Roerbakmix

I haven't found much time to post - life can be busy with four kids and work. I was however rather lucky in a recent Dutch auction, and more recently with the purchase of a group lot of sceattas. 

First, the result of the auction. This was an auction by Theo Peters. It included a rather nice selection of sceattas, most in excellent conditions. I've asked my good friend @AnYangManto bid on my behalf (as I was attending the swimming lessons of my twin and thus unable to bid). Somehow, he was able to secure all lots for a grand total of 2100€ or so (which I had to explain to my wife). In total, I won six sceattas. I was able to track down provenance for all but one:

1) This coin (series P) was on my wish list for quite a while. This is one of those 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder' types. Some described it as an anglo-saxon television. 

EARLY MEDIEVAL, Anonymous. Denomination: AR Sceatta (Series P, type 70), minted: East Midlands; 730-735
Obv: Standard' with saltire and pellets; tufa above, lines at sides, three pellets below; all within pelleted circle
Rev: Standard' with central annulet, two chevrons at opposite corners; Ts at sides; all within pelleted circle.
Weight: 0.92g; Ø:11.4 mm. Catalogue: SL 130-170.
Provenance: Ex. Baldwins auction 40, lot 101 (03-05-2005)
Ex. Henzen List 177/956
Ex. AA muntenveiling auction 62, lot 348 (17/06/2023); 
Find location: Unknown Published: No
 

2) Series R5. This one was part of a group lot. It's prettier in hand. The previous collector probably bought it because of its large flan: the dotted border / raised rim is usually not, or only partly on flan. I have to study this coin closer; perhaps the 'garbled legend' on the reverse actually have some meaning (TAA UVI?)

EARLY MEDIEVAL, Anonymous. Denomination: AR Sceatta (Series R5), minted: ;
Obv: Radiate bust to the right; EPA (runic) before.
Rev: Tufa with garbled legend around.
Weight: 0.63g; Ø:12.3 mm. Catalogue: . Provenance: Ex. Baldwins auction 40, lot 100 (03-05-2005)
Ex. AA muntenveiling auction 62, lot 333 (17/06/2023)
acq.: 06-2023
Find location: Unknown Published: No
 

3) Series R, but very unusual. With some help by @ChrisNumiScholar (Chris Timms), I found the original EMC listing and find location, thus tracking down the provenance to 1991. Chris actually found another die-matched coin. Hopefully, we'll publish this coin somewhere, sometime. EARLY MEDIEVAL, Anonymous. Denomination: AR Sceatta (Series R (imitative)), minted: ;
Obv: Crude runic busts with EPA before, beaded diadem, linear neck, chevron behind
Rev: Tufa enclosing trefoil, each side of degenerate votive standard, cross to each corner
Weight: 1.25g; Ø:11 mm. Catalogue: Sceatta List IV 11-180 (plate coin). Provenance: EMC 1990.0170
Ex. AA muntenveiling auction 62, lot 333 (17/06/2023); acq.: 06-2023
Find location: Tadley, Hampshire (May 1991) Published: Included in sceatta List IV 11-180 (plate coin)
 

 4) Series F, but really nice condition and very broad flan. Series F is divided in subclasses, but I haven't found time to precisely pinpoint mine. This series was attributed to the Anglo Saxons, but later more convincingly to Quentovic, a prolific French (merovingian) city. This is the only coin I couldn't find an earlier provenance. 

EARLY MEDIEVAL, Anonymous. Denomination: AR Sceatta (Series F), minted: probably continental; 695-705
Obv: Bust facing right, wearing helmet with neck gaurd, large nose to forehead, cross-patte behind. Blundered legend around.
Rev: Cross on steps, annulets around, blundered legend around (largely off-flan)
Weight: 1.21g; Ø:11.6 mm. Catalogue: Abramson 106-35. Provenance: Ex. AA muntenveiling auction 62, lot 333 (17-06-2023); acq.: 06-2023
Find location: Unknown Published: No
 

5) This Herstal / star of david / Interlace type is the best I've found online. It's somewhat scarce. I've posted a more detailed post on the Herstal type on Cointalk previously (https://www.cointalk.com/threads/auction-win-heritage-europe-herstal-sceatta.371585/). It's an interesting coin, found in sceatta hoards, meaning they circulated together. However, they're EXTREMELY LARGE (relatively, of course) with 13 mm (the average sceatta is around 11 mm). 

