Medieval Monday!

Scandinavian imitation of a Cnut penny. Struck in Lund, Sweden.

 

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Aethelred I (Northumbria) silver sceat, the moneyer is CVDHEARD

 

Yow, @robp, that's easily the best Scandinavian imitation I've ever seen. Remarkable!!!

 

Aethelwulf (839-858) penny with retrograde legends both sides. A much better example went through a sale fairly recently, but it's quirky enough to keep whatever.
Ex Ryan 699, Glens 22/1/1952.

 

This week, I'll show a so-called "Rempelheller" from Wrocław (Breslau) in Silesia for medieval Monday. Having the head of John the Baptist on a coin brings the whole 'head on a silver plate'-thing to quite a new level. Also, note the excellent engraving work on the obverse:


Wrocław (Breslau), Bohemia, under Sigismund of Luxemburg (r. 1419–1437 AD), AR heller, after 1422 AD, Wrocław mint. Obv: head of John the Baptist facing slightly l. within circle; around: M-W-M-W. Rev: crowned Silesian lion l.; star in field below. 11mm, 0.30g. Ref: Saurma 67, Friedensburger 554.

 

I, too, can only think of large medieval bronzes from Norman Sicily and of the coins of Cilician Armenia. Since these were mentioned, here is a large tank from my collection (a fitting name for this sestertius-sized denomination):


Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, Hetoum I, AE tank, 1226–1269 AD, Sis mint. Obv: Armenian legend: “+ Hetoum, King of the Armenians;” king seated facing on lion throne, holding lily sceptre and orb. Rev: Armenian legend: “+ struck in the city of Sis;” cross with strokes in quadrants. 29mm, 8.08g. Ref: Bedoukian 1327 or similar.

 

The bronze coinage of Edessa and Antioch ca. 1100-1120 emulating the Eastern Roman coppers of the late 1000s are also rather big by medieval standards:

Baudouin Rethel (Baudouin II de Edessa) AE25 4.03g, Edessa ca. 1108-1110






Roger of Salerno (of the Principate) AE21x19 3.77g, Antioch ca. 1115

 

@Orielensis, it's no accident that the polities that were issuing larger AES --the Cilician Armenians, the Levantine Franks into the earlier 12th century, and the Normans in Sicily and southern Italy-- were all on the peripheries of the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantines were still able to maintain a trimetallic coinage (and economy), while in the West, over the later 1st and earlier 2nd millennia, economies contracted to the point where coinage in bronze (and, a little later, gold) simply didn't have a consistent niche in the existing landscape.

 

@Orielensis, Yes! The engraving on that is brilliant, evoking the less-than-intuitive level of naturalism in Gothic sculpture, in Germany as well as France, from the 13th century. This is less about early- or proto-Renaissance than it is about what Gothic got up to under its own steam. Very cool.
And your 'head on a silver platter' thing was Very good. With apologies to John the Baptist (guess he's over it, by now), thanks for making me laugh!

 

looking at the manuscript image, I wonder if this is meant to be the cross of St. Cuthbert which hen became an emblem of Durham. You can see it on display at the Cathedral museum (they exhumed Cuthbert in the 19th c. And his grave goods are all on display).


I’ve seen later depictions of the cross develop into the much wider and curled ends as depicted in the manuscript (I couldn’t tell you where - it’s been 10 years since I lived in Durham). I have no idea if it is meant to be Cuthbert’s cross, but seemed very similar.

 

And since Crusader Bronzes came up, here is an acquisition from this year (that desperately needs a new photo - this photo does not do the coin justice):
Crusader - Antioch
Roger of Salerno, Regent, r. 1112-1119
AR Follis, 21.26 mm x 4.2 grams
Obv.: OA (in monogram) - ΓεωΡ (St. George). St. George, nimbate, riding on horseback r., spearing dragon below
Rev.: + / POTZP / ΠPIΓKΠ / ANT (Roger prince of Antioch). Legend in three lines
Ref.: Malloy Antioch 9; De Wit 4083

 

love the artistry on that one! I’ve seen these pop up every now and then but have yet to pull the trigger.

 

@FitzNigel, you're way over my head here. The Cross of St. Cuthbert is as resonant as it was completely unknown to me. ...Granted, I would have thought that, since Bek's arms really were from his existing family, among the contemporaneous lower aristocracy, rather than a coat he arbitrarily adopted on his elevation to the bishopric (which also happened, notably in 13th-c. France), the similarity is likely coincidental.

 

Could well be - like I said, I have no idea about his particular family

 

I promise you, online or in print, there isn't a lot to know. They seem to be of no extant record prior to the later 13th century (temp. Edward I). That they made it into the lower aristocracy as early as they did is a real head-scratcher.

 

IT’S MONDAY! I nearly forgot... and with how fast the threads are coming in these days, stuff easily gets buried (I posted something at 1.30 in the morning, and by 1.30 in the afternoon the thread was on the third page!)

here are a couple coins I won at auction back in August that ONLY JUST arrived in the post (so I don’t have good photos yet). The delay is partly my fault - I thought I paid for them right after the auction, but was then embarrassed when the seller sent me an invoice at the end of September. However, afterwards, the seller’s extremely poor communication kept the coins sitting around until various threads and requests for refunds got the coins the mail. The had been plenty of warnings about this seller’s budget auctions before, but I chose to take the risk. Never buying from them again, but in the meanwhile, I did manage to stage two lovely issues from Antioch:



The coin on the left:
Crusader - Antioch
Tancred, Regent, r. 1101-1103, 1104-1112
Type 1 AE Follis, 22.04 mm x 3.01 grams
Obv.: O ΠE-TPOC, Bust of St. Peter, holding cross in left hand
Rev.: + / KE BOI / ΘH TOΔV / ΛO COVT / ANKPI
Ref.: Malloy Antioch 3a, 4076-7

and the coin on the right:
Crusader - Antioch
Tancred, Regent, r. 1101-1103, 1104-1112
Type 3 AE Follis, 20.77 mm x 4.23 grams
Obv.: IC - XC, Bust of Christ, nimbate, wearing tunic and cloak, holding Gospels
Rev.: TA - NK - P - H, Cross pommetée, fleuronnée at base
Ref.: Malloy Antioch 5, De Wit 4081

 

Groat of James III, king of Scotland 1460-1488
Mint: Edinburgh
Base issue ca. 1471-1483
S. 5270
O: IACOBVS DEI GRA REX SCOTORVM
R: +VILLA EDINBVRGh

This base groat, which seems to have circulated simultaneously with the better silver groats, is the first Scottish coin to depict the thistle, as seen on the reverse

 

Groat of Robert II of Scotland (1371-1390)
Mint: Perth
S. 5136
O: +ROBERTVS DEI GRA REX SCOTTORVM
R: +DnS+̯ P TECTOR m'S +I+ LIB ATORm'S VILL A DE PER Th+

Robert II was the grandson of Robert the Bruce through his daughter Marjorie, and was the first of the Stewart line.

 

Penny of Richard III, 1483-1485
Mint: Durham
Mintmark: lis
Struck under Bishop Sherwood
S.2169
O: +RICAR[DVS REX ANGL], S on breast
R: CIVI [TAS DVR] hAM, D in center

All coinage of Richard III is scarce, though the Durham pennies are among the more common. Generally the coins are on undersized flans and portions of the legend are not appreciated, however this can easily be appreciated as a Durham issue because of the S on Richard's chest (for Sherwood, not Superman), and for the D on the center of the reverse.

 

Anglo-Saxon Sceatta, primary phase 680-700
Type 2a
S.775
Abramson 3-30
O: Radiate bust right
R: Degenerated standard with TOTII