This year was dynamic, to say the least. My third child, a son, was born in March, only two years and 40 minutes after the birthday of my twin, and just a few days after our national lockdown due to COVID19. As a resident internal medicine and PhD student Clinical Epidemiology, this was a golden mix for long days of work, followed by sleepless nights. Meanwhile, our new house was under construction (I received the keys only last week), and constant delays due to COVID19 were buggering me. Luckily, new coin purchases were abundant: I keep track of all my purchases, and log all the coins sold. In total, I bought 386 coins and sold 506 in 2020, keeping the coin flow netto near zero (which is how I collect: my entire collection so far has cost me 81 EUR). In total, I've added 61 coins to my collection (the remainder is either in my 'I have to sell these coins' drawer, or of limited importance and in my 'I still need to label those' drawer. Of these 61 coins, 27 were sceatta's. Some of you may have noticed: I post less on Roman coins (which were the start of my collection), and focused more on Celtic and Anglo-Saxon (or early medieval) coins. For Roman and Greek coins (and basically all other non-Celtic or Medieval coins), my ground rule is that they should appeal to me in some way, e.g. by design, provenance, historical significance. For Anglo-Saxon, or early Medieval coins, which have become the focus of my collection, I don't really mind condition or provenance, as long as it's a type I don't have. This is especially true for coins minted in the continent (i.e. France, Frisia, Belgium and Danmark). So, to the top 10. Nr 10: A sceatta from East Anglia, of uncertain mint. It's a relatively scarce sceatta (there are probably around 50-75 known; I'm working on a die-study with @Nab, and though unfinished, it indeed appears to be a scarce coin). Only a handful sceatta's come with an inscription, often of unknown meaning. There are those with a Runic legend (e.g. EPA - which is the most common inscription), or a Latin legend (e.g. TILVS - which I'll post later...). This sceatta reads WIGRAED, in Runic, and it is probably a moneyer or an important person EARLY MEDIEVAL, Anonymous. Denomination: AR Sceatta (series R, variety R10), minted: East Anglia, uncertain mint; c. 710-750 AD Obv: Radiate bust of crude style right, annulet either side of head, runic "Wigræd", before, ΛO and pellets behind, wearing collared drapery Rev: Beaded degenerate standard containing symmetrical geometric symbols, central annulet, cross pommée to each side, diagonals at outer corners Weight: 0.72g; Ø:11mm. Catalogue: Abramson 11.150 Provenance: Coin fair Houten; acq.: 09-2020 Nr. 9: Next, also from East Anglia. Not particularly rare, but it was cheap and in super condition - easily worth three times more than I paid, which is always nice. EARLY MEDIEVAL, Anonymous. Denomination: AR Sceatta (Series BIb, type 27b), minted: Mint in Essex or East Anglia; c 685-700 Obv: Diademed bust right, breaking inner border; blundered legend around Rev: Bird standing right upon cross; annulets flanking and two dots below; all within ouroboros (snake eating its own tail); three annulets below, blundered legend around Weight: 1.19g; Ø:12mm. Catalogue: Abramson 16.10. Provenance: Coin fair Houten (2020); Heritage Europ sale 54, lot 6790 (22-05-2017); acq.: 09-2020 Very pleasing dark toning. Nr 8: This is an interesting sceatta: it is a fourree. This is not often seen with sceatta's, and when found, they're usually in poor condition. This specimen has a very nice patina, and interestingly, it combines the obverse of the secondary phase (c. 715-755 AD) with a reverse of the primary phase (c. 680-715 AD). Also, the manufacturing process can be seen quite obviously: a flap of the silver sheets can be seen on the reverse (12 o clock), folded down by the forger, about 1300 years ago. EARLY MEDIEVAL, Anonymous. Denomination: AR Sceatta (Series E), minted: Mint in Frisia; 720-740 AD Obv: Porcupine-like figure, with spines ending in pellets. Straight thin spine, ending in steep curve. Four "I"'s below the spine, one attached to spine. Before two pellets. Below a triangle. Before the 'beak' five pellets. Rev: Square standard of line with dots, inside annulet, horizontal lines above and below ending in dots on each side. Weight: 1g; Ø:14mm. Catalogue: . Provenance acq.: 09-2020 Nr 7: For some diversity, a Greek coin. A coin from Ephesos was on my wish-list for a while. This