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In England, where the quality,size and production of coins was strictly controlled, the process was fairly simple.

For silver pennies in the 12th century (to take a typical example) the minter would have a hammer, a two-part coin die and a supply of silver blanks which he had very carefully cast himself. The silver content was very high, making the coins fairly soft - they were also made very thin and must conform to a precise set weight.

Taking the first blank silver disk, the minter set it centrally in the female half of the metal die, then inserted the male half and struck it just once with the hammer. This created the embossed image on both sides of the coin at the same time. The coin was removed and another blank was inserted, and so on.

English pennies had the head of the king on the obverse (front), surrounded by his name in Latin (for example Henricus Rex = king Henry); on the reverse was a design usually incorporating a cross and dots, surrounded by the name of the minter and his town. (but in English, not Latin; for example Aldret on Wirec = Aldred at Worcester) This ensured that if the coin were in some way counterfeit (if some of the silver were replaced with tin or lead, for example), the maker could be immediately traced and punished.

The central cross allowed the coin to be cut exactly into halves or quarters, creating ha'pennies and farthings - many of these have been discovered in 12th century contexts.

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