Overview
Obverse: “C*O*R*O*N*A ** M*I*D*R*E*A*L*M ** ”, around a dragon’s head within inner circle
Reverse: “WIGTHEGN * NEASSA * AS LX * ”, around non-terminated short cross with trefoil of pellets in each angle
Medium: Silver, Brass, Pewter, and Aluminum
Technique: Punchwork/Chasing; Engraving; Hammer-struck by hand
Completed: April 2025
Inspiration: Layout based off of a classic short cross English penny
Created For: Their Royal Majesties of the Midrealm, Wigthegn II & Neassa II
Presented At: Coronation of Wigthegn II & Neassa II (May 3, 2025), by the Midrealm Moneyer’s Guild
Notes
In addition to a few hundred aluminum and pewter coins, two pure silver coins were presented to their majesties at their coronation, not as largesse but as a personal gift to them.
The obverse features a dragon’s head, with the words “Corona Midrealm” surrounding it, which approximately translates to:
“Crown of Midrealm”
Or more poetically:
“Of the Crown of the Middle Kingdom”
The reverse features the names of the sovereigns and the year of their reign, surrounding a classic short cross penny back.
The reverse was carved with both engraving and punch work, and the obverse was done entirely with punches.
Unlike the previous royal pound I carved, which took 5 tries per side to get right, I completed both of the dies for this coin on the first attempt! My skills still have a long way to go, but it is an amazing feeling to see how far my skills have already come just in that.
Research & Resources
The layout of this coin was based on a short cross English penny. The short cross was a very common design on English coinage, though Henry II has a good number of examples to go off of.
Henry II Short Cross Penny,
circa 1180-1189 AD
Photo via coin-links.net
Instead of a quatrefoil of pellets, I went with a trefoil of pellets in the angles of the cross, which was much more common on long cross pennies, like the one below.
Henry III Long Cross Penny Reverse,
circa 1253 AD
Photo via Numista
My original goal had been to do a long cross penny, but decided to keep the words intact instead of breaking them up with the cross, primarily for ease of readability.
Angist Arts 