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Primary sourceArtifactbetween 1199 and 1216

Irish penny of King John, Dublin mint

between 1199 and 1216

A silver penny struck at the Dublin mint between 1199 and 1216, during the reign of King John. It shows the royal coinage of the period in which the Magna Carta was agreed.

A coin of the same reign as the charter, showing the royal coinage of King John, who agreed Magna Carta in 1215.

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Two photographs of a small silver-grey medieval coin, obverse on left and reverse on right, with a scale bar below. Each face shows a triangular central design with worn, partly legible lettering around the edge.
Irish penny of King John, Dublin mint, 1199-1216. Photographs by Margaret Broomfield, Surrey County Council.

About this source

What it is

This is a silver penny of King John, struck at the Dublin mint between 1199 and 1216. The record includes two photographs of the coin, obverse and reverse, with a scale bar. The lettering around the edge is worn and only partly legible. The coin was made in Ireland rather than England, although it was issued in John's name during his reign.

Why it matters

Magna Carta was agreed in 1215 while John was king, and his coinage shows the reach of royal government beyond England. Coins were everyday objects that moved through markets and towns, so they connect the king's authority to ordinary people. Studying a coin like this helps students see the wider royal system that the barons were negotiating with when they forced the charter on John.

Look closer

  • What can you read on each face, and which parts are too worn to read?
  • Why might a coin struck in Dublin differ from one struck in London?
  • What does a coin tell us about royal power that a written charter does not?

This artifact is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Magna Carta on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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