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: 1.31g; Ø:13.2 mm. Catalogue: Abramson 109.10; Metcalf p. 256–8; SCBI –; EMC 2001.1261; North –; SCBC 796.. Provenance: Ex. Künker auction 105, lot 1975 (27-09-2005)
Ex. Henzen List 173/951
Ex. AA muntenveiling auction 62 (17-06-2023); acq.: 06-2023
Find location: Unknown Published: No
 

6) Series Bz. This was my main aim in the auction. Series Bz is rare, and only a few have can be found on ACsearch and Sixbid. I'll write a thread on this coin later, going into the iconography and the similarity of the reverse (I mixed the rev/obv; rev = left; obv = right) with series B and J.  

EARLY MEDIEVAL, Anonymous. Denomination: AR Sceatta (Series Bz, type 29b), minted: Essex or East Anglia; 700-710
Obv: •VV++•++ΛI, rudimentary facing head of Christ
Rev: Bird standing right upon cross; unclear legend around.
Weight: 1.2g; Ø:10.9 mm. Catalogue: . Provenance: Elsen liste 239 lot 366; acq.: 06-2023
Find location: Unknown Published: no

 

Hi all, I bought a few very nice sceattas which came with provenance. In particular, I'm looking for: 

Elsen    List 239/366
Henzen    List 173/951
Henzen    List 177/956

Does anyone here have these lists in their shelves? Thanks!

Hi @George, it would be better to create a new thread instead of adding to another thread that has nothing to do with your request. 

Under ‘currency ‘

it is calculated for current exchange rates, but doesn’t take inflation/historic rates into account.

20 hours ago, Severus Alexander said:

Sixbid simply lists them in numeric order: 500 GBP, 550 USD, 600 GBP, 650 EUR… Whereas acsearch lists them in a single currency of your choice, using historical exchange rates in accordance with the auction date.

This you can do with sixbid as well

Thanks @JeandAcre. Nothing can be said with certainty regarding the moneyers (ie imitative versus 'real'). Based on Arent Pol's research, which I summarized in the table above, the i in DORESTATI FIT might suggest it's the 'true' Madelinus, whereas DORESTAT FIT (and variants) are likely imitative. I've emailed Arent Pol an example that has the DORESTATI FIT legend, but is clearly imitative, ans asked for his opinion (as this coin doesn't fit in his theory), but sadly received no response. 

Thanks as well @Grimulfr. This is one of the more common Frisian gold coins, and the do turn op at archaeology digs everywhere in Europe (proving the widespread trade in those days). Unfortunately Arent hasn't published his corpus. Rumours is that it already includes >15.000 examples of early medieval gold coins. I guess it's difficult to draw a line - when is a corpus complete? I have asked the question on the original / imitative ratio as well, but no response alas. 

Thanks for tagging me. I recognize this coin, the finder corresponded with me a few years ago (I',m, moderator at the early medieval section on a dutch metal detecting forum). We discussed some options, listed above. My thought was a Frisian imitation of a Carolingian tremissis, but no others have been found since. I know the finder had some correspondence with experts on Danish, Swedish etc. coinage, perhaps he could share that communication as well? 

I'm not sure @Tejasis still very active here, but he might have some thoughts as well

Last week, I finally bought a coin that has been on my wish list for many years. It's a gold coin from Madelinus, minted in (or nearby) Dorestat in the 630-50's. 

EARLY MEDIEVAL, Anonymous. Denomination: AV Tremissis (Pseudo-MADELINUS (Frisian immitative) type), minted: Frisia; 630-650 AD
Obv: Degraded diademed bust right, with pointy nose and pellet lips. ∇°REഗTɅT FIT (DORESTAT FIT; Delta D, upper-case o, sideway rotated S, unbarred A). Three pellets between R and E
Rev: MɅ∇ELINVS M (MADELINVS M; unbarred A, delta D), cross on single step, six equidistant pellets below.
Weight: 1.26g; Ø:15 mm. Catalogue: . Provenance: Ex. Elsen auction 130 (10-09-2016), lot nr. 291 (unsold)
Ex. Hollandia Numismatics 05-2023
Find location: Unknown Published: Included in Arent Pol's (unpublished) study on Madelinus tremisses.
The gold content of this coin was measured for Arent Pol's (unpublished) study on Madelinus tremisses, using specific gravity (gold content of 44%, assuming pure silver/gold alloy) and XRF (Bruker method, 69-70% gold content). Small abrasion on the obverse (at the cheek), apart from that, a superb example.

