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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;robp, post: 4830659, member: 96746&quot;]A feature of coins from William I onwards is the relative lack of design varieties within a type, most being either a bust facing in the opposite direction or a lack of sceptre. The regional variations in style of bust on Saxon coins are no longer seen. </p><p><br /></p><p>One notable variety is seen on William I sword type pennies of Wareham and Dorchester which are known with a cross to the right of the bust. There are sub-varieties with either 2 small crosses or a large cross, all extremely rare (North 846/1). An example of a Dorchester with the large cross was sold through Baldwins of St. James&#039;s in September 2018, lot 1034. <a href="https://bsjauctions.com/cat-pdf/22.pdf" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://bsjauctions.com/cat-pdf/22.pdf" rel="nofollow">https://bsjauctions.com/cat-pdf/22.pdf</a></p><p><br /></p><p>This is a sword type penny of Dorchester with a pair of small crosses by the bust. BNJ vol. ii, plate III, fig.47 (this coin)</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1168311[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>The reason for the cross is uncertain, but one could speculate that it is related to Orc&#039;s widow Tola. Orc and Tola founded and endowed the abbey at Abbotsbury in the 1040s? <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbotsbury_Abbey" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbotsbury_Abbey" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbotsbury_Abbey</a> Orc died during the reign of Edward the Confessor in about 1058, but the coins with crosses may have commemorated her bequests to the monastry following her death if she survived until the sword issue, dated to 1077-1080. They had large holdings of land to the south of Dorchester and along and north of the line between there and Wareham, which is the next mint geographically east of Dorchester.</p><p><a href="https://actswilliam2henry1.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/h1-abbotsbury-2014-1.pdf" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://actswilliam2henry1.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/h1-abbotsbury-2014-1.pdf" rel="nofollow">https://actswilliam2henry1.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/h1-abbotsbury-2014-1.pdf</a></p><p><br /></p><p>The crosses aren&#039;t something specific to the moneyer. Oter was the moneyer at Dorchester for a considerable period and the Wareham coins were by Godwine.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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