Roerbakmix

Durotrigian (?) staters are easy to come by in good condition and relatively cheap. I owned a few, and sold most of them. Here is the one I kept:

It's difficult to photograph, and better ('sharper') in hand. 

Same for this iconic type, which comes from the Mossop collection:

Thanks for the replies. Mirroring the coin was indeed done because of the character I interpreted as a mirrored D - the reading of @Shanxi is convincing as well (EVOLACVS_

Here are both the original and the mirrored again:

A few days ago, a friend of mine who recently started his own coinshop, contacted me. He had just bought a pseudo-coin brooch from a metal-detectorist from Zeeland, the Netherlands (south-west, just above Belgium). Knowing my interest in early medieval coinage from the North-sea region, he gave me the opportunity to buy it before putting it online. 

I hesitated a bit, as it was a) not a coin, and b) expensive. But it was just too cool to pass (excellent condition, no damage apart from the broken iron pin, very 'Merovingiany', and the clearly legible characters of a given name(?)): 

Continental(?) pseudo coin fibula. 600-700 AD unknown maker, unknown workshop, rare, pewter (?)| weight 10,53gr. | Ø 34mm.

This shaky video shows the details and deep dark grey patina: 

When mirrored, the text appears to read "GVDELOVE" though I'm open for alternative interpretations (GVDETOVE?)

I intend to conduct a specific gravity test to test whether it's silver (SG around 10.3) or pewter (SG around 7.7). 

Great coin, immediately recognised it as ex-Tony.

I’ve recently bought a Maastricht/interlace/zedelius type from Elsen while being on vocation in Maastricht. Need to photograph the coin, as the photos by Elsen are rather poor.

I just realised this coin completed my subcollection of continental Sceattas: 

Series D (types 2c, 8, 10)

Series E (nearly all sub-varieties)

Series F

Series X

Herstal type

Maastricht type

I also have two left-facing busts, in different phases of abstraction: 

14 hours ago, Severus Alexander said:

Wow, @Roerbakmix, what a fabulous coin!!!  I like it better with the deposits left on, they don't bother me at all either.

Thanks for the thoughts on my cheapie example.  (I see it's a lot scarcer with the beast facing left, so at least it's a rare cheapie. 🙃)  The glimmer of silver gave me some hope of cleaning possibilities compared to my caked-over K/N mule, but you would know a lot better than I do.  Yeah, 50 quid + juice is pretty good for 2 sceats, even ones like those two were.  I think it's neat they were found on the Isle of Wight; plus I didn't have any continental sceats.  Box checked at a bargain price, I always like that.

Your series X isFeveile. Series X and coin circulation in Ribe.pdf indeed the scarcer variety with the fantastic beast to the left. Note that there is a very comprehensive study on the series X (attached volume I which covers the theory, and volume II with the plates and die-study). Also attached an article by Feveile on series X. 

Feveile. Series X and coin circulation in Ribe.pdf Barrett. An analysis of the series X or Wodan monster sceattas. Some implications for trade and exchange in the 8th century AD (volume II).pdf

Also, @Severus Alexander, could you share your K/N mule again? I think I remember it, and believe that coin can be cleaned with some success. 

This is really cool. I remember your post on CT about a year ago (?). It's rather difficult to obtain Metcalf's three-volume standard reference for sceatta's and thrymsa's, but I finally managed to buy it from a dealer in the USA. 

On a side note, a friend of mine (@AnYangMan) successfully bid on four sceatta's, which only last week came into my possession:

An Interlace or Maastricht type. I'm not sure why this is categorized as a sceatta, as in my opinion it's closer to a Merovingian denier (though that distinction, imho, is rather arbitrary and vague). In hand, the deposits are less pronounced, which explains why I was able to buy this for just 240€ including auction costs. 

Series E, primary phase, variety D (at least, that my best guess). This one remained unsold, so I was able to buy it for just 71€ including auction costs. I removed the deposits with sodium thiosulphate, which really improved the coin (will post pictures later). 

Series E, primary phase, variety G2. I bid on this coin because it was a both obverse and reverse diematch to the coin in the next lot - which I didn't win! (I noticed it's for sale now on MA-shops for about 200% what the buyer bought it for). Again, in hand, its a much nicer coin than on the pictures, though it's somewhat rough. I'll probably sell it, as I own two variety G2's already. 

