`Saxon Coins
-------->Remember, postage is included<--------
**Extra images now
added**
Early Anglo-Saxon Gold Coins
WAu-8056:
**Choice**
Saxon Merovingian Gold Tremissis. Wico in Pontio (Quentovic), c. 620-640. Tremissis
(Gold, 13mm, 1.26g,
0h), Moneyer Dutta. +VVICCO FIT Laureate bust to
right. Rev. DVTTA MONET, Cross on three steps. Belfort 4959. NM II p.
55, 14. Prou 1125. Rare but rarer still being centrally struck and such good grade.
Clear and well struck, good very fine or better. The Merovingian Dynasty was based in ancient Gaul (which is now France) and dates from the middle of the
5th century AD. The coins were very much
trading pieces and many have been found in Britain as Saxon trade between the
Continent and Britain was extremely robust. Similar examples have been found as far west
as Cornwall and as far north as Northumbria.
Ex Ian Millington (an expert on
Anglo Saxon coinage), ex Silbury Coins (their
ticket), ex DNW. You will not find a better example of this
early Saxon gold coin. It really is a
choice coin. See the gold section
WAu-8089: Early Anglo-Saxon English Crondall Gold Thrysma or
Shilling. Witman
type with obverse bust right, a trident in front. Circa 620-45. The reverse has a blundered legend
surrounding a crude cross with what is a very different 4th terminal to what
we'd normally expect to see on this type.
Sutherland type IV.1, Spink 753.
Of excellent gold content - it was from this point onwards that the
metal used for Saxon coinage was increasingly and progressively "watered
down" with silver (the post Crondall and
European types have that insipid gold colour about them) until by circa AD
660's, they were all entirely silver in metal content. Recorded on the E.M.C.
database (2022-0426). The Crondall (Hampshire) Hoard of 1828 was the single largest
hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold coins found prior to the 21st century. It comprised 97 gold coins, together with
three unstruck gold planchets and one gold-plated
object that could have been a coin forgery.
Of the 97 coins, 73 were Anglo-Saxon Thrymsa
and 24 were Merovingian or Frankish tremissis. The consensus amongst historians is that
hoard dates from between AD 635 and about AD 650. The coins are now in the collection of the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford. Of the 73 Thrysmas,
x4 in the hoard had the same obverse die as the coin listed here. All Crondall
"Native Anglo-Saxon" type Thrysmas as rare
- even the late "two emperors" type, which is invariably the one to
turn up, is rare as very few gold Saxon coins were minted and hardly any
survived - it would only be through hoards or casual field losses. This is an extremely important and
significant Anglo-Saxon gold coin. See the gold section
Early Anglo-Saxon Silver Sceats
Kings of Northumbria Saxon Coins
WSax-7842: Kings of Northumbria Saxon
Silver Styca or Penny. Eanred, 810-30 (although the reign lasted until AD 841), moneyer Eadwine. Base silver regal issue, phase 1, Spink 860. A really nice example - the much rarer
earlier silver variety (we are now regularly seeing base Stycas
selling for well in excess of £100) and excellent grade. £395
WSax-7843: Kings of Northumbria Saxon
Silver Sceatta or Penny. Eadberht, 737-58. Phase A silver regal issue, class Bi, Spink 847. A "fantastic" quadruped (currently
thought to be a stylised stag), left. Rare. £465
WSax-7948:
Kings of
Northumbria Anglo-Saxon Styca. Late Styca coinage
D - the Archiepiscopal issues: Archbishop Wigmund of York, AD 837-49/50. The moneyer is Coenred. The styca followed
on from the earlier silver sceat issues during the
Anglo-Saxon period, becoming increasingly debased; devolving from silver, to
silver alloys, to copper alloys. An
illustration as to just how powerful these clerics were lies in the gold solidus (Spink 863A), issued by Wigmund
(it being the only gold coin issued in the entire Saxon period, other
than the King Coenwulf gold penny and the much
earlier Thrymsas), potentially as an ecclesiastical
gift, at about the time of this coin.
