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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Roerbakmix, post: 5318084, member: 100731&quot;]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. </p><p><br /></p><p>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&#039;ve added 61 coins to my collection (the remainder is either in my &#039;I have to sell these coins&#039; drawer, or of limited importance and in my &#039;I still need to label those&#039; drawer. </p><p><br /></p><p>Of these 61 coins, 27 were sceatta&#039;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&#039;t really mind condition or provenance, as long as it&#039;s a type I don&#039;t have. This is especially true for coins minted in the continent (i.e. France, Frisia, Belgium and Danmark). </p><p><br /></p><p>So, to the top 10. </p><p><br /></p><p>Nr 10: A sceatta from East Anglia, of uncertain mint. It&#039;s a relatively scarce sceatta (there are probably around 50-75 known; I&#039;m working on a die-study with @Nab, and though unfinished, it indeed appears to be a scarce coin). Only a handful sceatta&#039;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&#039;ll post later...). This sceatta reads WIGRAED, in Runic, and it is probably a moneyer or an important person</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1224683[/ATTACH]</p><p>EARLY MEDIEVAL, Anonymous. Denomination: AR Sceatta (series R, variety R10), minted: East Anglia, uncertain mint; c. 710-750 AD</p><p>Obv: Radiate bust of crude style right, annulet either side of head, runic &quot;Wigræd&quot;, before, ΛO and pellets behind, wearing collared drapery</p><p>Rev: Beaded degenerate standard containing symmetrical geometric symbols, central annulet, cross pommée to each side, diagonals at outer corners</p><p>Weight: 0.72g; Ø:11mm. Catalogue: Abramson 11.150 Provenance: Coin fair Houten; acq.: 09-2020</p><p><br /></p><p>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. </p><p>[ATTACH=full]1224684[/ATTACH]</p><p>EARLY MEDIEVAL, Anonymous. Denomination: AR Sceatta (Series BIb, type 27b), minted: Mint in Essex or East Anglia; c 685-700</p><p>Obv: Diademed bust right, breaking inner border; blundered legend around</p><p>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</p><p>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</p><p>Very pleasing dark toning.</p><p><br /></p><p>Nr 8: This is an interesting sceatta: it is a fourree. This is not often seen with sceatta&#039;s, and when found, they&#039;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. </p><p>[ATTACH=full]1224691[/ATTACH]</p><p>EARLY MEDIEVAL, Anonymous. Denomination: AR Sceatta (Series E), minted: Mint in Frisia; 720-740 AD</p><p>Obv: Porcupine-like figure, with spines ending in pellets. Straight thin spine, ending in steep curve. Four &quot;I&quot;&#039;s below the spine, one attached to spine. Before two pellets. Below a triangle. Before the &#039;beak&#039; five pellets.</p><p>Rev: Square standard of line with dots, inside annulet, horizontal lines above and below ending in dots on each side.</p><p>Weight: 1g; Ø:14mm. Catalogue: . Provenance acq.: 09-2020</p><p><br /></p><p>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&#039;s super small with 9mm (which is even smaller than a sceatta ...!):</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1224695[/ATTACH]</p><p>GREECE, Anonymous. Denomination: AR Diobole, minted: Ionia, Ephesos; 387-295 BC</p><p>Obv: Bee with straight wings</p><p>Rev: Є Φ, ethnic in field above two stag&#039;s heads facing one another.</p><p>Weight: 0.92g; Ø:9mm. Catalogue: SNG von Aulock 1835, BMC 53. Provenance: acq.: 05-2020</p><p><br /></p><p>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&#039;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. </p><p>[ATTACH=full]1224698[/ATTACH]</p><p>GREEK, Anonymous. Denomination: AR Nomos, minted: Calabria, Tarentum; 272-240 BC</p><p>Obv: Youth on horseback left, crowning horse and holding rein; ΣY to right, ΛYKI/NOΣ below</p><p>Rev: Phalanthos, preparing to throw trident left, astride dolphin left; to right, owl standing left, head facing</p><p>Weight: 6.55g; Ø:18mm. Catalogue: Vlasto 836–41; HN Italy 1025.. Provenance: acq.: 07-2020</p><p><br /></p><p>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:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1224701[/ATTACH]</p><p>BISHOPS OF UTRECHT, Diederik van der Ahr. Denomination: AR Penny, minted: Utrecht, the Netherlands; 1197-1212</p><p>Obv: TЄODЄ - RICVS, facing bust of Diederik van der Ahr in episcopal regalia; crozier to left.</p><p>Rev: +TRAIECTVM, cross pattée; in opposite quarters, pellet-in-annulet and trident with annulet ends .</p><p>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</p><p>An interesting and scarce type.</p><p><br /></p><p>Nr 4: This is one of those coins that really are not photograph&#039;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&#039;s, and it&#039;s fun to speculate what this might mean. It&#039;s a rare coin, with only a few examples known - this is one of the better examples. </p><p>[ATTACH=full]1224702[/ATTACH]</p><p>CELTS, Carnutes. Denomination: AE Unit, minted: Carnutes, Beauce region, France; 40-30 BC</p><p>Obv: Diademed female head to the left.</p><p>Rev: Wolf to the left turning his head back towards a lizard seen from above, horizontal line below</p><p>Weight: 3.7g; Ø:16mm. Catalogue: ABT.272 - RIG.224 g - Sch/L.775-776. Provenance: Found near Amiens, France; acq.: 08-2020</p><p><br /></p><p>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. </p><p>[ATTACH=full]1224703[/ATTACH]</p><p>CELTS, Uncertain tribe (Carnutes?). Denomination: BI Potin, minted: Central Gaul; 200-100 BC</p><p>Obv: Helmeted head, looking to the left.</p><p>Rev: Raven standing, to the left</p><p>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.</p><p><br /></p><p>Nr 2: and back to sceatta&#039;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 &#039;Herstal&#039; sceatta. It&#039;s not really known whether this is <i>really </i>a sceatta or a Merovingian denier (the distinction however is very arbitrary): indeed, it&#039;s a bit larger flan (13 mm compared to the 10-11 mm of most sceatta&#039;s), and the design is very uncommon and not repeated on any other sceatta&#039;s. In fact, I don&#039;t really know about other coins (except for some Merovingian deniers) that feature a &#039;star of David&#039; or a Hexagon. It&#039;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. </p><p>[ATTACH=full]1224704[/ATTACH]</p><p>EARLY MEDIEVAL, Anonymous. Denomination: AR Sceatta (Hexagon or &#039;Herstal&#039; type), minted: Frisia Magna or Austrasia; 715-750</p><p>Obv: Cross within Star of David-like design; pellets around</p><p>Rev: Central cross with radiating lines around and cross above</p><p>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</p><p><br /></p><p>Nr 1: This is a coin I absolutely cherish. It&#039;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). </p><p>[ATTACH=full]1224705[/ATTACH]</p><p>EARLY MEDIEVAL, Anonymous. Denomination: AR Sceatta (series D, BMC type 10), minted: Likely the Netherlands; c.700-715 AD</p><p>Obv: Crowned bust to the right with pellets as hair. Sharp, portruding nose. Runic inscription aepa in front</p><p>Rev: Radiated &#039;porcupine&#039; or &#039;moonface&#039; bust, to the right. Latin inscription TICV in front.</p><p>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</p><p><br /></p><p>Glad you made it to the end! Finally, a coin that would have been my number one, except that it isn&#039;t. It will be posted in the comment below.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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