This night, during a slow night shift in the hospital, I compiled a little write-up on Madelinus and his coins. 

Madelinus and Dorestat

Not much is known about Madelinus, a Frankish moneyer at Dorestat (current Wijk bij Duurstede, the Netherlands) between 630-650. He minted together with Rimoaldus, both were active first in Maastricht (where no less than 20 or perhaps even 25 moneyers were active in less than a century). Though Rimoaldus was active in Dorestat as well, he seems less prolific as only five coins can be attributed to his issues there, whereas more than 600 coins can be associated with Madelinus. The output of Madelinus in Maastricht was limited, only a few coins of him can be attributed to that period (I’m unsure how the output of Rimoaldus to him was in that period). Interestingly however, his coins from Dorestat were widely imitated, so called ‘pseudo-madelinus’ tremisses.

Madelinus minted most of his tremisses at Dorestat, a city near the Rhine with Roman roots, was a prolific international trading center at the natural border of the Frisians and the Franks. Around 700, an anonymous cleric in Ravenna described Dorestat as patria Frigonum (or Frixonum), so ‘in the region of the Frisians’ (Ravennatis Anonymi Cosmographia I.11 and IV.23), but after the battle of Dorestat in 695, the Frisian ruler Rêdbêd (better known as Radboud, born <670-719) was beaten by the Frankish Pepin of Herstal. Following this battle, and especially after the death of Rêdbêd in 719, the Frankish influence over Dorestat and the Frisians increased. Yet, Dorestat has been described as a meeting point between the two cultures – a neutral place to trade and earn money, and perhaps discuss diplomatic and political issues between the two kingdoms. This mixture between Frisians and Franks is illustrated by Madelinus and Rimoaldus – two Frankish moneyers from Maastricht (a Frankish city of importance) moving to the Frisian Dorestat. 

17^th century copy by an anonymous painter, showing how Radboud might have looked.

Madelinus and pseudo-Madelini

Following the same pattern of the Frankish and Anglo Saxon regions, gold coins were widely imitated, initially in the same fineness (c. 50% gold for Madelinus types), but dropping to  5-10% gold content in the following decades. Finally, the coins contained no gold at all, marking the beginning of the sceatta-era. In this process of imitation, the appearance of the Madelinus tremisses changed: designs became abstracted, and legends corrupted. These imitative Madelinus tremisses are commonly referred to as pseudo-Madelinus tremisses. It’s difficult to draw the line between ‘true’ and pseudo-Madelinus. Arent Pol, a numismatist who’s compiling an overview and die-study early medieval tremisses, suggested this sequence with progressive degree of abstraction:

A distinguishing feature between the original ‘true’ Madelinus tremisses and pseudo tremisses, apart from varying degrees of abstraction (see photo’s later), is the I between DORESTAT and FIT (i.e. DORESTATI FIT). No die links between these coins, and the imitative coins have been found, whereas die links are abound in the group of coins sharing this feature. Following this, my coin can be identified as pseudo-Madelinus, probably relatively early given the high gold content of 44% (using specific gravity methods, assuming an alloy of only silver and gold. The coin was also analyzed with XRF, which showed a gold content of 69-70%.

Two questions regarding pseudo-Madelinus questions can be asked, and partly answered: first, where were these coins minted, and second, why. To answer the first question, one can look at find locations. This, unfortunately, is not helpful in this case as the coins are evenly found in northwestern Europe, and no distribution pattern can be identified. The heterogeneity of design also suggests a large number of mints that were involved – perhaps (as has also been suggested of sceattas), most coins were not minted at a mint, but merely by the traveling goldsmith. One find is perhaps helpful in pinpointing a location, namely Katwijk (a small, but historic village at the North Sea coast near the Rhine, c. 80 km from Dorestat by boat on the Rhine). Here, a test strike on a piece of lead was found, showing (part of) the obverse of a pseudo-Madelinus. This suggest that, at some time, near Katwijk, a moneyer tested his obverse die.