£165
WSax-8025: Kings of Northumbria Saxon
Silver Styca - Regal Issue. Eanred with HVAETRED as money.
base or billon silver issue. Spink 860. Total reign of Eanred 810-41 with this coin being struck very early on in
that reign due to the excellent silver content. Pleasing grade with the moneyer particularly
clear. £245
Middle Saxon
"Hammered Silver" Issues
King Offa (757 – 796): Read about King Offa
WSax-7451: Middle Saxon OFFA PORTRAIT
Hammered Silver Penny. Light coinage, c.780-96, London mint, moneyer Ciolhard,
Spink 905. This Spink reference
encompasses many different reverses, this one being termed a Serpent reverse –
North 317. Slightly
porous with a large die flaw on the obverse, chipped edge. Larger flan (17mm), VF
grade and very rare. £2,995
Alfred The Great (871-899):
WSax-7819:
Choice Alfred
the Great Middle Saxon Hammered Silver Penny. Kings of Wessex Lunettes type, first coinage,
AD 871-75. Lyons & Mackay type A but a variant thereof being IA with dies A/a. Moneyer Dunn, Canterbury mint - MON DVNN
ETA. Diademed and draped bust
right, +AELBRED REX. 1.22g. Spink 1057, North 625. A little unevenly toned but other than that,
by far the best example I've ever seen with a good, strong no issues edges and
a grade rapidly approaching EF. Find
better! RESERVED
WSax-8103: Alfred the Great Middle
Saxon Hammered Silver PORTRAIT Penny.
Kings of Wessex Lunettes type, first coinage, AD 871-75. Lyons & Mackay type AfL
1.8 (this coin). Moneyer
Rosa, probably Canterbury mint, although London was also a mint
at the time for this issue - MON ROSA ETA. Diademed and draped bust right, +AELBRED REX. 1.41g. Spink 1057, North 625. Toned and completely problem-free, which in itself is a rare thing with these often crystallized,
middle period coins. Long
provenance - see here. About VF and rare thus. £7,795
Provenance:
ex SNC (1967 - £100)
ex Lessen collection
ex DNW (2018)
ex Mike Hallam collection
Aethelstan (825-845):
WSax-8032
(commission coin): Middle Saxon Kings of East
Anglia Hammered Silver Penny. Aethelstan 1st, 825-40.
Obverse and reverse small crosses, both with wedges in
the angles. Obv: AEŠELSTAN RE,
rev: AEŠELHELM MO.
North 446/3 (unrecorded moneyer for North - only EADNOTH & MON for
type, although the EMC database records three such coins, but all with pellets
in the angles as opposed to wedges), Spink 951.
Ipswich given
tentatively as the mint town (see EMC). Completely fresh to the market, coming out of a very long-held
metal detectorist's collection. The son of the finder tells me that his
father rinsed his finds under cold water for literally a second and that was
it. Attractively toned
and very nice grade indeed. A rare opportunity to acquire an outstanding Saxon coin that has
never been messed around with.
£2,750 RESERVED (J.K.4-4-24 Lay-Away)
Late Saxon "Hammered Silver" Issues
Aethelred II
(978-1016): Read about Aethelred
II
WSax-7452: Aethelred II Late Saxon
Hammered Silver Penny. B.M.C. IIIa, Crux type, c.991-97. Spink 1148. +LEOFSTAN MO HAM – Rarer Northampton mint. Of the x64 Northampton mint Aethelred II coins (all
types) recorded on the EMC database, only x6 are Crux and only one Crux penny
is Leofstan. A rarer mint for type and a very rare moneyer. £645
WSax-7453: Aethelred II Late Saxon
Hammered Silver Penny. B.M.C. IIIa, Crux type, c.991-97. Spink 1148. +AELFPINE M-O PELIG – Rarer Wallingford mint. Of the x77 Northampton mint Aethelred II coins (all
types) recorded on the EMC database, only x38 are Crux and only x4 Crux pennies
are Aelfwig. Old collection toning, wavy flan. Ex Richard Basler collection.
