AR Short Cross Penny (fragmentary), 1.01g, York mint c. CE 1180-1182, Isac as moneyer. Type 1ab
SCBC 1344
North 963
OBS: [hENRI]CVS R EX crowned facing bust holding cruciform scepter
REV: +I[SAC O]N EVERW voided short cross with four pellets in each quarter.
Below is an attempted reconstruction illustrating the missing portions of the fragmentary penny. It appears from the CNG example, that approximately 0.48 g of the coin is missing or about 32% of the total coin.
It is surmised that the "Isaac of York" who is the moneyer of this example, was the prototype of the character of "Isaac of York" in Walter Scott's "Ivanhoe". It is thought that this Isaac was Jewish ergo the background of Scott's Isaac and his career as a money lender in the story. Ten years after this coin was minted there was a pogrom and massacre of the Jews of York at Clifford's Tower (which is still standing), and it is likely that if this moneyer was in fact Jewish that he met his end at that time,
CE 1190.