The second question – why these coins were so widely imitated – may be impossible to answer. With the decreasing gold content over time, the traveling goldsmiths may have profited from minting a coin of lesser purity. A coin as popular and recognizable was perhaps accepted at face value, resembling a certain, more or less standard amount of gold – in some extent similar to the Roman practice of decreasing the silver content of denari.

Dating of early medieval coinage is tricky, as most coins contain no meaningful legend, and if they do, it’s often the name of the moneyer or the place of mint. Though there was probably some royal control on minting, contrary to the later Karolingian period, royal names were seldomly mentioned on coinage. Thus, hoard evidence is important to allow more precise dating. There are a couple of hoards, though mostly from the Karolingian period, as the prosperity of the city caught attention of the Vikings, who raided Dorestat many times between 834 and 863. The unrest caused by these raids resulted in the burying of valuables in hope to retrieve them later. Indeed, many hoards from this period have been found, including for example this fabulous fibula dated between 775 and 800.

Unfortunately for numismatists, the 600-700s were a relatively stable period and few hoards from that period have been unearthed. Two hoards, one from Escharen (a hoard of 60 gold coins, found in 1897 and sold for melting to a local jeweler. Luckily, they weren’t, and it remains one of the crucial hoards to date early medieval gold coins.), and one from Wieuwerd (discovered in 1866).

 Two other hoards have been found more recently: the Utrecht hoard (2014, containing 52 gold and 12 silver coins),

...and the Springendael hoard (published last year). Especially the last hoard is regarded as important because of the large variety of types.

Apart from news items, I have not yet read a numismatic article on these two hoards, which I eagerly await. 

I know some users here have Madelinus tremisses or Frisian gold coins as well: please share these beauties! 

Sources (amongst others): 

Arent Pol. A new sceat of the Dorestat/Madelinus type

Arent Pol. Madelinus and the disappearing of gold

I use my better coin as phone background:

I actually bought this Madelinus tremissis (that was on my wish list for ages) today. I'll post a more detailed thread later, but thrilled to have finally added it to the collection!

It's a very nice addition to my Dronrijp:

... and Nietap type:

I'm struggling a bit with the colour settings of my photo setup; the coins are more 'goldish yellow' in hand. Anyway, third early medieval gold - happy 🙂

I believe most Venetian grosso were 20-21 mm; which would make the coin of interest fairly large for a tremissis. That having said, I do vaguely recognize it as such. 

Do you have the other coins as reference to estimate the diameter? I don't recognize it as Frisian immediately. 

46 minutes ago, Coinmaster said:

t's unsure if they are also produced in The Netherlands and if so, where exactly. One of the researchers is looking into the Wodan-sceatta type.

Member of your FB group already 🙂

I  think the attribution of series D and E to the continent can be made with some certainty, especially after the seminal studies by Metcalf and Wybrand op den Velde in 2003 and 2013-4 (Jaarboek). Domburg and Dorestad have been suggested as a prolific mints. Utrecht probably as well (some tremisses e.g. by Madelinus were minted there).

The Wodan sceatta is probably attributable to Ribe, Danmark (see e.g. Feveile study on series X). There has been a exhaustive die study project on Series X, but it has been published quite some time ago by Barret in 1992 (two part thesis, the second part is a die study). 

I have actually posted quite some threads in the continental sceattas (my collection focus) here, and on www.cointalk.com (same username). If you're interested, you could check my post history. 

I dont have my reference work available right now, but a quick look at the (by the way fantastic!) plate:

1    Series J type 85
2    probably merovingian
3    Series B
4    ?
5    Series N type 41b
6    Series X type 31
7    Series K?
8    Series V type 7 (primary-secondary phase)
9    ?
10    Series K
11    ?
12    Series E, VICO type var 1 (primary phase)
13    Series A
14    Series D reverse var 1 (primary phase)
15    Series D, subvariety e (secondary phase)
16    Series K, type 20 (730-40)
17    ?
18    Series E, plumed bird var J
19    Series O (secondary phase)
20    Series M
21    Styca, unsure

I think the styca is the end coin, the youngest coin in the hoard. It's a fascinating mix of primary phase and secondary phase coins. 

@Nap can probably add a bit to this thread.

41 minutes ago, John Conduitt said:

Well spotted.

