A few new British Anglo-Saxon coins

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by Nap, Apr 18, 2017.

  1. Nap

    Nap Well-Known Member

    [​IMG]
    Anglo-Saxon pale gold thrymsa, ca. 655-675
    S.770, Rigold PIIIb
    Likely Kentish transitional pale gold thrymsa of the mid-late 7th century. Debasement of gold coinage took place during the production of several gold shillings or "thrymsas", culminating in a coinage that was mostly silver. There's still a touch of gold in this one. These thrymsas predate the sceatta coinage.


    [​IMG]
    Sceatta, ca. 710-725
    Probably Northumbrian, possibly from York
    S.802D, Series J, type 36

    Understood to be Northumbrian, this coin, a sceatta, was likely made in York, ca. 710-725, although it did not name any rulers. Possibly an uninscribed issue sandwiched between the literate inscribed coins in the names of Kings Aldfrith (685-704) and Eadberht (737-758), not sure if it's a royal coinage. The obverse features a face with a cross, a common motif on sceattas as well as Merovingian deniers. The reverse are two birds, one walking and the other flying.




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    Viking St. Peter penny, ca. 910-920
    Probably from York
    One-line variety
    S.1006 (var.)

    A Viking penny in the name of St. Peter, patron saint of the city of York.
    Viking coinage in York began at around the start of the 10th century with a coinage in the names of 'Cnut' (a different Cnut than the later king of England) and 'Siefred', a probably short-lived coinage but one which survives in great numbers due to the Cuerdale hoard. Subsequently, an anonymous coinage in the name of St. Peter follows, of which this coin is probably a late type.
    After the St. Peter coinage there was an inscribed coinage in the names of Regnald and Sihtric Caech, Hiberno-Norse kings from Ireland who conquered Northumbria. A subsequent anonymous second coinage in 920s in the name of St. Peter features a sword (probably the Sword of Carlus, a 9th century Irish Viking hero), and Thor's hammer. Viking coinage continued, mostly in the name of the kings of York, until the mid 10th century, culminating with Eric Bloodaxe, after which king Eadred of England brought Northumbria into the English fold.
    All Viking coinage from York is rare, but the Cnut, Siefred, and St. Peter coinages are the most common, due to their survival in several large hoards.
    This a variant of the "swordless" St. Peter coinage, with a blundered version of "Sancti Petri" in one line, instead of the usual two lines. The one-line St. Peter coins make up a subset of the earlier swordless type. There are only a handful known, and they all feature symbols, including the tree, the key (St. Peter's key to heaven), a candelabra, a star or propeller, and a large cross.
    The most detailed sources on the coinage are "Chronology of the St. Peter Coinage" by Stewart and Lyon, and "The Swordless St Peter Coinage of York" by Gooch. Both of these sources believe the one-line type is among the latest of the St. Peter "swordless" coinage. Of the few known specimens, most have been found in York, but one was found in Geashill, Ireland; one found in Birka, Sweden; and my example was found in Scarning, East Anglia. (Mine happens to be from the same dies as the Geashill example, for what it's worth). The wide distribution of a type of which probably only around a dozen are known suggests the coinage was not meant to be a small insular production and probably was produced in good numbers, but just has not survived. It was suggested somewhere that the one-line type might be an unofficial imitation, but I cannot accept this since several of these coins are from hoards which include other "official" coins of St. Peter, as well as coins of Regnald I which directly followed this type. I would not be surprised if these coins were made under the auspices of Regnald, rather than before it.
     
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  3. Gavin Richardson

    Gavin Richardson Well-Known Member

    Lovely zoomorphic reverse on that sceatta. Very Saxon. þæt wæs god feoh!
     
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  4. Mat

    Mat Ancient Coincoholic

    Lovely saxon coins. I like the second best.
     
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  5. Mikey Zee

    Mikey Zee Delenda Est Carthago

    Very cool and interesting coinage!!!
     
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  6. Eduard

    Eduard Supporter**

    Lovely and interesting all three coins.

    Was all Viking coinage from York struck when the inhabitant had already converted to christianity? conversely, are there issues struck when the original viking settlers still adhered to the old nordic religion?
     
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  7. Ancientnoob

    Ancientnoob Money Changer

    North Sea Empire
    Stamford, Anglia
    Cnut the Great (r. AD 1016 -1035)
    AR Penny 18.2 mm x 1.00 grams (c. AD 1021-1035)
    Obverse: The helmeted bust of Cnut left holding a scepter with 3 lobes.+ CNVT REX A
    Reverse: Short cross with 4 pellets and 2 extra opposing pellets. + THVRSTAN ON STA
    Note: EF
    Cnut.jpg
     
  8. alde

    alde Always Learning

    Great writeup and fantastic coins Nap. These were very interesting times in England for sure.
     
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  9. FitzNigel

    FitzNigel Medievalist

    Awesome Coins Nap! My envy of your acquisitions continues.
     