A rarer mint and a very rare moneyer for type. £645
WSax-6425: Aethelred II Hammered Silver
Saxon Penny – Rarer Mint. B.M.C. IIIa. Late
Saxon, 991 - 997AD. Crux type. Totnes mint
town. Moneyer AELFSTAN. Spink 1148. Ex Bonham’s auction 2006. Rarer mint. £475
WSax-8042:
Aethelred II
Late Saxon Hammered Silver Penny. B.M.C. IVa - Voided Long Cross type
(997 - 1003), +AEŠELNOŠ M`O LINC. Spink 1151. Moneyer Aethelnoth at the Lincoln mint. The Unready, or more accurately,
the Unrede, deriving from the fact that Aethelred had
very little council that he could rely upon from his government - he inherited
the thrown upon the murder of his half-brother and was considered a weak leader
virtually from the outset. This was the period
where vast (and I do literally mean vast) quantities of silver coinage were
paid to Viking raiders in attempt to stop them doing what Vikings did. Danegeld was the tax levied upon the populace
in order to raise the "tribute" payments. Large hoards have been found in Scandinavia where the payments were taken home
and deposited in the Bank-of-Mother-Earth.
Peck marks on the reverse strongly indication that this was part of the
Danegeld. £375
WSax-7985:
Aethelred II
Late Saxon Hammered Silver Penny - Rare Mint. B.M.C. IVa,
voided long cross type, AD 997-1003.
+AELFS TAN N MO LEIG - moneyer Aelfstan
working out of the Leicester mint town. A
rare mint and an even rarer moneyer with no examples of Aelfstan being recorded for Aethelred II B.M.C. IVa on the excellent EMC database. Good provenance, being ex Steve Green
collection, ex A.William collection (acquired Spink,
2019), ex Spink Numismatic Circular 1997.
Rare. Addendum: The reason there are no examples
of this moneyer working out of Leicester on the EMC database is because he
wasn't! The mint signature LEIG is for Chester, not Leicester.
Guilty as charged for blindly believing what is on old tickets, even big
name tickets! Thank you to Melvyn
Churchill in the States for pointing it out.
£675
Cnut (1016-1035): Read
about Cnut.
WSax-7736: Cnut
Late Saxon Hammered Silver Rare Mint Penny.
B.M.C.
VIII - Quatrefoil type (1017-23), +EDRIC O TANTV. Spink 1157. Taunton mint. In 1014 the Danish fleet proclaimed Cnut
king of England but the natives thought otherwise
and he was forced to leave. Interestingly,
this shows Aethelred as not a subservient and weak monarch; rather a decisive,
fighting monarch. Perhaps the potential
loss of his thrown was a bridge too far?!
Aethelred's son, Eadmund
Ironside, continued the defiance towards the Vikings
but upon his death on 1016, Cnut became undisputed
king of England , a position which Cnut firmly consolidated a year later by marrying Emma of
Normandy, Aethelred's widow. History suggests that Emma and Cnut's marriage, though begun as a political strategy, became
an affectionate affair. During their marriage, Emma and Cnut
had a son, Harthacnut, and a daughter, Gunhilda. An extremely rare mint
coin. Sold with old tickets (see here): ex
Doubleday 6-10-87 (£370), ex Rasmusson 2017
(£1,675). A very rare
coin. £2,195
WSax-6334: Cnut Late Saxon Hammered
Silver Penny. B.M.C. XVI -
Short cross type (1029-35/6), “+BLACAMAN O SNO”. Spink 1159. Nottingham mint. In 1014 the Danish fleet proclaimed Cnut
king of England but the natives thought otherwise
and he was forced to leave.
Interestingly, this shows Aethelred as not a subservient and weak
monarch; rather a decisive, fighting monarch.