Thanks. These were the seller photos:

Always fun to spot an overlooked rarity 🙂 

Last week I spotted a sceatta on a facebook group that sold for a whopping of 41 GBP. I missed it, and was rather frustrated as it was a rare, late English sceatta with the moneyers name WIGRAED (in Runic) inscribed on it. Luckily, I knew the winner, who sold it for me for 60 GBP - a very fair price. 

The coin arrived today, and it was in pitiful condition:

I was able to improve it a little bit, showing the legend and confirming my ID:

EARLY MEDIEVAL, Anonymous. Denomination: AR Sceatta (Series R10 (Wigraed)), minted: East Anglia, uncertain mint; c. 710-750 AD
Obv: Radiate bust of crude style right, annulet either side of head, runic "WIGED", before, ΛO and pellets behind, wearing collared drapery
Rev: Beaded degenerate standard 
Weight: 0.71g; Ø: 11 mm. 
Ex. Victor Parsons 05-2023; acq.: 05-2023
Find location: England Published: No
 

To help reading a little bit, here are the runes outlined in red (ᚹᛁᚷᛖᛞ)

It's a nice, though debased and rough, companion to my other Wigraed:

... which is even more debased (though not as rough) as the one I've added today. Some on that coin was posted here (https://www.cointalk.com/threads/added-two-sceattas-series-b-and-r.367032/#post-4889258) before. 

Thanks for the replies! The SEROALDO type of @John Conduittis a nice example of a scarce variety of an already scarce series. I would be happy to have it in my collection!

On 5/9/2023 at 11:05 PM, John Conduitt said:

How do the Op den Velde Sub-varieties work with the usual Series e.g. Series E is Primary but Sub-variety K is Secondary?

In general, Op den Velde is a bit vague, and their naming of the series counterintuitive:

Primary phase (695-715): 

• Plumed bird
• VICO
• Variety G
• Variety D

Secondary phase (715-755):

• Subvariety a-i (small letters, not capital)
• subvariety k (omitting subvariety j for some reason)

Tertiary phase (>755):

• Variety E
• Variety AF
• Variety B
• Variety F

The two books (book 1 is the study and description of the varieties, book 2 is the die study) could have benefitted enormously with some clear description of distinctive characteristics (e.g. the major distinction between primary phase Var G and tertiary phase Var E is the beak, the triangle, which is attached at the distal end for Var E, and not for Var G). You really have to read 'between the lines' to find this essential information. A flow chart would probably help, and I'm in the process of making something like that. 

Note however that their work is freely accessible here:

https://jaarboekvoormuntenpenningkunde.nl/jaarboek-op-artikel/

 > and then search for 'sceatta'. 

On 5/9/2023 at 11:24 PM, Ryro said:

M&OdV variety C, sub-variety d

@Ryro, that's a really nice coin, I like the dark toning and the high relief. The identification is partly incorrect: there is no 'Variety C'. I'll take you through my process of identification following M&OdV (see link above)

1) the reverse is a TToII type, a replica of primary phase series (note: not variety) A and C. Secondary phase subvariety b, c and d have this reverse. The main distinction between subvar. c and d is the number of crosslets outside the dotted square border: for subvar. b, there are 8 crosslets; for subvar c and d, there can be crosslets, or other symbols in the margin. As these are usually off-flan, distinction can be tricky, however, on your coin, I would go for subvar c or d as in the upper left corner, there is a moon-shaped C and not a crosslet. 

2) then the obverse. For subvar b, this closely copies the VICO obverse (spine with three - four vertical lines below). Subvariety c shows a bit variety, but again, largely copies the VICO obverse. For your coin, which is unusual in the pelleted outline of the spine, and the large dot at the most distal end of the spine, we'll have to look at subvar. d ... 

... which is included in the corpus: 

It appears your coin is an obv. and rev. die match to obv. chain 1430-1444 and rev. chain 1431-1444 (note also the moonlike crescent on the upper left corner of 1432). 

So: secondary phase subvariety d, diechain 1431-1444. 

Last week, four new sceattas arrived. I bought them via Facebook, a source for new acquisitions I had overlooked until recently. The seller, a UK coin trader by the name of Victor Parsons, bought them in various auction houses, but forgot which. The package was delayed for almost three months in Dutch customs (which has become common unfortunately for UK packages since Brexit), which gave me ample time to search for the lost provenances. 