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  10. ancientcoinguru

    ancientcoinguru Well-Known Member

    Ancientnoob and RAGNAROK like this.
  11. John N. Cross

    John N. Cross Member

    Ah, you've done it again 'Nap' lad. Well Done!! Three more interesting, significant and rare Anglo-Saxon coins, to add to your growing collection of coins of this period. I see you as a definite 'rival' of mine, as we seem to collect similar items. You're buying what I want, I'm furious!!! Nice to see them though and I'm sure they couldn't go to a nicer gentleman. I must keep in touch with you, one way or another and if you have anything to say, regarding Anglo-Saxon coins and their collection, I'd be most interested to hear your comments and opinions etc. Once again Well Done and I am envious.

    .
     
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  12. Nap

    Nap Well-Known Member

    Thanks for the comments all!


    The Viking coinage is nominally Christian, but prior cultural images shine through.

    For example, the tree on my St. Peter coin is likely related to Norse customs, where trees often featured prominently in mythology and worship. Other coins of Viking York feature a hammer, probably the hammer of Thor, and a sword, probably the sword of Carlus, an Irish Viking hero of the 9th century. Of course these could have been any old hammer and sword, but they are fairly secular symbols to Christians, whereas any Viking would have easily recognized them for the cultural symbols they are.
     
  13. Orfew

    Orfew Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus

    Wonderful coins @Nap

    Could the tree be yggdrasil?

    http://norse-mythology.org/cosmology/yggdrasil-and-the-well-of-urd/

    YGGDRASIL AND THE WELL OF URD
    [​IMG]
    “Yggdrasil” by Oluf Olufsen Bagge (1847)
    At the center of the Norse spiritual cosmos is an ash tree, Yggdrasil (pronounced “IG-druh-sill”; Old Norse Askr Yggdrasils), which grows out of the Well of Urd (Old Norse Urðarbrunnr). The Nine Worlds are held in the branches and roots of the tree. The name Askr Yggdrasils probably strikes most modern people as being awkwardly complex. It means “the ash tree of the horse of Yggr.”[1] Yggrmeans “The Terrible One,” and is a byname of Odin. The horse of Odin is Sleipnir. This may seem like a puzzling name for a tree, but it makes sense when one considers that the tree as a means of transportation between worlds is a common theme in Eurasian shamanism.[2]Odin rides Sleipnir up and down Yggdrasil’s trunk and through its branches on his frequent journeys throughout the Nine Worlds. “Urd” (pronounced “URD”; Old Norse Urðr, Old English Wyrd) means “destiny.” The Well of Urd could therefore just as aptly be called the Well of Destiny.
     
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  14. John N. Cross

    John N. Cross Member

    Just one suggestion I'd like to offer 'Nap', regarding the iconography of the 'sword' on the St. Peter Coinage'. I think it's more likely that this sword is a representation of St.Peter's Sword, which like the 'Key', is a well known attribute of his. This, with Thor's 'Hammer' could suggest that this issue was a joint ecclesiastical and Norse secular one, representing the 'Old Norse' religion and the Christian Anglo-Saxon? Thus promoting the acceptance of the old and the new religions and aiding peaceful co-existence, between the conquered and the victors.
     
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  15. stevex6

    stevex6 Random Mayhem

    Wow, those are three very cool coins, NAP (I love all of 'em!!)

    ... man, I really need to score one of those
     
    Last edited: Apr 23, 2017
  16. Nap

    Nap Well-Known Member

    Orfew and John, thanks for the commentary about the symbols.

    While the idea of the Yggdrasil is appealing just because it's a cool story, it's probably not true. Megan Gooch took up this theory actually, her thesis is a long read but the relevant parts can be found:

    http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/3495/1/MGooch_Money_&_Power_in_Viking_Kingdom_of_York_2012.pdf?DDD17+
    (Page 66)

    I agree that it seems unlikely that a specific symbol of past religious worship be so prominent on an overtly Christian coin. Rather it is probably a cultural symbol.

    However, the latter appearance of the hammer (of Thor?) flies in the face of this consideration. Keep in mind that the hammer did not appear on this first round of St. Peter coins, which otherwise have no non-Christian symbols

    Gooch talks about the sword as well (page 82), where she weighs it being the sword of St. Peter vs the sword of Carlus. She favors Carlus, but St. Peter's sword makes sense too, considering it does say "St. Peter" and not "Carlus" on the coin.

    However, two things to consider-
    1) The sword-type St. Peter coins were later than the swordless ones. The symbols are different. The key is gone, and a hammer appears which is probably the hammer of Thor. So if anything, the symbols appear more Viking than Christian as time passed.
    2) Swords appear on Viking coins of Sihtric Caoch, St. Martin of Lincoln (who has his own 'sword' story), an anonymous coinage probably during Sihtric's time, and later of Eric Bloodaxe. The sword has to have more than just a religious meaning. It could just be a symbol of might or military prowess, or it could represent the Hiberno-Norse dynasty. If the latter, then the connection to the sword of Carlus seems more plausible, since it seems to be part of the Hiberno-Norse kings' symbols.
     
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