Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Nap, post: 7346475, member: 73099&quot;]Gold coinage was an important part of late Medieval and early modern English coinage.&nbsp; Denominations such as nobles, angels, crowns, pounds, and sovereigns were produced from the 14th century until the modern era when precious metals were phased out of circulating coinage.&nbsp; However in the early medieval period, gold coinage was rarely produced.&nbsp; A few gold coins were tried, such as gold pennies of Alfred the Great, Aethelred the Unready and Edward the Confessor, and a gold penny of Henry III.&nbsp; But these were not widely used or successful coinages and these coins are known from only a minuscule number of rare survivors.</p><p><br /></p><p>However, in the misty past, there was a robust and diverse series of gold coins made in the early Anglo-Saxon period.&nbsp; From about 600 until 675, gold coins were produced in the fledgling Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, depicting a variety of imagery.&nbsp; At least a dozen types are known, with diademed busts, copies of Roman clasped hands and seated despots, and a variety of Cristian symbols.</p><p><br /></p><p>Gold was, and remains, highly desirable.&nbsp; The 6th century Sutton Hoo burial contains a number of gold coins, but all are post-Roman migration people and Frankish in origin.&nbsp; None are considered of English manufacture.</p><p><br /></p><p>However, in the next few decades, following the Christianization of England, a home coinage began to emerge.&nbsp; Initially a few gold medals, possibly meant to be ornamental, but then a series of coins known as the Crondall, ultra-Crondall, and post-Crondall gold coins emerged.&nbsp; These are called “thrymsas” but are really a continuation of the late Roman tremisses that were copied and imitated by the migration people and permanent settlers of continental Western Europe.</p><p><br /></p><p>In 1828 a large group of early gold coins was found in the south of England at a place called Crondall.&nbsp; 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.&nbsp; The entire hoard was ultimately acquired by the Ashmolean museum and remains intact in Oxford.&nbsp; It is mostly made of Anglo-Saxon coins, but there are a few Merovingian coins as well.</p><p><br /></p><p>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).&nbsp; This categorization has been challenged in recent years and I believe Gareth Williams is working on a new arrangement hopefully to be published soon.&nbsp; Still, the Crondall hoard is an important part of our understanding of these coins.</p><p><br /></p><p>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.&nbsp; So named for the legible retrograde letters on the obverse, which stand out from an otherwise garbled legend.&nbsp; This is one of the “substantive” types, due to multiple examples in the hoard, though only one die for both obverse and reverse is known.</p><p><br /></p><p>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.&nbsp; Similar head adornments would also feature on later Anglo-Saxon sceattas.</p><p><br /></p><p>Four of these coins were in the Crondall hoard and are all from the same dies, as is this one.&nbsp; This may be the only example not in the museum.</p><p><br /></p><p>Other varieties in the Crondall hoard include coins with cross varieties, a type with a Moneyer “Witmen”, and a type with the name of Eadbald, king of Kent.&nbsp; These coins are believed to originate from Canterbury or London.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1281589[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Thrymsa, Crondall phase 620-645</p><p>Monarch: unknown, possibly Eadbald</p><p>Mint: unknown, probably Kent</p><p>&#039;EAN&#039; type</p><p>S.759</p><p>N.30</p><p>Crondall 91-94</p><p>EMC 2020.0360[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in