When the lot was posted online, I immediately recognized two rare varieties which I just had to have. The first is a scarce reverse variety ('Saltire cross', a cross with a central annulet. This reverse type is more common on Anglo Saxon than continental sceattas, e.g. some series R varieties and the SEROALDO type), combined with a common series E obverse. Metcalf and Op den Velde (Jaarboek 2009/2010) groups this type in the secondary phase (715-755 AD), sub-variety k, and identified two other die-identical specimens that were found in the Netherlands. I think this third coin was probably found in the UK, as (1) it's the only one without a provenance, (2) it has some dirt remains, suggesting a recent find, and (3) the seller is known to buy and resell metal detecting finds in the UK. So, after about 1400 years, the coin has traveled back to the place it was minted (or, alternatively, the other two known Dutch finds were also minted in the UK, but found in the Netherlands). 

EARLY MEDIEVAL, Anonymous. Denomination: AR Sceatta (Series E, secondary phase, sub-variety k), minted: Frisia; 720-740 AD
Obv: Quilled crescent or 'porcupine' with three vertical lines below spine (one attached to distal end)
Rev: Saltire cross with large central annulet, within square dotted border, flanked by pellets.
Weight: 0.96g; Ø:11.4 mm. Catalogue: Obverse and reverse die-match to JMP 2631-2632, which where found in Domburg and De Meern respectively. Provenance: Ex. Victor Parsons 03-2023; acq.: 03-2023
Find location: Unknown Published: No

The second coin was misidentified as a common series E. I recognized it as an abstracted VERNVS type, a type on which I have posted before.

On a rare, new variety: https://www.numisforums.com/topic/3313-vernvs

A more general post on the variety: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/brushing-the-dirt-of-mr-vernvs-who-was-bought-by-accident.372140/

Metcalf and Op den Velde have hypothesized a chronological abstraction of the plumed bird type into the VERNVS type, but I'm not quite sure I agree with this (for reasons stated in the first URL above). I now have varieties a, c, and g (and of course plan to complete the subseries) 

EARLY MEDIEVAL, Anonymous. Denomination: AR Sceatta (Series E, VERNVS), minted: Frisia; 695-715/720
Obv: Crude radiate bust to the right; V-shaped abstract helmet (?)
Rev: Beaded standard with central pellet-within annulet, flanked by pellets, and horizontal lines.
Weight: 10.2g; Ø:1.1 mm. Catalogue: No die matches or similar coins in JMP. Provenance: Ex. Noonans auction 13-07-2022, lot 57
Ex. Victor Parson 03-2023; acq.: 03-2023
Find location: Unknown Published: No
 

The other two coins are nice examples of more common varieties. This one is a relatively common series E, primary phase variety D. It's better in hand, though I'll probably keep looking for an upgrade (it's attractively toned, and reasonably sharp in hand, but minted with worn dies). Series E var. D is known for interesting pseudo-letters on the reverse, which are clearly visible on this one:

EARLY MEDIEVAL, Anonymous. Denomination: AR Sceatta (Series E, primary phase, variety D), minted: Frisia; 695-715/720
Obv: Quiled crescend or 'porcupine' with small V (both ends attached to spine); spine ending in annulet. Two dots below spine; part of cross-pommee below
Rev: Central annulet flanked with four pellets, within (small) dotted square, garbled legend outside
Weight: 11.9g; Ø:1.13 mm. Catalogue: Obverse and reverse die match to JMP 675-676 (found in Coddenham, and Aston Rowant respectively). Provenance: Ex. Noonans auction 13-07-2022, lot 56
Ex. Victor Parson 03-2023; acq.: 03-2023
Find location: Unknown Published: No

A common series E primary phase variety G, type 4 with parts of the "XAZO" legend visible. It's didn't circulate for long before it was lost. I like the off-center reverse, which shows how much larger the die was than the flan (which is, curiously, nearly always the case for sceattas). 

EARLY MEDIEVAL, Anonymous. Denomination: AR Sceatta (Series E, primary phase, variety G4 (XAZO)), minted: Frisia; 695-715/720
Obv: Quilled crescent or 'porcupine' with sharp V (only proximal end attached to spine); distal part of spine ending with in two pellets. Parts of letters Z and O below, largely off-flan.
Rev: Beaded standard with central pellet-within annulet, flanked by pellets and horizontal lines, all within dotted square border. Pellets and cross-pommee outside
Weight: 1.16g; Ø:11.6 mm. Catalogue: . Provenance: Ex. Lockdales auction 135, 14/05/2016, lot 1359
Ex. Hanson auction 26/08/2021, lot 370
Ex. Victor Parson 03-2023; acq.: 03-2023
Find location: Unknown Published: No
 

Thanks for looking!

