Medieval Monday!

Thetford sounds like a random attribution unfounded on any rational reading. Initial cross is just right of 12 o'clock and the reading is PIMIIN[D]ON PIN with the V composed of 2 I's and the D not well struck up. i.e Wimund on Winchester. 216 coins of Winchester by this moneyer in the Beaworth Hoard, so not rare.

English Hammered Coinage vol.1 by J J North covers up to 1272 and lists the moneyers for each mint as known at the time of going to print. The main thing to remember when trying to decipher the legend is that inconsistency is to be expected. Letters can be missed out in the middle, entered twice to fill a space or left off the end due to insufficient space for the full name. A name can also be rendered in several ways for either person or mint. Letters are frequently ligated, e.g. an upright I may be used for the right leg of the preceding letter as well as the left leg of the following one. A complete reading is rare and usually only possible when the moneyer name is short, to allow for the full mint signature. Also, remember P is W.

Look for either ON, M-O or M[omega]O as the copulative between moneyer and mint. The second and third are usually seen on Aethelred II coins. In the case of ON, it may be ligated and ONN is not unknown either. Simple.

 

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There is something like the original series with Leonard Nimoy/ named"America's Greatest Mysteries"......on the History Channel. There are presently showing a six hour (three episodes) on the "Roswell Crash/1947"

 

In all the holiday festivities, I forgot that today was Monday!

Hungary
Stephen V, r. 1270-1272
AR Denar, 11.47 mm x 0.6 grams
Obv.: +MONETA·VNGARIE. Crowned head left
Rev.: Two inward facing birds standing parallel to each other, Hebrew letter א (Alef) in the middle
Ref.: Frynas H.19.13; De Wit 2870

I bought four of these little Denars this year, and need to retake the pictures I have of all of them. This one came out the best...

 

So did I/

 

A late entry just after Monday ended:



Penny of Edward the Confessor, king of England 1042-1066
Moneyer: Diorman
Mint: Steyning
S. 1183
O: +EADPARARD REX A
R: +DIORMAN ON STE

Ex- Elmore Jones

 

...Nope, Pacific time here:
Hugues IV, duc de Bourgogne 1218-1272. Billon denier of Auxonne, from c. 1255. Same issue as where the avatar comes from, but a different mint.

 

Love those Edward the Confessor facing portraits!

 

Are they good, or what? Except, he's looking a little scary on this one. ...Almost like your typical Anglo-Norman or Angevin royal: would you really want one of these people as a next-door neighbor?

 

Still Monday for me too, and I don't participate enough in this thread. So:


Hungary: Stephen I (997-1038), first King of Hungary; AR denar

 

It’s the first Medieval Monday of 2021!

As it’s January and the God of the month looks both forward and back, I’ll be posting a coin that has been in the collection for a long time, and one that I’m waiting to receive. Here’s the oldie:



Here’s one that I’m waiting for:


Cilician Armenia. Royal. Levon I. 1198-1219. AR Tram
Condition: Very Fine

Weight: 2,9 gram
Diameter: 21,8 mm

 

Some war coinage from the Reconquista:

- Alfonso VIII El de las Navas, King of Castile (1158-1214)

AR18mm, 0.92g, dinero vellon "bienpeinao" minted at Toledo, cca. 1175-1195/8.
ANFVS REX; bare-headed bust left
+ TOLLETA o; Cross with stars in quarters 2 and 3.
A. Burgos (80) #21, Cayon (98) #920 (as Alfonso I "El Batallador"), A. Roma #194 (primer estilo degradado).

- and Alfonso X el Sabio, King of Castile and Leon (1252-1284)

AR19mm, 0.7g, dinero vellon de seis lineas/de la guerra, minted at an undetermined mint, cca. 1263.
+ ALF / ONSVS / REX CAS / TELLE E / T LEGIO / NIS
Castillian and Leonese arms in each quarter
A. Roma #199, A. Burgos #173, Cayon #1101.


These are two of the most recognizable types of medieval currency from the Christian Spanish realms, being minted in vast quantities and in particularly different quality billon for particular purposes during the campaigns of Alfonso VIII in the 1170s (and immobilized throughout the Kingdom of Castile up to around 1300) and of Alfonso X of Castile and Leon for his First Granada War of 1262-1269.

Both coins are conspicuously early in their respective series:

- the bienpeinao on the account of the quality of the strike, alloy appearance (moneta blanca) and weight, seems to point to a dating before 1200, to the campaigns of ca. 1175 through 1195 (so way before the seminal victory of Las Navas in 1212)

- and the dinero de seis lineas was minted in two categories: at a billon title of 14% silver the "dinero bueno" and at a 7% silver in the billon the "dinero malo" which appeared to have circulated together representing two different denominations (dinero et pugesa), on several occasions during the Granada War. This specimen seems to be of better quality billon and also of a higher quality workmanship.

 

Here is something strange that I haven't shown here yet: Hungarian imitations of medieval Austrian pfennige.

These aren't forgeries meant to fool anybody, but rather imitations for regional circulation, somewhat comparable to "barbarian" imitations of Roman AE coins. They usually have no reverse and are a bit lighter than the types they imitate. CNA has a good section on them:


Hungarian imitation of a Vienna pfennig, struck ca. 1270–1350; prototype: Austrian Interregnum, AR "Vienna pfennig," 1236–1251 AD, Vienna mint. Obv: lion walking right with shield and sword. Rev: blank. 13mm, 0.36g. Ref: CNA I, B143 (prototype), plate 25, no. xxiii (imitation).


Hungarian imitation of a Vienna pfennig, struck ca. 1270–1350; prototype: Ottokar II of Bohemia, Duchy of Austria, AR "Vienna pfennig," 1236–1251 AD, Vienna/Enns mint. Obv: head of king facing. Rev: blank. 13mm, 0.49g. Ref: CNA I, B177a/b (prototype); plate 25, no. xviii (imitation).

 

Here are some English Plantagenet pennies of Edward I, II, and III

Learning the differences between them can take some effort.


Edward I



Edward II



Edward III

 

...ok @FitzNigel ...here i am...

 

Edward I class 9b1 from York episcopal mint under Abp. Corbridge. Not so common.

 

Edward III pre-treaty penny class E of Durham under Bp. Hatfield

 

Aethelred II CRVX penny of Southwark. The moneyer is Aethelwerd

 

First day back at work after the break and I forgot to post a coin!

I’ll add to some of the Spanish coins - this was a lovely gift from Saturn back in 2017!
Spain - Castile & Leon
Sancho IV, 1284-1295; Seville Mint, BL Cornado, 19 mm x 0.7 grams
Obv.: *SAnC-II REX. Crowned bust left
Rev.: +CASTELºLE LEºGIOnIS. Castle, star and S above
Ref.: MEC 6-456, DeWitt 3434 variety
Ex. Sallent Collection