Perhaps the potential loss of his thrown was a bridge too far?! Aethelred's son, Eadmund Ironside, continued the
defiance towards the Vikings but upon his death on 1016, Cnut
became undisputed king of England , a position which Cnut firmly consolidated a year later by marrying Emma of
Normandy, Aethelred's widow. History suggests that Emma and Cnut's marriage, though begun as a political strategy,
became an affectionate affair. During their marriage, Emma and Cnut had a son, Harthacnut, and a daughter, Gunhilda. An
extremely rare mint coin. Ex Cnut hoard of 1993, ex Sharp collection, ex Baldwins, ex Spink, ex Lord Stewartby collection. Sold
with three tickets (two
shown here). A
very rare coin. £1,995
WSax-8044:
Cnut Late Saxon
Hammered Silver Penny. B.M.C. XVI - Voided Short Cross type
(1029 - 1035/6), +ELFSIGE ON LENC. Spink 1159. Chester mint. Following on from Danegeld under Aethelred, Cnut was actually the son of King Swein of Denmark - a Viking and a Viking of some
repute. In 1014 the Danish fleet
proclaimed Cnut king of England but the natives thought otherwise
and he was forced to leave. Interestingly,
this shows Aethelred as not a subservient and weak monarch; rather a decisive,
fighting monarch. Perhaps the potential
loss of his thrown was a bridge too far?!
Aethelred's son, Eadmund
Ironside, continued the defiance towards the Vikings but
upon his death on 1016, Cnut became undisputed king of England , a position which Cnut firmly
consolidated a year later by marrying Emma of Normandy, Aethelred's
widow. History suggests that Emma and Cnut's marriage, though begun as a political strategy,
became an affectionate affair. During their marriage, Emma and Cnut had a son,
Harthacnut, and a daughter, Gunhilda. I've
managed to once again murder the quality of the coin through my non-existent
photographic skills and complete ineptitude at using a so-called hi spec
camera, so I've included a cheap camera phone image taken in not the best of
lighting, which actually is much more representative. Rarer mint
town. £435
Harold I
(1035-1040): Read about Harold I
WSax-7739:
Harold 1st
Harefoot Late Saxon Hammered Silver Penny. Jewel Cross type, B.M.C. 1, Spring
1036-38. Rarer Leicester mint.
Obverse diademed bust left, +HAROLD RE; reverse jewel cross of x4 ovals,
+PVLSTAN ON LEHR – moneyer Wulfstan struck at the
Leicester mint. 1.08g. Spink 1163, North 802. Same dies as SCBI 18 – Copenhagen: 200. Harold wasn’t officially king in 1036 - Harold
was elected regent of England following the death of his father
in 1035. He initially ruled England in place of his brother
Harthacnut, who was stuck in Denmark due to a rebellion in Norway.
It was not until 1037 that Harold, supported by earl Leofric
and many others, was officially proclaimed king. If you’re in the market for trivia, the term Harefoot is said to mean “fleet of foot”. Harold died at Oxford on 17 March
1040, just
as Harthacnut was preparing an invasion force of Danes, and was buried at
Westminster Abbey. His body was subsequently exhumed, beheaded, and thrown into
a fen bordering the Thames when Harthacnut assumed the throne in June 1040. The Saxon kings were not ones to hide their
feelings about people, even blood relatives!
A rarer Midland’s mint town – it probably won’t surprise you to learn
that there are only four recorded examples of this moneyer / type combination,
including this coin, with two being in institutions and a third sold on the
open market in 2016. The EMC / SCBI database
records all four examples. GVF with original old cabinet toning. Ex York Coins (early 2000’s, ticket price
$2,250, ex Leja Park Collection, Ex Spink. Tickets
here.
An extremely rare coin with much eye appeal. £2,195 RESERVED (J.K.31-5-24 Lay-Away)
WSax-7896:
Harold 1st Late
Saxon Hammered Silver Penny.
Fleur-de-lis type, B.M.C. V, Spring 1038-40. London mint.
Obverse armoured and
diademed bust left, +HAROLD REC R; reverse voided long cross with
fleur-de-lis between two pellets: +BRINTNER ON LV – moneyer Brintner
struck at the London mint. 0.96g. Spink 1165. Harold was elected regent of England following the death of his father
in 1035. He initially ruled England in place of his brother
Harthacnut, who was stuck in Denmark due to a rebellion in Norway.
