Another year, another top 10 list My focus remains British medieval coins, and I've added a number. The kingdom does still exist to this day, and my collecting goals encompass the entire period, so despite its roots in late antiquity, I really am stretching the definition of "ancient". But here is the list, in chronologic order. Thrymsa, Crondall phase 620-645 Monarch: unknown, possibly Eadbald Mint: unknown, probably Kent 'EAN' type S.759 N.30 Crondall 91-94 In 1828 a large group of early gold coins was found in the south of England. This hoard of about 100 coins remains the largest find of early Anglo-Saxon gold coins ever found, and still comprises most of the known coins of this era. The entire hoard was acquired by the Ashmolean museum and remains intact in Oxford. It is mostly made of Anglo-Saxon coins, but there are a few Merovingian coins as well. Lord Stewartby classified the early gold coins as pre-Crondall (before 620), Crondall (620-645), ultra-Crondall (620-645 but not present in the Crondall hoard), and post-Crondall (645-680). This categorization has been challenged in recent years and I believe Gareth Williams is working on a new arrangement hopefully to be published soon. Still, the Crondall hoard is an important part of our understanding of these coins. This coin, not from the hoard of course, but found more recently, is an example of one of the Crondall types, the so called ‘EAN’ thrymsa. So named for the legible retrograde letters on the obverse, which stand out from an otherwise garbled legend. Anna Gannon, in her book on iconography, notes that the bust on this coin features a Persian style bejeweled helmet, copied from the Constantinian era Roman coins, and likely represents a status symbol of old Roman glory rather than battle protection. Similar head adornments would also feature on later sceattas. Four of these coins were in the Crondall hoard, apart from mine these are the only others known, and are all from the same dies. Thrymsa, post-Crondall phase 655-675 Monarch: unknown Mint: unknown, probably Kent 'Two Emperors' type S.767 This coin copies imagery seen on late Roman coins, including two seating figures on the reverse with winged victory in between, imitating Roman types. This is the most common of the gold Anglo-Saxon thrymsas, not saying too much as all are rare. Secondary phase Anglo-Saxon sceat Mint: East Anglia Series Q I G Type 95 S.808C Abramson 63-105 O: Bust facing R: Quadruped left An uncommon sceat or sceatta with facing bust, from East Anglia, from the Tony Abramson collection, the greatest collection of Early Anglo-Saxon thrymsas, sceattas, and stycas, which was sold at Auction this year. Sceat of Eardwulf, king of Northumbria 796-806, 808-810 Moneyer: Cutheard Mint: York (presumably) S. 858 Phase Ia O: +EARDVVLF R R: CVDhEVRT Another coin from the Abramson collection, this is an extremely rare coin of king Eardwulf of Northumbria, a little known early Saxon monarch. Unlike most of the individuals of this time, a bit is known about Eardwulf. We know he was the son of another by the name of Eardwulf. He is associated with Ripon, which suggests he might have been part of the Deiran faction, however he was no friend of the current dynasty. In 790, his death was ordered by Aethelred I, of the house of Moll. A group of assassins attacked Eardwulf outside of the Ripon monastery and presumably in the open, to make an example. He was left for dead outside the gates. The monks brought his body inside and placed it in a tent, but the next day Eardwulf crawled into the church, and was found by the monks alive. Eardwulf got the message and went into exile. It is not recorded in the chronicles where he was hiding, but local tradition associates Eardwulf with St. Hardulph at Breedon on the Hill, then a part of Mercia. He may have lived in a cave, and the cave still exists, known locally as Anchor Church cave. In time, the political wind changed, and Aethelred I was overthrown and killed by his nobles in 796. No suitable candidate from the royal family seemed to exist, so the throne went to a Bernician nobleman named Osbald, however a competing faction desired the return of Eardwulf. Osbald didn't last a month, and Eardwulf was made king. It was a stunning reversal of fortune after he nearly died 6 years earlier and was living in exile in a cave. Perhaps a new era in Northumbrian prosperity? Unfortunately, no. Eardwulf faced the same problems as his predecessors. The Bernician faction again rose up, with the goal of restoring Osbald, but the rebellion was unsuccessful. Later, Eardwulf put to death an ealdorman from the house of Moll, and Almund, probably a relative of another old king, Alchred. The constant cycle of intrigue and revolt seemed to be as healthy as ever, despite the new threat of the Vikings. Alcuin, a Northumbrian churchman living in Paris, wrote to Eardwulf in a letter that survives. He chastised Eardwulf about his sins, with regards to political assassination, but also because Eardwulf committed a very public adultery with a concubine. This latter issue, though quite typical for the medieval king, was a problem