Anglo Saxon Silver sceat c600-655ad

This coin was sold on ebay 08/10/08 to a private collector. This coin is truly a little work of art and in nearly EF condition. It is a series N silver sceat with the Fantastic animal on one side and two men carrying crosses on the other. Catalogue reference S810. It fits into the early range of coinage from about 600 to 775ad. It was found many years ago near Pocklington with a Whites XLT.

The detail was not visible until it had been carefully cleaned. size approximately 14mm. Permission to place on this website was given by the finder.

Northumbria, Æthelred I, Second Reign (789-796)

Sceat, variety IV(b), beaded borders, Ceolbald, + AEDILREDR around central cross pattée on saltire in beaded circle, rev. +CEOLBALD around central boss in beaded circle,
0.98g, 90° (SL 80-40; SCBI 69 -; North 185; Spink 856), grey-brown toning, a pleasingly good very fine £400-600

PROVENANCE: S Elden, October 2017 ~ Found near Pocklington (East Yorkshire) ~

Part of the THE TONY ABRAMSON COLLECTION
OF DARK AGE COINAGE - PART II
NORTHUMBRIA Sold at Auction by Spinks 18 March 2021

Northumbria, Eadberht, with Archbishop Ecgberht (738-757),

Sceat, variety I, beaded borders, EDTBEREhTVl·, around cross pattée, rev. ECGBERhT A, mitred 3⁄4-length Archbishop Ecgberht standing facing, holding two long crooks on uneven ground, 0.88g, 315° (SL 74-10 plate coin; Bude 2016, pl. 10, nos. 2 & 11; SCBI 69, 1027 this coin; North 192; Spink 852), waterworn otherwise well spread, very fine £300-500

PROVENANCE: M Moore, November 2008 ~ Found near Pocklington (Yorkshire), November 2008 ~ [EMC 2009.0080] ~

Part of the THE TONY ABRAMSON COLLECTION
OF DARK AGE COINAGE - PART II
NORTHUMBRIA Sold at Auction by Spinks 18 March 2021

Iconic Anlaf Raven CNG 100, Lot: 2260. Estimate $15000. Sold for $12000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ANGLO-SAXON, Anglo-Viking (Hiberno-Norse Northumbria). Anlaf Guthfrithsson. 939-941. AR Penny (20mm, 1.14 g, 7h). Eoferwic (York) mint; Athelferd, moneyer. + •ΛNL-•ΛF CVNVHC’, raven with wings displayed, head left / + •ΛÐELFERD HINETΓ, small cross pattée. CTCE group IV, a-al; SCBI 4 (Copenhagen) 628-33 var. (legend); BMC 1092-6 var. (legend and stops); North 537; SCBC 1019. EMC 2015.0099 (this coin). Near EF, lightly toned. An excellent example of this iconic type.

Found near Pocklington, East Riding, Yorkshire, March 2015.

In 939, following the death of Aethelstan, the Vikings, under Anlaf Guthfrithsson, occupied York. This occupation lasted until Eadred defeated them in 954, although the Anglo-Saxons briefly recovered York from 944-7 and 948-9. During this occupation, the Vikings struck a variety of coin issues, all quite rare today, with fewer than 200 of all vareities combined. There are three groups of coins that were struck: those following the types of the contemporary Anglo-Saxon coinage, types that were copies of special issues by the Anglo-Saxons or earlier Vikings, and types that were new, original Norse designs. The last group, comprising the Raven and Triquetra types, are perhaps the most intriguing. 

The exact arrangement of the Viking coinage has been a matter of great debate, and only recently has the picture been relatively clear, with the advent of specialized studies that examined the coinage in context with the contemporary Anglo-Saxon issues (esp. CTCE and a variety of articles by the late Mark Blackburn). The Raven and Triquetra types appear to have been the two earliest issues from Viking York, with the former believed to have only lasted during the reign of Anlaf Guthfrithsson, while the latter belonged to his successor, Anlaf Sithricsson (Cuaran). 

M. Blackburn's descriptions of these coins, in his article in Aspects of Anglo-Scandinavian York, is unsupassable: "[The Raven type] has one of the most dramatic coin designs in the English series. It shows the classic Viking symbol, a raven, with head turned left and outstretched wings.... The following issue also has Scandinavian motifs: a triquetra, a common element in interlace design and a motif that recurs on 11th-century Danish and Norwegian coins, and a triangular banner of distinctive Viking form found in Scandinavian metalwork and on some rare London coins of Cnut. Yet each of these designs can also be recognized in a Christian context: the raven is associated with St. Oswald (a Northumbrian royal saint), the triquetra represents the Trinity in some 7th-8th-century art, and the triangular banner on the coins is decorated with a cross. ...[W]e can speculate whether the designers were subtly appealing to a dual audience. Did Archbishop Wulfstan's apparent alliance with Olaf Guthfrithsson ensure that the church continued to influence royal policy?"

Sole type – Reform Small Cross type, 1.45g., York - Ælfstan, draped diademed bust left, +EADPEARD REX AI, rev., cross pattée, +ELFSTAN M-O EFR, (N.763; S.1142; EMC 2007.0134 this coin), a field find, full round coin, no chips or cracks, good fine, the rarest of the late Anglo-Saxon monarchs. SOLD.

Provenance:
Found with the aid of a metal detector at Pocklington, Yorkshire, East Riding, England (SE 8049)
Coin Register 2008
Early Medieval Corpus 2007.0134

Edward the eldest surviving son of Eadgar and his first wife, Aethelflaed was crowned king on his father's death at the age of sixteen. His candidature was supported by Dunstan the influential Archbishop of Canterbury; it was opposed by Eadgar's second wife, Queen Aelfthryth and her followers who supported Edward’s younger half-brother, Aethelred II. On March 18, 978, Edward was murdered at Corfe Castle, Dorset by Aelfthryth’s followers. Whilst Aethelred was only ten years old at the time of the murder and therefore not directly implicated in the murder, his succession was tainted with the double crime of fratricide and regicide and was to ultimately end in the loss of the kingdom to Danish invaders. Canonized and awarded the tile of “Martyr”, Edward is recognized as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Anglican traditions.

Kind Permission to place on this website was given by Anthony Wilson of http://www.yorkcoins.com