Series D, primary phase, BMC 8 (obverse/reverse 'mule'). I had two BMC 8 types already, but this one I found interesting because of the very off-centered reverse, showing part of the die that would otherwise have been off-flan. I was able to find a reverse die-match in the standard reference by Metcalf and Opdenvelde (published in JMP 2003). 

Will post my own photos later.

On 6/16/2022 at 5:13 PM, John Conduitt said:

've been after a Series J Type 37 since I started collecting Saxon coins. I still don't have one. There seem to be quite a few about but they shoot up in price as soon as I'm interested. I'm probably being too fussy, because I've been looking for so long I notice all the anomalies you mentioned. I do, though, have one Series J...

Series J Type 36 Sceatta, 710-760

That's a great series J type 36; a type I still lack in my collection. 

I do have this type 85 though, which has the most brilliant toning:

EARLY MEDIEVAL, Anonymous. Denomination: AR Sceatta (Series J, type 85), minted: Anglo-Saxon; 710-725, York
Obv: Diademed head right, double strand pearl diadem
Rev: A bird on a cross, pellets in field in front of bird and below horizontal bar on the cross; annulets at the ends of the horizontal arms, beaded inner circle
Weight: 0.98g; Ø:10.8mm. Catalogue: . Provenance: Ex Gallery 51 (May auction, lot 185, 30.05.2014), Ex iNumis (Auction 42, lot 191, 05.06.2018), Ex iNumis (shop, 27-04-2021); acq.: 04-2021
 

On 6/16/2022 at 8:53 PM, Hrefn said:

At one time I had ambitions to collect a good run of Saxon sceattas but alas! One cannot collect everything.  The first was struck in Kent, the first Anglo-Saxon coin struck in London by Wihtred, circa 690 AD.  Series Bx.  The second coin is another Series J, type 37.  These were struck circa 710 AD.  I purchased it in 2004 from Joe Linzalone of Wolfshead Galleries.  The small diameter of these coins leads to magnified photos, which does the coins a disservice as they appear much rougher than they in fact are.  These coins appear smooth, almost glossy, in real life.  They are only about 8mm in diameter.  

Excellent series J type 37, such a shame about the flan-crack. You're absolutely right: magnified photo's don't do the coins justice, though some can 'stand' the magnification. Nice Bx also. Slight nitpicking: most sceatta's are 11mm; some (e.g. the Hexagon type, or the series X) are a bit larger at 12-13 mm. 

Thanks, I figured it out:

Mentions & My Content  > turned on

Reactions > turned off

Followed content:

>automatically follow new content I post > turned on
>automatically follow content I reply to > turned on

This should probably work. 

I would happily contribute as a reviewer / editor. In my academic area (medicine), students have to write a scientific thesis. The better theses (or students), after much editing, end up in a scientific journal. Perhaps a similar idea might work: good posts end up in the suggested online Numisforum journal; and the better articles could be transferred to Koinon (or a different numismatic journal) after pre-inquiry with the relevant editors of such a journal. 

Yes, I noted. But I would like to receive notifications when someone reacts to a thread I started, or commented on. I realize I didn't really wrote that clearly. 

Some of my comments receive likes, which is of course encouraging etc. However, I would like to suppress notifications for likes, and only receive notifications for 'true' reactions / mentions / quotes, etc. 

An example of a 'like'. 

I can't find this option in the notification center: is this possible? 

Tagging @Restitutorwho probably knows the answer. 

5 hours ago, John Conduitt said:

I've been looking for one of these in as good condition as this for a very long time. Plenty of Series X coins come up but they're either not in great condition or the prices run away. I'm hoping prices have softened a little so one might come my way!

Thanks. This one was from MPO. If I remember correctly I bought it for 600 including %, which is a fair price. The minor earth deposits don’t bother me, and are probably easy to remove. 

5 hours ago, Severus Alexander said:

new sceat, Series X "Wodan Head".  A bit grotty but purchased cheap in a group lot and provenanced to the ground on the Isle of Wight (a PAS coin) :

Maybe @Roerbakmix can help me with cleaning this one.  Maybe.  But I see enough silver to suppose it may show promise.

That’s a neat coin, and scored for a very nice price. I totally forgot about the Timeline auction. 