Interesting news update in a recent Viking hoard, mainly containing coins minted under Harold Bluetooth 

https://nordjyskemuseer.dk/hele-to-vikingeskatte-fundet-naer-fyrkat/
 

Use translate function in chrome to read it.

Yes, I’ll be there as is @AnYangMan.

Thanks @Nap and @John Conduitt. It appears some of my images aren't loading properly; I'll look into that later. If you have any biography that is missing in this list, please feel free to post them here, or send me a pm!

3 hours ago, DLTcoins said:

This Daily Mail story from 2019 seems to focus on the same hoard. In addition to reporting the criminal investigation, this earlier piece goes into some detail on the history of Alfred and Coenwulf, and the "national importance" of the hoard.

I was thinking about this news story as well. Is the hoard described in the first post a new hoard? Or is it the same?

SERIES X

EARLY MEDIEVAL, Anonymous. Denomination: AR Sceatta (Series X), minted: Ribe, Danmark; 710-780 AD
Obv: Facing 'Wodan' head with radiate hear, beard and mustache, cross on either side, all within line border
Rev: Bipedal monster in flight, looking back, gaping jaws biting raised triple-forked tail, crest before with pellet and, ornaments below head.
Weight: 0g; Ø:11.8 mm. Catalogue: Abramson 103-10. Provenance: Schulman, auction 371, lot 1751; acq.: 04-2022
Find location: Unknown Published: No
Sharply struck, some earthen deposits mainly on reverse. Dark grey toning

SERIES R

EARLY MEDIEVAL, Anonymous. Denomination: AR Sceatta (Series R10 (Wigraed)), minted: East Anglia, uncertain mint; c. 710-750 AD
Obv: Radiate bust of crude style right, annulet either side of head, runic "WIGR", 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:11 mm. Catalogue: Abramson 11.150 (id. Provenance: Coin fair Houten; bought from E. Datema; acq.: 09-2020
Find location: Unknown Published: No
Relatively scarce (Ashmolian museum lists three; Abramson lists three other; PAN lists one die-identical example (both obv. and rev. die match: SF-1743C6) subtype of the series R with the name of the moneyer (?) "Wigraed" on the obverse, instead of the typical runic EPA. This coin probably belongs to the last twenty years of the production of this coinage, between 735 and 749, and therefore to the reign of Ealdwulf’s successor Aelfwald. Two named moneyers, Tilberht and Wigraed, were operating in Aelfwald’s reign; Wigraed possibly at Gipeswic, and Tilberht at Thetford.

EARLY MEDIEVAL, Anonymous. Denomination: AR Sceatta (Series R8), minted: East Anglia, uncertain mint; c. 710-765
Obv: Abstract head to the right; before: EA (blundered runic legend), behind: three annulets.
Rev: Beaded ‘standard,’ with degraded TOT II legend; crosses pommée around.
Weight: 0.94g; Ø:12 mm. Catalogue: Abramson 11.120; SCBI 63 (BM), 670–1; cf. North 157; SCBC 813A. Provenance: ; acq.: 12-1899
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Minor encrustations, cleaned

SERIES N

EARLY MEDIEVAL, Anonymous. Denomination: AR Sceatta (Series N, type 41b), minted: Probably Eastern England; 715-720 AD
Obv: Two figures facing forward, long cross pommee between, both wearing long tunics, long crosses at either side
Rev: Crested monster left, looking back, crest behind, tail raised, claws beneath, pellets in field
Weight: 1.06g; Ø:11 mm. Catalogue: Abramson 52-40 (scarce). Provenance: Bought from G. van Dijk; acq.: 01-2021
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Minor iron deposits on the obverse, cleaning scratches on reverse

SERIES K

EARLY MEDIEVAL, Anonymous. Denomination: AR Sceatta (Series K), minted: ;
Obv:
Rev:
Weight: 0.67g; Ø:12.4 mm. Catalogue: . Provenance: Found near Étaples, France. Bought from Le Numis d'or, Ebay (ID 185594493974); acq.: 10-2022
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