Technically, your coin is a class 5b2 short cross penny, issued during the reign of John. The reverse (rotating your image 90 degrees) reads +ANDREV.ON.NIC so the moneyer is Andreu (Andrew) at the mint of Lincoln (NIC - the town is given as Nicol in medieval times). It is not a rare type/mint/moneyer nor is it a particularly good specimen so would have a retail value of about £40 or so.
The classification system used for the short coinages, as with all such systems for medieval coins generally, is a convenience for modern numismatists/collectors. It establishes a chronology or sequence of types (only possible since all coin dies were made at a central workshop before being issued to the various mints) but many of the details used probably had no significance to those making the dies.
My own little book 'The Short-Cross Coinage, 1180-1247' (still in print at about £15 or equivalent through Spink and other numismatic book stockists)) explains and illustrates in detail the features seen and used to determine in which class a particular coins falls. Chris Wren
Posted 03/12/2011 6:01 pm