for Eardwulf because it brought him the enmity of Eanbald II, archbishop of York. Eanbald began traveling with a large armed retinue, and issued coins in his own name, whereas prior episcopal coinage was in joint name with king and bishop. The discontent fomented outside of Northumbria as well, and Coenwulf of Mercia, ever the opportunist, provided assistance to Eardwulf's enemies. This actually led to war between Northumbria and Mercia in 801. The war was a stalemate but Eardwulf did silence his enemies for a time. However, the troubles continued. In 806 another revolt erupted and Eardwulf was expelled in favor of Aelfwald II. Nothing is known of Aelfwald II, though he may have been a relative of Aelfwald I, the Bernician. Eardwulf fled to France and was accepted as an exiled king by Charlemagne. He then went to Rome and visited the pope, Leo III. With continental and papal blessing he went back to Northumbria and was probably restored in 808, though the Saxon sources are silent about this. Eardwulf would die around 810. His son Eanred and grandson Aethelred II would succeed him. No coins of Eardwulf were known until the 1990s. Since that time, a total of 9 coins of Eardwulf have been found by metal detecting. All are the nonportrait "styca type" of debased silver, and all by the moneyer Cutheard. The Abramson collection, sold at auction earlier this year, contained a remarkable 5 examples, more than half of the number known. My coin is from that collection, found in 2009 in East Yorkshire. Viking penny in the name of Æthelstan II, 878-890 Moneyer: Judelberd (or Iudelberd) Mint: unknown S.956 N.479 O: +EL EL IA NV R: IVDEL . BERD Penny of Guthrum, Viking king of East Anglia, in his baptismal name of Aethelstan (slightly blundered), by moneyer Judelberd. Guthrum was one of the war chiefs of the Viking army that went a-plundering in the 870s, and conquering most of Saxon England, with the exception of Wessex. The Vikings stayed for years, but around 878 lost a critical battle at Eddington to Alfred of Wessex. Afterwards, a treaty was signed between Alfred and Guthrum, setting the boundaries of the Danelaw, and leading to a much needed, if slightly uneasy, peace. Guthrum converted to Christianity and took the baptismal name of Aethelstan. He is often styled 'Aethelstan II' to distinguish him from the previous Saxon ruler of East Anglia by that name. It is unknown whether Guthrum took his new religion particularly seriously, but he did stop attacking Wessex. He also issued coins in imitation of Alfred's two-line coins. These coins typically depict a blundered spelling of the name Aethelstan, typically "ED EL TA RE" or "ED EL IA NV". Mine is "EL EL IA NV". The reverse has the moneyers name in two lines. Some of the moneyers have Continental names and some have English names, typical for Danelaw coinage, and a feature also seen in the later St. Edmund Memorial coinage. Judelberd was presumably Continental. Blackburn in 2005 BNJ wrote on these coins, and noted 17 different moneyers on the reverse inscription (some of which may be imitative). Most are only known from a couple of coins at best. Using Warren Etsy's estimation formulae, he figured about 200 die pairs would have been produced. We tend to expect dies to be useful for at least 10000 coins each. Which implies a substantial coinage. 42(?) of these coins are known, not that rare for a Saxon type, but tiny compared to the total mintage. More significantly, 75% of these are from the massive Cuerdale hoard, and the rest also from hoards, with only 3 or 4 single finds known. Of the known coins, nearly all are in museums. In the early 20th century, there were a number in famous collections of the day, such as Montagu, Bruun, Grantley, and Ryan. All of these ultimately went into museum collections. So the only ones currently in private hands are the recent finds, of which there are three in the EMC- this one, one sold at CNG about 7 years ago, and a third which I've never seen (no picture on EMC). These coins are crude, and some may be imitative. They usually weigh about 20% less than the contemporary Wessex coins. There also is another type of Guthrum's coinage, imitating a Carolingian 'temple' type of Louis the Pious, but in the name of Aethelstan. There are also blundered copies of Alfred's coinage which are underweight and are thought to also originate in the Danelaw, suggesting either multiple coinage centers, or just very brief coinage type output with these different types in sequence. Crude, rare, and forgotten, but perhaps not forever- recently popular media has made Guthrum a more household name, as a character in Bernard Cornwell's books and in the TV shows 'The Last Kingdom' and 'Vikings'. Viking penny in the name of Siefred ca. 895-900 Moneyer: unknown Mint: York S.979 O: +SIEFREDVS REX R: +EB IAI CEC IVI Siefred, also called Sievert, was a Viking king of York in the late 9th century. Nothing is known about his English exploits, apart from that he issued coins in his own name as well as jointly with another unknown individual, Cnut (not to be confused with the later Cnut of England). Siefred is