It was not until 1037 that Harold, supported by earl Leofric
and many others, was officially proclaimed king. If you’re in the market for trivia, the term Harefoot is said to mean “fleet of foot”. Harold died at Oxford on 17 March
1040, just
as Harthacnut was preparing an invasion force of Danes, and was buried at
Westminster Abbey. His body was subsequently exhumed, beheaded, and thrown into
a fen bordering the Thames when Harthacnut assumed the throne in June 1040. The Saxon kings were not ones to hide their
feelings about people, even blood relatives!
Possibly an ex hoard coin, now beginning to re-tone. Very nice grade. £1,465
Harthacnut
(1040-1042)
Edward the
Confessor (1042-1066): Read about Edward
The Confessor.
WSax-5502: Edward The Confessor Saxon Hammered Silver Penny. Late Saxon – pyramids type (1065-66). B.M.C. XV. Stafford - GODSPINE. Extra image added here. Very rare mint town. £1,095
WSax-7974:
Edward the
Confessor Hammered Silver Saxon Penny.
Pointed helmet type, B.M.C. VII, c.1053-6 only. +STIRCOL ON EOFER - York mint. Spink 1179. An outstanding well struck example, being the
best I've ever handled, slightly impaired by the ragged flan. Easily a four figure coin otherwise. £765 RESERVED (M.He.13-1-24 Lay-Away)
WSax-8046:
Edward The Confessor Late Saxon Hammered Silver Penny. B.M.C. IX - Sovereign / Eagles type
(1056 - 1059), +BRVNGAR ON LVNDEF. Spink 1181. London mint,
which is different to the usual York mint
Sovereign / Eagles that you see. Edward was
the son of Aethelred II and Emma of Norway so Cnut was Edward's step father;
Cnut having sent Edward to live in Normandy under the tutelage of
Emma's brother during Cnut's lifetime - some 25
years. Edward was know
as "Confessor" due to his extreme piety, although the Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle portrayed him not as a saint but as a strong king. Interestingly, the perhaps biased Anglo-Saxon
Chronicles aside, he was remembered through history as a devout weakling; too
obsessed with the matters of the spirit to cope with the real world. This was
probably because his death led directly to the Conquest and to the fact that,
despite being married to one of the most beautiful women in the country, he had
no children by her. An interesting
feature of the reverse is the coin-shaped semicircle, indicating that this coin
has possibly been in contact with another coin for a lengthy period of
time. +BRVNGAR ON LVNDEF is an unrecorded
moneyer
for B.M.C. IX on the excellent EMC database, there being only x13 coins in total
recorded: x8 PACX, x2 Small Cross and x3 Pointed Helmet types. No Sovereign / Eagles type at all for this
moneyer. This single coin now extends
the length of time Brungar was active at the mint by
further three years. A
rare coin. £895
WSax-9036: Pedigreed Edward the
Confessor Hammered Silver Penny. Pointed helmet type, B.M.V. VII, circa 1053-6. +GODRIC ON LEHER - Leicester mint. Spink 1179. Only x2 examples recorded on the EMC database;
only one of which is GODRIC (same dies).
An exceptionally rare type coin coupled with a rare mint town. Old tickets here and here. Better than VF and with an impressive
provenance portfolio dating back to over 100 years ago. 
£1,885
Provenance
Ex Stanley Gibbons
Ex Baldwins (2011 - sold for £1,250)
Ex E.W. Danson (2005)
Ex B.W.
Hunt (dispersed by Spink in 1955 for £3,10.0)
Ex Duke of
Argyll collection (dispersed by Spink in 1949)
Ex E.H.
Wheeler (dispersed by Seaby, 1931
Ex Major
P.W.C. Carlyon-Britton (dispersed Wheeler in 1918 for
£2.12.0)
Harold II (1066
only): Read
about Harold II ("Last of the Saxons")
WSax-7931:
Harold II Godwinson Final Anglo-Saxon Hammered Silver Penny. PAX type, B.M.C. 1: +MANPINE.ON.DOVER - Manwine as money at the Dover mint. H. Pagan "The Coinage of Harold II"
p.191, North 836, Spink 1186. The money
is actually a recorded moneyer but for this exact coin only, ie this is the
only recorded example. The obverse
depicts a unique portrait of Harold II - triple banded crown together with
distinctive and better executed beard and hair.