was was relatively cheap, and in good enough condition. It's super small with 9mm (which is even smaller than a sceatta ...!): GREECE, Anonymous. Denomination: AR Diobole, minted: Ionia, Ephesos; 387-295 BC Obv: Bee with straight wings Rev: Є Φ, ethnic in field above two stag's heads facing one another. Weight: 0.92g; Ø:9mm. Catalogue: SNG von Aulock 1835, BMC 53. Provenance: acq.: 05-2020 Nr 6: And well, why not add another silver ancient? A nomos from Tarentum was on my wish-list for more or less the same reasons as the coin above: the design is iconic. Plus, it's a large silver coin, which is kind of a weak spot for me. This one was bought from a relatively unknown auction house in The Netherlands, and was overlooked by most, allowing me to buy it way too cheap. GREEK, Anonymous. Denomination: AR Nomos, minted: Calabria, Tarentum; 272-240 BC Obv: Youth on horseback left, crowning horse and holding rein; ΣY to right, ΛYKI/NOΣ below Rev: Phalanthos, preparing to throw trident left, astride dolphin left; to right, owl standing left, head facing Weight: 6.55g; Ø:18mm. Catalogue: Vlasto 836–41; HN Italy 1025.. Provenance: acq.: 07-2020 Nr 5: When I bought this coin as an unidentified Medieval coin, it was encrusted with thick depositions. Coin restoration is a hobby of mine, and I really enjoyed restoring this fragile coin. I like coins with busts facing me: this one certainly does: BISHOPS OF UTRECHT, Diederik van der Ahr. Denomination: AR Penny, minted: Utrecht, the Netherlands; 1197-1212 Obv: TЄODЄ - RICVS, facing bust of Diederik van der Ahr in episcopal regalia; crozier to left. Rev: +TRAIECTVM, cross pattée; in opposite quarters, pellet-in-annulet and trident with annulet ends . Weight: 0.58g; Ø:14mm. Catalogue: van der Chijs VI, 2 ,de Mey 159, de Wit Collection 878. Provenance: Ex. private collection; acq.: 02-2020 An interesting and scarce type. Nr 4: This is one of those coins that really are not photograph'able: it looks so much more pitted than in reality. I bought it for the reverse: an animal showing his teeth to a lizard behind. Similar reverses are seen on Anglo-Saxon sceatta's, and it's fun to speculate what this might mean. It's a rare coin, with only a few examples known - this is one of the better examples. CELTS, Carnutes. Denomination: AE Unit, minted: Carnutes, Beauce region, France; 40-30 BC Obv: Diademed female head to the left. Rev: Wolf to the left turning his head back towards a lizard seen from above, horizontal line below Weight: 3.7g; Ø:16mm. Catalogue: ABT.272 - RIG.224 g - Sch/L.775-776. Provenance: Found near Amiens, France; acq.: 08-2020 Nr 3: This is also a very rare Celtic coin, showing a raven on the reverse - also clearer visible in hand than on the photo. Though ravens appear often in Celtic mythology, they seldom appear on their coins, which I find interesting. It almost looks the raven is escaping its flan, which is very typical behaviour for these clever birds. CELTS, Uncertain tribe (Carnutes?). Denomination: BI Potin, minted: Central Gaul; 200-100 BC Obv: Helmeted head, looking to the left. Rev: Raven standing, to the left Weight: 3.85g; Ø:20mm. Catalogue: LT.manque - DT.2675 - BN.manque - PK.60 - Sch/SM.424. Provenance: Found in North France, near Abbevile; acq.: 06-2020 Very rare (R3) specimen, only a few sold in previous auctions last 10 year. Nr 2: and back to sceatta's again! This ancient intermezzo was just to keep you reading: here is where the magic happens. This is one of my most recent purchases: a 'Herstal' sceatta. It's not really known whether this is really a sceatta or a Merovingian denier (the distinction however is very arbitrary): indeed, it's a bit larger flan (13 mm compared to the 10-11 mm of most sceatta's), and the design is very uncommon and not repeated on any other sceatta's. In fact, I don't really know about other coins (except for some Merovingian deniers) that feature a 'star of David' or a Hexagon. It's also my most expensive sceatta, bought after careful study of the market (limited by the small number of previous recorded sales). I think I paid a nice price, but still, it was a hefty sum for such a small coin. EARLY MEDIEVAL, Anonymous. Denomination: AR Sceatta (Hexagon or 'Herstal' type), minted: Frisia Magna or Austrasia; 715-750 Obv: Cross within Star of David-like design; pellets around Rev: Central cross with radiating lines around and cross above Weight: 0.98g; Ø:13mm. Catalogue: Abramson 109.10; Metcalf p. 256–8; SCBI –; EMC 2001.1261; North –; SCBC 796.. Provenance: Ex Heritage Auctions Europe, 18-11-2020, lot 5811; acq.: 11-2020 Nr 1: This is a coin I absolutely cherish. It's a nice combination of rarity (only about 30 coins are known; only two have come to auction in the last 25 years), provenance (I know exactly where and when it was found), background (it was die-matched to other coins, found in the same area), appearance (nice dark-grey patina with orange earthen deposits. Also, this is probably the finest known) and historical significance (the obverse has been die-matched to the series D BMC 2c, and features the typical Runic EPA; the reverse reads the Latin legend TILVS, which may refer to Tiel, a Dutch city of some historical significance). EARLY MEDIEVAL, Anonymous. Denomination: AR Sceatta (series D, BMC type 10), minted: Likely the Netherlands; c.700-715 AD Obv: Crowned bust to the right with pellets as hair. Sharp, portruding nose. Runic inscription aepa in front Rev: Radiated 'porcupine' or 'moonface' bust, to the right. Latin inscription TICV in front. Weight: 1.16g; Ø:12mm. Catalogue: Op den Velde die chain 312-325 (obverse); 318-319 (reverse). Abramson 9-10; BMC type 10;. Provenance: Metal detecting find Oud-Zevenaar, near the assumed location of an 8th century church. NUMIS nr. 1150617; acq.: 04-2020 Glad you made it to the end! Finally, a coin that would have been my number one, except that it isn't. It will be posted in the comment below.
This coin was in the property of a seller I regularly visit. I saw it about two years ago, when I came to buy an Ambiani stater. He then casually showed me some drawers with other staters, and this one really made an impression on me. The price was too much for my budget, and I didn't really want to show my interest too much. It's a 'large-flan' stater of the Ambiani tribe, showing Apollo (or a Celtic Goddess) with vine grapes in a very Celtic (but realistic) pose. The reverse shows Nike driving a Chariot, but it's largely off-flan. Fast forward to July this year, when I had the budgets. I was able to buy it for the same price as when I first saw it. But ... now that I had it, it really didn't do it for me. True: it was large, but these coins can get 27-30 mm; this one was 'just' 23 mm. It looked tiny. And, yes, the obverse was of nice design, but the large and deep scratches bothered me (in this photo, I positioned the light just so that they are less visible). Though you don't buy this coin for the reverse, it didn't show the cool hovering Nike with a palm-leaf behind; the horse was worn, there were some scratches ... So, I contacted a friend of mine who specializes in Celtic coins, knowing that he would adore it. And so he does: it will be the centerpiece of his collection. I will probably never buy a better specimen (they are scarce; I've started a die-study and identified about 75 specimens. In desirable condition, they go for €5000-10.000, which is just too much). I'm happy that it will go to a friend, though looking at the photo, I know I'll miss it. Anyway: here is the coin that was destined to be my centerpiece: CELTS, Ambiani celts. Denomination: AV Stater, minted: Gaul; c. 125-100 BC Obv: Stylized 'Celticized' laureate bust of Apollo (or Celtic goddess) to the left, with oversized head and hair shown as an elaborate, tapestry-like pattern that takes up most of the flan. Vine tendril emerging from ear and running to top of head, the ear and hair tendrils represented by three crescents, the bust draped elaborately with embroidered robes. Rev: Celtic horse with chariot galloping left, deconstructed version of Nike driving a chariot to left; with a rosette below horse. Horizontal line below. Weight: 7.38g; Ø:20mm. Catalogue: . Provenance: acq.: 07-2020 Although originally derived from Macedonian gold staters of Philip II, this type has moved far beyond mere imitation into the realm of original design, in which case the head of "Apollo" on the obverse, with its enormously enlarged coiffeur and elaborate drapery, should more properly be seen as representing a Gallo-Celtic goddess, perhaps Sirona, a goddess often depicted as Apollo's consort in later Celtic imagery. This progress toward a distinctive Celtic numismatic art could be seen as reaching its peak with this coin type; later derivations drift off into rote repetition and decadence, with the goddesses' face disappearing altogether and the entire flan filled an abstract pattern of wavy lines and crescents seen here in her hair.