possibly the same individual as Sicfrith the Jarl, an individual known from the Irish Annals, who was king of Dublin. Another Sicfrith, a pirate whose fleet plundered Wessex, may also have been the same individual. This would give him a relatively interesting career all over the British Isles, but unfortunately nothing more is recorded of his life. Penny of Alfred "the Great", king of Wessex, 871-899 Moneyer: Boga Mint: Unknown Mercian dies S. 1066 O: +EL FRED RE R: BVGA MoN A coin of Alfred “the Great” of the horizontal “two-line” type. There are a number of types coins of Alfred, some with portraits, some without, some even known in gold. Alfred was a public relations master and has a surviving biography, along with other documentation of his reign, which really fleshes him out as a character from this otherwise dimly lit “dark age”. We remember his burnt cakes, his inflammatory bowel disease, and his love of reading. This is Alfred’s most common coinage type, the horizontal type without portrait. Buga, or Boga, was a moneyer for Alfred and Eadward. This particular coin has an irregular "Viking" appearance, but is of good weight, and similar to other examples by this moneyer, so is probably more likely an official issue. Groat of Henry VIII (1509-1547) Mint: Tower Mintmark: lis Third coinage S. 2369 O: hEnRIC 8 D G AGL FRA Z hIV REX R: POSVI DЄV A DIVTOR Є’ mЄV Henry VIII's third issue depicts old grumpy Henry, famous from the Holbein portrait and the most recognizable depiction of the British king. Shilling of Edward VI (1547-1553) Mint: Canterbury Mintmark: T S.2468 O: EDWARD'VI'D'G'AGL'FRA'Z'HIB' R: TIMOROMINI:FONS:VITE:M:X:LIX An early shilling of the boy king, Edward VI, with a youthful portrait. Edward's first "base silver" coinage was very debased. His father Henry VIII debased the coinage and the silver content is very low, the coins are frequently extremely corroded and manufacturing was substandard. This would change later in Edward's reign, and the second issue was "fine silver". Edward was sickly and not to live long. He wanted the throne to pass to his Protestant cousin Jane Grey, who was purportedly "Queen for Nine Days", but his half-sister "Bloody" Mary had other ideas... Groat of Charles I, king of England, Scotland, and Ireland 1625-1649 Mint: Oxford Mintmark: None Cartouche declaration type S.2990 N. 2468 This groat, or fourpence, was produced in Oxford, and features the declaration reverse in cartouche. The declaration itself, known as the Wellington Declaration, declares that Charles would uphold the Protestant religion (RELIG PRO), the laws of England (LEG ANG), and the liberty of parliament (LIBER PAR). The groat was designed by Thomas Rawlins, who also designed the larger, more famous, and more expensive one pound coin with a similar cartouche reverse.
Beautiful additions to what must be an awesome collection, @Nap . This was one of my favorite movies when I was a kid.
Nap, Congrats on acquiring such spectacular coins for 2021 ! I'm in awe looking at these Viking Era coins, both gold coins & the silver pennies . I know the gold coins are tiny, but how much do they actually weigh ? Your descriptions are excellent & helpful, especially for collectors like myself who know little about early British coins .
Brilliant pick-ups @Nap! The Thrymsas are beautiful, and I love the historical significance of the Eardwulf Sceatta and the Æthelstan II penny (and I’m sitting here just ignoring the Alfred the Great?? Must have been a good year!). I’m still kicking myself for missing the Abramson auction(s) - congrats on grabbing a few with such an amazing provenance!
A fabulous array, you clearly had an awesome year... congrats!! Here's a Merovingian denier from the early 700s with a different helmet style, probably also hearkening back to the Romans: And my Henry VIII groat, also a 3rd coinage issue. Yours is a beauty! The "8" in Arabic numerals is clear on both:
That's exactly the kind of collection I'd like to expand about british coinage...when I'm finished with all the (too numerous) focusses I currently have Well done Q
A splendid selection of medieval and early modern coins! To me, especially the Anglo-Saxon sceat with the facing bust obverse and quadruped reverse is spectacular.
All of these are totally out of my collecting/knowledge range but I love that East Anglia sceat! The two gold coins are intriguing. The Henry VIII groat is spectacular. The Edward VI shilling is so sweet but he looks like such a sad little king-boy.
Nice selections! I am unfamiliar with medieval coinage. However, I do like the Henry VIII groat, and of course the two gold coins!
This list is amazing!!! I don’t really consider myself much of a medieval collector but looking through your list and reading your descriptions had me absolutely fascinated! My favorites; Sceat of Eardwulf - What an amazing story to go with an incredibly rare coin! I really enjoyed the background on this one. Penny of Aethelstan II - A viking coin from a notable person during an important time. I enjoyed your background on this one as well. I really enjoyed your list! Thank you for sharing!
