Richard II (1377-99), gold Noble, Tower Mint, type IVb, crescent on rudder, King standing in ship with upright sword and quartered shield, two extra pellets in upper left quarter of shield, beaded circle surrounding, RIC ARD'x DI'x GRA'x REXxx AnGL' xZ FRAnC'x D'x hIB'x Z AQ T, rev. R at centre of ornamental cross with lis terminals, crowns over lions in angles, all within a beaded and linear tressure, fleurs in spandrels, legend +IhC'x AVTEmxx TRAnSIEnSxx PERxx mEDIV'x ILLORVmx IBAT, 6.75g (Schneider 186; Webb Ware 4b; N.1304 (3); S.1658). Has been clipped in the distant past, brightly cleaned, weak at centre of reverse but with a lovely portrait and clear crescent on rudder, a bold very fine and extremely rare.The abbreviated Latin legends translate as on the obverse "Richard by the Grace of God, King of England and France, Lord of Ireland and Aquitaine"; and on the reverse "But Jesus, passing through the midst of them, went His way" taken from the Bible.
The current classification for the reign of Richard II places this crescent on rudder type at the end of his reign on the cusp before Henry IV so it likely falls into the last phase of the reign though how the varying types correspond in their chronology with the timeline of the surviving accounts is unknown. The last account of the reign which runs for just over 12 months from 29th September 1398 until 15th October 1399 shows an output of just over 1,109 pounds weight of gold which equated to a face value of £16,636.