Pleasing Portrait of Stephen
NORMAN. Stephen. 1135-1154. AR Penny (20mm, 1.40 g, 10h). Cross Moline (’Watford’) type (BMC i). Norwich or Nottingham mint; uncertain moneyer. Struck circa 1136-1145. Crowned bust right, holding lis-tipped scepter / Cross moline. Mack 157; North 873; SCBC 1278. Toned. Near VF. Good portrait.
Stephen, Count of Blois, and son of the reluctant Crusader and namesake and Adela, the strong-willed daughter of William the Conqueror, seized the English throne upon the death of his uncle Henry I. Stephen, however, was opposed by Henry’s only surviving daughter Matilda, the “Empress” and widow of the Holy Roman Emperor Henry V. The ensuing wars of succession known as the Anarchy (1139-1154) saw the final breakdown of the system of Anglo-Saxon currency as barons asserted regional power and coined in their names. By the Treaty of Wallingford (1154), Stephen recognized as his heir the future Henry II, son of Matilda the Empress and her second husband Count Geoffrey V of Anjou. Upon the death of Stephen (October 25, 1154), Henry II succeeded the English throne.