Found Peasenhall
(a small village in East Suffolk) and
fully recorded on the EMC database. H. Pagan in his 1990 "Studies
in Late Anglo-Saxon Coinage" discusses this same coin in his The Coinage
of Harold II section. It is interesting
to note that there are only x4 Dover Harold II coins recorded on the database -
a cut half, this one and two others. Of
the other three, none have sceptres - very much a southern characteristic. And yet this coin does? Was this coin perhaps specially minted to
commemorate Harold's famous victory at Stamford Bridge?
Ironic if so because just three weeks later, Hastings happened.
It is interesting to note that a commoner mint, together with a much
less appealing portrait of Harold II has just sold through Spink for in excess
of £10,000 - see link
here. The famous Braintree Hoard of
late Anglo-Saxon pennies was 122 in total.
When Noonan's sold the hoard, there were only two Dover examples in the
sale, neither of which was this rarer depiction of Harold, with final prices on
those two coins at just under £12,000 and £6,500.
Both were CINSTAN moneyer and both without sceptre, making this
"with sceptre" example all the rarer.
This coin likely a unique example at this point in
time. £8,650
WMH-8998:
Harold II Godwinson Norman Hammered Silver VERY RARE MINT Penny. PAX type, crowned head left with
sceptre, B.M.C. 1, PAX type, Spink 1186.
Harold Godwinson lasted just 10 months on the
throne of England (6th January -
14th October 1066) after falling at the Battle of Hastings and effectively ending the
Saxon rule of Britain.
+SIDEMAN ON PAI - the Wareham mint. Warehan is in Dorset, lying on the bank of the River
Frome with Poole situated just over the Wareham
Channel. It was a thriving port in Saxon
times and is mentioned in the Burghal Hadage. Immediately
post Norman conquest, barely months later in 1067, the
town was literally devastated by William 1st.
It finally ceased being a mint town during the Civil War of
Stephen. With zero Harold II Wareham
mint examples on the EMC / SCBI database (and that is a vast National database
undertaking, always growing, with entries going back 100+ years, taken from
antiquarian publications such as the Catalogue of English Coins in the
British Museum [my copy is 1916] etc), zero examples in the recent
Braintree Hoard of x122 Harold pennies (and there were some similarly
excessively rare mints contained in that hoard), we begin to see just have rare
a coin this is. Going slightly further
back, the Chew Valley Hoard of 2019, which is the biggest hoard of Harold II
coins ever found by a country mile (1,236 coins of Harold II and 1,310 coins of
William I), contained only x3 Harold II Wareham examples. This tiny amount is all the more remarkable
when you consider that Wareham is really not that far south of
the Chew Valley, it being just over the border in Somerset.
If the Chew Valley hoard is declared Treasure by the coroner (and I
honestly can't imagine for one single second that it won't be), the Roman Baths
& Pump Room in Bath have expressed a strong interest in acquiring the
entire hoard for their collection - Chew Valley lying close to Bath -
presumably at some point to be put on display there. Bluntly, those x3 Wareham coins will never be in private
ownership. Back further still, we have
the 1990 publication, The Coinage of Harold II by the renowned
Harold Pagan - the seminal work on Harold Godwinson
of its time, and still referenced widely in numismatic circles today. In all his research, Harold Pagan could only
locate a single Wareham mint example. Some 35 years on from that publication, the
location of that single Wareham coin has become unknown. There are clearly no Harold II Wareham mint
coins available anywhere else on the planet but a quick browse of the internet
yields a William 1st Sword type penny, GODWINE of Wareham, at £5,000 (there are
x34 of that monarch / mint on the EMC / SCBI database), a Stephen Watford type,
ROGER of Wareham penny at £2,950 (there are x6 of that monarch / mint on the
EMC / SCBI database), another William I Penny, profile left type, AEGELRIC of
Wareham at £7,500 etc. In summary, Wareham is a very rare mint but for Harold
II, excessively so. If you need one for
your collection, you're not going to get any of the three Chew Valley examples and as we don't even know
the location of Harold Pagan's lone example, that's looking equally
unlikely. £8,850
