I've had this coin for many years. My great-grand-father gave it to me. It was given to him by his father who was born in England. I've been told it was minted at the time of Cnut in the 9th century. I'm mainly a collector of 16th to 18th century European coins, and I have no knowledge of 9th century coinage. So, my question is,..is this coin from the 9th century during the time of Cnut. I'm still waiting to hear back from an expert on this time period that I've sent the coin to. But I know there are also very knowledgable people on this forum that may be able to help me out.
Oblique comments on Cnut It is not my area, either, although I will have an article out soon on medievals. It was a restricted topic and took a couple of years to write. Myself, for this, I would have to rotate the coin and toggle it in the lighting to see and read all the letters. There is a handy booklet, Reading Medieval European Coins by Ralph S. Walker. Alan Berman gives one out free with each new order of nine generic medievals for $111 ($108+SH), and sells the book for $9.50. See his website www.bermania.com He runs that deal in the pages of The Celator, but it is not on his website. I took advantage of it when I started collecting. I kept a few for myself, gave or sold the rest and, of course, still have the book. All of that is to say, your [a] picture is the reverse, of course and it is 180 off. I think that if you put the little cross at 12 o'clock, the legend reads easier. Also, if you view the obverse (heads) side obliquely, you might see the king become more natural and less like a frightened skeleton. With many Celtic coins, even into the Middle Ages, that was the case: viewing the coin more edge-on was the cutter's intent. We learned to see things front-on from Renaissance perspective techniques in painting. (Read this article by museum curator Geraldine Chimirri-Russell. If you don't like the teeny tiny letters, scroll down and look at the last two coins: One picture is worth 1000 words.)
It appears to be S-1158, Pointed Helmet type, minted between 1024 and 1030. Wish I could tell you more, but that's all I got.
