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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Roerbakmix, post: 5297787, member: 100731&quot;]My threads on sceatta&#039;s don&#039;t really grab the attention, but this title hopefully will. [USER=73099]@Nap[/USER] suggested this sceatta from a dealer in France: I was looking for a VERNVS type sceatta to fill a hole in my continental sceatta series (<a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/auction-win-heritage-europe-herstal-sceatta.371585/" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/auction-win-heritage-europe-herstal-sceatta.371585/">discussed here</a>).</p><p><br /></p><p>I accidentally bought it. The website was in French, and when I pressed a button which I <i>thought</i> meant something like &#039;put this item on your wishlist&#039;, I actually pressed a button that meant something like &#039;you&#039;ve just reserved this item&#039;. Anyway, the photos were somewhat poor, but it seemed a decent example. The price was right. So I went on, and paid.</p><p><br /></p><p>Meanwhile, I looked it up in Tony Abrahams <i>Sceatta List</i> (2nd edition). Tony categorizes the VERNVS as a stand-alone group (in contrast to Metcalf and Op de Velde, who categorizes it as a series E, so continental and likely minted in Frisia). It looked as either a 6.10 (&quot;very rare&quot;) or 6.20 (&quot;common&quot;). This is obviously a relative scale: all sceatta&#039;s are somewhat scarce. I wasn&#039;t quite sure whether this coin was in fact very rare or common, so I emailed Tony and he reacted promptly: it was indeed a 6.10 (the main difference being a crown that looks like this VVVV or like this \\\\\\\). So, I accidentally bought a very rare sceatta.</p><p><br /></p><p>Today, the coin arrived: a grumpy looking mr. Vernus (more on that later)</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1223087[/ATTACH]</p><p>It came with dirt, and even a really small piece of quartz (?)</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1223089[/ATTACH]</p><p>(and also a few piece on the reverse).</p><p><br /></p><p>I then brushed of the dirt, which took me about two minutes, to reveal a crisp, as-minted VERNVS:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1223090[/ATTACH]</p><p>EARLY MEDIEVAL, Anonymous. Denomination: AR Sceatta (Serie E, VERNVS), minted: Magna Frisia; 695-710, Frisia</p><p>Obv: Crude diademed head to the right, VER[N]V[S around</p><p>Rev: Standard with central O, two chevrons in upper corner, diagnoal lines in lower; crossess at sides</p><p>Weight: 1.2g; Ø:11mm. Catalogue: Abramson 6-10. Provenance: Ex. iNumis 05-03-2019; acquired 14-12-2020; acq.: 12-2020</p><p>Cleaned; earthen deposits brushed off; weigh decreased from 1.25 to 1.20</p><p><br /></p><p>(I really enjoyed it. Also, why didn&#039;t the cosigner brush it off? It&#039;s a sought-after coin, and of the 17 on ACsearch, the only 6.10. Similar 6.20 (&#039;common&#039;) sold for 300USD or higher). </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>So, who was mr. Vernus? First, there are few sceatta&#039;s with a (readable) legend: we have those with runes, e.g. the rare WIGRAED series R10:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1223091[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>A super large group of continental and anglo-saxon sceatta&#039;s with runic EPA (series R2)</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1223092[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>... that were imitated in Frisia (series D BMC 2c. Ugly and yet captivating)[ATTACH=full]1223093[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Or Latin and runic combined! The very rare Series D BMC 10, with the reverse legend reading &quot;TILVS&quot; and obverse, again, EPA:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1223094[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>And some others, which I yet have to acquire (by accident?).</p><p><br /></p><p>The point is: nobody really knows what these legend mean. EPA may have been a moneyer, a local lord, or just something else (and the meaning lost in time). The same for this coin: nobody knows who or what VERNVS was. Bit of an anticlimax.</p><p><br /></p><p>Please show coins you bought by accident![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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