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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Nap, post: 3085707, member: 73099&quot;]I&#039;ve posted a few examples here and there but not a more general overview.</p><p><br /></p><p>Sceattas were the small coins produced out of silver and occasionally debased metal in the time between around 685-750 throughout most of Anglo-Saxon England.&nbsp; They are between 11-13mm in diameter and approximately 1g in weight.&nbsp; They feature a variety of designs, that for hundreds of years were a mystery to collectors.</p><p><br /></p><p>They are particularly difficult due to a lack of inscription.&nbsp; We rely on find spots, hoard evidence, and inferences made based on the iconography and artistic merit of the pieces produced.&nbsp; This can sometimes feel incomplete or forced, and not all experts come to the same conclusion.&nbsp; Nevertheless it is a fascinating field to study and the coins themselves offer an interesting glimpse into this era in Dark Ages England.</p><p><br /></p><p>The initial coinage probably began in Kent, a kingdom centered around the ancient city of Canterbury and, classicly, believed to have been colonized by a people from Jutland rather than Saxony.&nbsp; Initially gold coins, called thrymsas (a variant on tremisses), circulated, but these were almost certainly not used for day-to-day commerce, and were made in relatively small quantities.&nbsp; A more practical coinage that found mass acceptance began in the late 7th century with a silver coinage known today as sceattas.&nbsp; The word itself is problematic, and is almost certainly not contemporary.&nbsp; In fact, it is taken from an Anglo-Saxon word &quot;sceatta&quot;, probably pronounced &quot;sheht-uh&quot;, which means &#039;treasure&#039;.&nbsp; The singular, sceat or sceatt (frequently pronounced &quot;skeet&quot; so as not to sound vulgar), is something of a modern construct, dating to the 17th century.&nbsp; The terms are old enough to stick though, so I will also use them.</p><p><br /></p><p>The classification of this coinage can take a few forms.&nbsp; They are frequently divided into primary phase (ca 685-715), secondary phase (ca 715-750), and continental (involving the same time period but not made in England at all, rather Frisia and Denmark, but of similar size and designs). They are divided based on place of origin (Kent, Mercia, Essex, Wessex, East Anglia, Sussex, Northumbria - the Heptarchy).&nbsp; The Spink book gives them numbers.&nbsp; They are labeled by types (c.f. Charles Keary who wrote about the types in the British Museum&#039;s collection in the 1880s).&nbsp; They are labeled by series as defined by Stuart Rigold back in the 1970s.&nbsp; They are categorized in a completely different arrangement by Tony Abramson in his recent series of books.&nbsp; Then they are separated by type by Anna Gannon based not on origin or date but on the iconography of the designs.</p><p><br /></p><p>What this means is that it&#039;s not an easy series to jump into.&nbsp; That plus the prices on nice examples have jumped recently, and they aren&#039;t super cheap either.&nbsp; But if you do take interest in them and put in some time to learn about them, they are very rewarding.&nbsp; They are little pieces of medieval history of a people that kept minimal records.&nbsp; They do not honor some tyrant or ruthless warlord, but rather present symbols and figures that would have been meaningful at the time, but are largely lost to our modern understanding.&nbsp; They show the evolution of a people in transition, from tribalism to settled societies, from paganism to Christianity, from Germanic to English.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now, the coins.&nbsp; As I said, it requires work to jump into the series by classification, so instead I will just show a few representative types, rather than focus on the classification, dating, geographic origin, political relevance, or suspected monarch issuing.&nbsp; I can provide additional information on different types, if there is interest.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]777835[/ATTACH]</p><p>Primary phase, series B</p><p>O: Bust right</p><p>R: Bird on cross, pseudo-legend surrounding</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]777836[/ATTACH]</p><p>Primary phase, series C</p><p>O: Abstract bust right, APA in runes (probably the moneyer&#039;s name)</p><p>R: Degenerated standart with TOTII</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]777837[/ATTACH]</p><p>Primary phase, Saroaldo type</p><p>O: Stylized bust right</p><p>R: Pseudo-legend of &quot;SAROALDO&quot; around standard</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]777841[/ATTACH]</p><p>Primary phase, Vernus type</p><p>O: Degenerate head, &quot;VERNVS&quot; surrounding</p><p>R: Standard with angular symbols</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]777846[/ATTACH]</p><p>Secondary phase, series J</p><p>O: Bust right</p><p>R: Bird walking with ?baby fledgling above</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]777843[/ATTACH]</p><p>Secondary phase, series K</p><p>O: Bust right holding cross</p><p>R: Wolf-headed serpent right</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]777840[/ATTACH]</p><p>Secondary phase, series L</p><p>O: Diademed draped bust, above head &quot;CNOONN&quot;</p><p>R: Helmeted figure with two crosses, likely standing in a boat</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]777844[/ATTACH]</p><p>Secondary phase, series N</p><p>O: Two standing figures, holding crosses</p><p>R: Monster right</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]777838[/ATTACH]</p><p>Continental type, series D</p><p>O: Bust right</p><p>R: Cross with pellets, illegible letters surounding</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]777842[/ATTACH]</p><p>Continental type, series X</p><p>O: Facing bust, possibly Odin/Woden</p><p>R: Monster right[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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