GOLD COINS BELIEVED LOST IN THE BLACK DEATH

A "very rare" Edward III gold coin lost in the wake of the Black Death has been found by a metal detectorist.

The 23-carat leopard was discovered with another gold coin, called a noble, near Reepham, Norfolk.

Finds liaison officer Helen Geake said the leopard was withdrawn within months of being minted in 1344 and "hardly any have survived".

After the Norman Conquest, the only coins in circulation were silver pennies.

"The royal treasury might talk in terms of pounds, shillings and pence, but the physical reality was sacks of silver pennies," said Dr Geake.

"Then Edward III decided to reintroduce the first gold coins in England since the Anglo-Saxon era - and no-one knows why."

The coins, called a florin, a leopard and a helm, were minted in early 1344, but withdrawn within months.

Dr Geake said: "For some reason they didn't catch on, but when one or two pennies were the equivalent of a day's wages at today's minimum wage rate, perhaps very few people used them."

The Reepham find shows the leopard, which was worth three shillings, was in circulation for much longer than previously thought.

Dr Geake said: "We asked ourselves why and realised the Black Death reached England in 1348.

"It was hugely cataclysmic, a third of the population was dying.

To read the complete article, see:
Gold coins lost in Black Death confusion found in Reepham (https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-norfolk-57520248)

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