Ruding, Vol. II., Suppl. p. 381. 



2d 



