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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;John Conduitt, post: 7932550, member: 109923&quot;]Last week, Spink held the second (and final) pair of auctions of <i>The Tony Abramson Collection of Dark Age Coins</i>. Dr Abramson is a well-known expert on Saxon coins. Many of the 1,200 coins in his collection ended up as plate coins and feature in the various Spink publications to which he contributes.</p><p><br /></p><p>Spink have certainly dragged the sale out, but the six-month gap at least gave my bank account a chance to recover. It’s also given me an excuse to post another page of enigmatic sceattas and stycas, which we don&#039;t see too often here.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Unattributed &#039;Theyn&#039; Styca, c844 (bought in Part II, all the way back in March)</b></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1371717[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>Northumbria. Copper, 1.1g. +EHVLT, central cross pattée. +THEYN, central boss (SCBI 69, 1009 this coin). </b>+EHVLT was represented in the Hexham (Northumberland) Hoard, found in 1833, which was deposited early in Aethelred II&#039;s 2nd reign (844-848). The same dies were found in the Bolton Percy (Yorkshire) Hoard, found in 1967 and deposited during the time of Archbishop Wulfhere (854-900), where +EHVLT was paired with +THEBH.</p><p><br /></p><p>Like Parts I and II in March, September’s Parts III and IV were held together. In March, most of Dr Abramson’s most impressive British Saxon coins were sold, including all the Northumbrian sceattas and stycas. The bidding went wild. This time, bidding was strong, but nothing like it was in March. Four times as many lots went unsold. I even managed to be assigned bidder number 100000, which apparently meant I was first to register, even though I did so less than a week beforehand. (The auctioneer rather mocked my bidder number, because it meant I was ‘keen’ and was difficult to write down, but I wasn’t perturbed).</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Secondary Series N Type 41b Sceat, 710-760 (bought in Part III)</b></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1371718[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>Mint in East Kent or the lower Thames region. Silver, 1.0g. Two figures wearing long cloaks or naked, cross pommée between and either side. Monster, looking back, triple-forked tail, crest left, pellet outline (SL 52-60, plate coin; SCBI 69, 582 this coin; Abramson, 2012a, Fig 26; S 806).</b> This coin was struck after a period of decline for the Kingdom of Kent, when it lost Lundenwic (London), important for control of the Thames and the associated trade. King Wihtred had restored the kingdom and made peace with Wessex. He’s famous for the Law of Wihtred, which laid down the rights of and offences against the church.</p><p><br /></p><p>The lower level of interest in the auction was probably down to the coins. The first September auction, ‘Part III - the Collector’s Selection’, seems to have been so named because many of the coins were those only a die-hard collector could love. They were as well-provenanced as in the first auctions and many were very rare, but fewer were pretty.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Transitional Coinage Type 55, Variety VaB Sceat by the Moneyer Vanimundus, 675-760 (bought in Part III). Not pretty.</b></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1371719[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>Mint in the region north of the Thames. Silver, 0.6g. Bust right, crested helmet, holding sceptre over shoulder, legend around. Cross pattée in double beaded inner circle, legend around (SL 2-10; SCBI 69, 28 this coin; Abramson, 2012a, Fig 14; S 772).</b> Found at Debenham (Suffolk) in early 2008 (EMC 2009.0024). Around 650-675, the gold content of the first coins of the British Saxons, Thymsas, fell from 30% to 10%, before being replaced by silver sceattas like the one above. Moneyers Pada and Vanimundus spanned this transition. ‘Vanimundus’ was probably not his name, rather an alias borrowed from Merovingian coinage. Given the long absence of coins in Britain before this, these feel like genesis again.</p><p><br /></p><p>Saxon coins tend to be found singularly and so are often scuffed, chipped and water-damaged after more than a millennium being knocked about a field. Many coins in the auction were in a sorry state and some sold for as little as £10 (although that was fair enough given their condition). Saxon coins are not found in huge numbers, so paradoxically, rare varieties are quite common. In any case, I’m not sure how many people care if they have a left-facing porcupine or six roundels instead of five.