Magniicent assemblage, @Roerbakmix. I almost have to pinch myself that there are members here, like you and @Nap, who are so deeply into sceattas. You guys are really holding up that whole side of the tent! ...With my 'center of gravity' being as late as it is, your example of Diederik van der Ahr had to jump out at me. That is yet another phenomenal cleaning job! I have to like the way that the facing portrait evokes slightly earlier issues of the Salian and Anglo-Norman kings. ...And Congratulations on you folks' third child!
Wow, neat assemblage. Despite the minor flaws you mentioned, I am of course extremely envious of the gold stater! I want one, and have for a couple of years, but I expect I'll have to settle for a quarter-stater one of these days, due to budgetary constraints. I like the East Anglian sceat- that at least is one type I have owned: A Tarentum dolphin-rider is on my "to do" list for someday, before long. That's a fierce trident being thrown on yours! Nice coin. I like that it has a little "bonus owl" on it, too. Nice find and restoration job on the Utrecht penny! That facing bust reminds me of William the Conqueror on English coins of the period. The wolf/lizard combo on the reverse of that Celtic piece is neat. The wolf in particular looks suitably wolf-like and predatory, much more so than the one on my VRBS ROMA Roman bronze, which is great, but not very "wolfy". (I guess the correct term for “wolfy” is lupine.)
Gotta love those sceatta!! I like your #1 (wow!), #4, and #8 (also wow, amazing fourrée!) the best. Also intrigued by #2... can it be considered a "transitional" issue between the Merovingian denier and the sceat, or does that notion not really make sense? My Merovingian denier and favourite sceat: And here's a wacky fourrée Merovingian tremissis you might like:
I find the sceattas all very interesting to look at, even though I know absolutely nothing about them. But my favorite is the nomos from Tarentum. That's a gorgeous coin!
Great Group of Coins, @Roerbakmix ! An awesome Stir Fry of History! I keep saying this, but I really envy the Celt Coins, and will deep dive some day soon. You and your family have been BUSY this year! Hope all is well and not fraying at the seams...
That's a really nice Calabria, Tarentum AR nomos. I also like the really stylized reverse of your Migration period coin, the AR sceatta, it really has a feel for that time. The Celtic stater is very interesting. Here's an EL stater, acquired earlier this year, from Namnetes, region of Nantes, 1'st century BC. Délestré 2187. 7.3 grams
Nice selection/ really like the Medieval/ Anglo-Saxon coinage. Seems your AV Stater from Ambiani is much rarer then the common Gallic War one I have.
Wow, that stater is a winner, even with some flaws. I like the Tarentum too Well done, despite some hurdles on your track this year ! Q
Sceatta party! I do wonder, are you and Nap the only ones known to collect sceatta's? Or is there a hidden, secret sceatta club somewhere? The other coins are lovely too, by the way, especially the Calabria nomos. And I hope you won't regret departing with your stater from Gaul...!
What a great group of coins! Though I only have once sceatta it's easy to understand how you fell in love with them. That #1 is a stone cold beauty I really like how the hairstyles didn't change to much over time from potin to sceatta: And I also have a left facing helmeted barber
Very fine. We need to learn more about these types of ancient coins. I choose numbers 2,6 and the stylized bust of Apollo. Cheers..
Thanks all for the kind replies! I never get so much attention for a sceatta-themed post ... should post a few ancients with them next time Thanks @+VGO.DVCKS, I really liked this cleaning job. I posted the process and methods here. Suprisingly, those quarter staters can get jus as expensive. Just buy the real thing The real answer is: we'll probably never know. There is some hoard evidence: a hoard found in the 1800s near Franiker (Friesland) contained a relative large number of Herstal sceatta's, and only a few Merovingian sceats. I posted a thread on this coin here. Well, if you ever get tired from the Roman Republic ... I know you've got a series E sceatta in really nice condition: time to add a few others! Definitely. The Gallic War staters (minted probably c. 200 years later) are abundant, though good condition go for a premium. Here's mine: Matter of fact ... there is! We've got cookies. As a fellow Dutchman, you should have at least one Series D or E sceatta in your collection, @Limes!
@Roerbakmix, thank you for redirecting me to the details of your remarkable cleaning job. This is nothing that I would have either the competence, or the confidence to attempt, but it's amazing to see what people can accomplish when they know what they're doing. ...All best to you folks.
