King Henry II ascended the throne in 1154 as the first of the Plantagenet dynasty. For the first few years of his reign the coins of King Stephen continued to be produced, but in order to restore public confidence in the currency a new standard was introduced, known as the Tealby penny after a hoard of such coins which was found at Tealby, Lincolnshire in 1807. A total of 31 mints were employed in this recoinage — Bedford, Bristol, Bury St Edmunds, Canterbury, Carlisle, Chester, Colchester, Durham, Exeter, Gloucester, Hereford, Ilchester, Ipswich, Launceston, Leicester, Lincoln, London, Newcastle, Northampton, Norwich, Oxford, Pembroke, Salisbury, Shrewsbury, Stafford, Thetford, Wallingford, Wilton, Winchester, and York — but once the recoinage was completed only 12 mints were allowed to remain active. This marks the beginning of the gradual decline in the number of mints used to strike English coins.

While the Tealby coinage was acceptable in terms of weight and silver quality, the overall quality of production was dreadful, so in 1180 a new style of coin, the short-cross penny was introduced. This style remained more or less unaltered until 1247, which gave both the coinage and the state a sense of stability. The practice of placing the moneyer's name and mint on the reverse continued, though the reduction in the number of mints enabled better quality control to be applied. The Tealby coins bear the obverse inscriptions HENRI REX ANG, HENRY REX AN, HENRI R ANG, HENRI REX, HENRI REX A, or HENRI REX — Henry King of England, or King Henry, while the Short-cross pennies are inscribed HENRICUS REX. Short-cross coins were minted at Carlisle, Exeter, Lincoln, London, Northampton, Norwich, Oxford, Wilton, Winchester, Worcester, and York.

Richard I and John

During the reign of King Richard I (1189–1199) the short-cross coinage continued unchanged, even to the extent of still being inscribed HENRICUS REX. Ricardian coins were minted at Canterbury, Carlisle, Durham, Exeter, Lichfield, Lincoln, London, Northampton, Norwich, Shrewsbury, Winchester, Worcester, and York.

King John's coins (1199–1216) continued the short-cross series, still inscribed HENRICUS REX. John's coins were minted at Bury St Edmunds, Canterbury, Carlisle, Durham, Exeter, Ipswich, Kings Lynn, Lincoln, London, Northampton, Norwich, Oxford, Rhuddlan, Rochester, Winchester, and York.