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Secondary Series G Type 3a Sceat, 710-760 (bought in Part III)</b></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1371720[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>Possibly Quentovic, France. Silver, 1.0g. Diademed and draped bust, radiating hair, beads before, almond-shaped eye, crescent ear and collar, cross pommée before lips. Beaded standard, central pellet-in-annulet, saltire crosses in corners, pellets between (SL 21-30; SCBI 69, 319 this coin; S 800). </b>Found at Fimber, near York (EMC 2005.0263 = BNJ Coin Register 2006, no. 102). Quentovic on the northern French coast was an important trading town, established in the 6th century, which had disappeared by the 10th. It was from here that Franks, Saxons and Frisians traded textiles and wine for wool and slaves with Saxons from Kent and Hampshire, and it was from Quentovic that the English set off on pilgrimage.</p><p><br /></p><p>Still, bids rocketed for anything half-attractive. I had my eye on what I thought was the best-looking coin in the auction and armed myself with 3 times the top estimate to secure it. It went for 6 times the top estimate. Having been put in my place, I consoled myself that at least I could now make stronger bids on other coins.</p><p><br /></p><p>Talking of die-hard collectors, one bidder tried to buy every facing head in the collection (Series H ‘Hamwic’ and Series X ‘Wodan head’) – three dozen coins priced from a few hundred pounds to well over £1,000 – although they did eventually let a couple of the less attractive ones go. Since these coins were towards at the end of each auction, it would’ve been very annoying to have passed on so many other lots waiting to bid on one, only to be relentlessly outbid by an obsessive buyer. Luckily, I wasn’t after one this time.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Secondary Series QIID Sceat, 710-760 (bought in Part III)</b></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1371721[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>Possibly East Anglia. Silver, 1.0g. Quadruped looking forward, angular foreleg and trefoil tail raised, pellet filled field. Sea bird or eagle, feet splayed, trampling linear serpent, wedge-shaped tail, forked wing raised, cross pommée before, pellets in field (SL 64-110; SCBI 69, 636 this coin; S 809). </b>Ex Lawrence R Stack (of Stack’s Bowers). The image of a bird trampling a snake is one of many in Saxon coinage depicting biblical themes, in this case the bird represents good (specifically the Holy Spirit) and the serpent evil. The beast on the obverse might be a stag or a conflation of a biblical lion and a barbarous deity (as it is assumed to be in Northumbrian coinage) but it could be anything.</p><p><br /></p><p>The second auction, ‘Part IV - Continental’, contained many attractive coins, but for some reason Saxon coins struck on the continent do not elicit quite the same level of excitement as British ones. That might, of course, be down to the auction being of the collection of an Englishman held in London in English, but these days that sort of thing tends not to matter.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Continental Phase Series E, Variety D, Op den Velde Sub-Variety K Sceat, 695-740 (bought in Part IV)</b></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1371722[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>Frisia. Silver, 1.3g. Quilled crescent on wheel enclosing cross pommée with pellet in three quarters. Central pellet-in-annulet in line-beaded square, unusual geometric symbols around (SL 90-10; SCBI 69, 225 this coin; Spink 790B).</b> Found by A Wicks at Amesbury (Wiltshire). Amesbury was an important river crossing on the road from London to Warminster and Exeter. It’s also home to Stonehenge. In Arthurian legend, Guinevere retired to a convent at Amesbury, having helped Arthur lead the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the late 5th and early 6th centuries. The obverse of Series E is derived from the stylized bust with flowing, braided hair seen in Series D.</p><p><br /></p><p>Perhaps the names of the continental coins put people off. They can be even more impenetrable than the British ones. It certainly seemed to me that anything that didn’t fit in one of the alphabetical ‘series’ was less likely to be popular. They’re also often in a degenerate style, which can make them confusingly abstract and quite repetitive. For me, it was Tony Abramson’s flawless provenances, tying these continental issues down to British find spots, that was the draw of Part IV.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Continental Phase Series D, Type 2c, Variety 3e Sceat, 695-715 (bought in Part IV)</b></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1371723[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>Frisia. Silver, 1.2g. Radiate bust left, with large triangular nose, no eye, chevrons before and behind, linear pyramid neck. Plain cross (SL 8-20; SCBI 69, 172 this coin; Beowulf 28 this coin; Metcalf 176 same dies; Spink 792). </b>Apparently, only 5% of Series D, Type 2c coins have a left-facing bust, making this a rare variety. What made it special for me, apart from its bizarre handsomeness, was its provenance. Ex Beowulf Collection, CNG 75, 2007; Sotheby&#039;s 1985; from the Aston Rowant (Oxfordshire) Hoard (CH I, 347) of 350 sceattas, one of the largest of its kind found in Britain, deposited around 710-715. The hoard was found in 1971 near the Icknield Way, an ancient trackway that runs from Norfolk to Wiltshire. The hoard is the divide between primary and secondary sceattas, which is why most secondary sceattas are dated 710-760.</p><p><br /></p><p>The September auctions were less exciting than Parts I and II, but presented more chances to actually buy, which was more in line with Tony Abramson’s aim of making Saxon coinage more accessible. Having been through 4 auctions I feel like I own half his collection. In fact, it’s Dr Abramson who once owned half my collection.</p><p><br /></p><p>My post on Parts I and II: <a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/the-power-of-provenance-tony-abramsons-dark-age-coins.377586/" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/the-power-of-provenance-tony-abramsons-dark-age-coins.377586/">https://www.cointalk.com/threads/the-power-of-provenance-tony-abramsons-dark-age-coins.377586/</a></p><p><br /></p><p>Incidentally, while sceattas are often called sceatta and sceats, the correct terminology is sceat (singular, from Old English sceatt) and sceattas (plural). But then Tony Abramson uses sceat, sceatta, sceats and sceattas, sometimes all in the same paragraph, so perhaps it doesn’t matter.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Sources:</b></p><p>Auction Part III (Collector’s Selection): <a href="https://live.spink.com/auctions/4-3PSOWF/21060-the-tony-abramson-collection-of-dark-age-coinage-part-iii-collectors-selection" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://live.spink.com/auctions/4-3PSOWF/21060-the-tony-abramson-collection-of-dark-age-coinage-part-iii-collectors-selection" rel="nofollow">https://live.spink.com/auctions/4-3PSOWF/21060-the-tony-abramson-collection-of-dark-age-coinage-part-iii-collectors-selection</a></p><p>Auction Part IV (Continental): <a href="https://live.spink.com/auctions/4-3ODOKB/auction-will-begin-at-1700-uk-time-21070-the-tony-abramson-collection-of-dark-age-coinage-part-iv-continental" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://live.spink.com/auctions/4-3ODOKB/auction-will-begin-at-1700-uk-time-21070-the-tony-abramson-collection-of-dark-age-coinage-part-iv-continental" rel="nofollow">https://live.spink.com/auctions/4-3ODOKB/auction-will-begin-at-1700-uk-time-21070-the-tony-abramson-collection-of-dark-age-coinage-part-iv-continental</a></p><p><br /></p><p>Tony Abramson’s website: <a href="https://www.anglo-saxon-coinage.co.uk/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.anglo-saxon-coinage.co.uk/" rel="nofollow">https://www.anglo-saxon-coinage.co.uk/</a> which includes an introduction and an overview of ‘iconic sceats’ that helps put the different series into much-needed context.</p><p><br /></p><p>An introduction to Sceatas: <a href="https://www.coin-links.net/Sceats.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.coin-links.net/Sceats.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.coin-links.net/Sceats.html</a></p><p><i>The Principle Series of English Sceattas</i>, SE Rigold <a href="https://www.britnumsoc.org/publications/Digital%20BNJ/pdfs/1977_BNJ_47_4.pdf" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.britnumsoc.org/publications/Digital%20BNJ/pdfs/1977_BNJ_47_4.pdf" rel="nofollow">https://www.britnumsoc.org/publications/Digital BNJ/pdfs/1977_BNJ_47_4.pdf</a></p><p>A good thread on Saxon coins by [USER=73099]@Nap[/USER] <a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/the-sceattas-of-early-anglo-saxon-england.316733/" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/the-sceattas-of-early-anglo-saxon-england.316733/">https://www.cointalk.com/threads/the-sceattas-of-early-anglo-saxon-england.316733/</a></p><p>Or look for anything posted by [USER=100731]@Roerbakmix[/USER] <a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/yet-another-top-10-roerbakmixs-haul-of-2020.372322/" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/yet-another-top-10-roerbakmixs-haul-of-2020.372322/">https://www.cointalk.com/threads/yet-another-top-10-roerbakmixs-haul-of-2020.372322/</a> and <a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/one-year-of-sceatta-collecting.367999/" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/one-year-of-sceatta-collecting.367999/">https://www.cointalk.com/threads/one-year-of-sceatta-collecting.367999/</a>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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