I doubt it will clean well; difficult to see on those pictures. 
 

here’s my new series x:

I’m unfamiliar with the coin, but assuming it’s good silver, the horn silver deposits would easily dissolve in sodium thiosulphate. Could you ask your friend how he cleaned it? 

Life has been incredible busy last few months, and I haven't been able to post much. About a month ago, I bought my first early-medieval Frisian gold (posted at Cointalk, link). This turned out to be very addicting. There are not that many Frisian tremissis (a couple were posted by @Tejas in the CT-thread), but interestingly, a Nietap-type (named after the hoard found in a small village Nietap, Netherlands, in the early 1900's) was for sale at Elsen. It didn't sell at two earlier auctions, and was now listed with an estimate of 800-1000E. Researching that coin, I looked up the recent Tony Abramson sale, where a similar type sold for about 800 GBP. Another one didn't sell. 

Long story short, I emailed Tony, we agreed upon a price, and my second gold Frisian coin was sent by Spink (free of charge, somehow):

EARLY MEDIEVAL, Anonymous. Denomination: AV Tremissis (Nietap type 1), minted: Frisia?; 620-630 AD
Obv: Die rust / worn die common for type, but remainder of bust to right with legend is visible
Rev: double cross in beaded circle, vestigial legends
Weight: 1.19g; Ø:11mm. Catalogue: SCBI 69, 1090 this coin; cf: T&S 73 = Sutherland 90 = Crondall 95; Metcalf [2016], 22. Provenance: Ex. Tony Abramson, bought from spink auction 21070 lot 998. ; acq.: 05-2022
 

It's a bit of an acquired taste, but I really like this coin 🙂

Next is this series J type 37, which I bought from Ebay. It's really difficult to photograph, as it looks much coarser than it's in hand. Somehow, this type (Series J, type 37) is often poorly minted: off-centered, uneven strikes, poor debased metal, etc. Plated specimens are also encountered frequently, which is uncommon for sceatta's. So the poor Ebay pictures were a bit of a gamble:

EARLY MEDIEVAL, Anonymous. Denomination: AR Sceatta (Series J, type 37), minted: Mint in Northumbria; 710-725 AD
Obv: Two confronted diademed heads; between, long cross with trident end; double border
Rev: Cross, at each end a bird right; double border.
Weight: 0g; Ø:12mm. Catalogue: . Provenance: Bought on ebay from adl-numismatics, NR 154920101191, found in Norfolk, England, 2018; acq.: 03-2022
Darkly toned, irregular flan

Finally, bought mainly because it was really cheap, my third (!) series E, subtype h sceatta. The secondary phase (c. 720-740 AD) is characterized by an 'explosion' of different sceatta types. Metcalf and Opdenvelde (JMP 2009-2010) grouped these coins into subtypes a-h. Subtype h is the largest, most heterogeneous group of the Series E, with many diverse and interesting designs. 

EARLY MEDIEVAL, Anonymous. Denomination: AR Sceatta (Series E, secondary phase, sub-variety h), minted: Frisia; 720-740 AD
Obv: Porcupine figure, with strong curve; one dot in the spine. Three dotted lines beneath, with dots between. No beak, but part of square (?) near distal part.
Rev: Similar reverse type of series E, sub-variety e, reverse var 2: small square within dotted square, within four dots and circle. Zig-zag line outside outer box.
Weight: 0g; Ø:mm. Catalogue: No die-match in JMP 2010. Provenance: Bought from Ebay, ID 284848560657; acq.: 06-2022
 

3 hours ago, Severus Alexander said:

There are lots of stories of people being shocked to find silver under the crud in an uncleaned “AE” lots. Just sayin’.  (A pin on the edge + high magnification might resolve that without doing much damage, if you’re game!

To illustrate, I bought (and cleaned and then sold) this coin last week, listed as ‘Roman coin’:

it is of course a half siliqua of Maurice Tiberius 
 

after briefly (10 sec) of soaking in sodium thiosulphate (which dissolves the silver chlorides), it turned out quite nice:

Very interesting coins, @Nap. I once owned a Cnut Rex daenorvm penny, but sold it when I was still in my ‘Roman phase’. I’ll probably regret it later (I have some remorse already). Will post pictures later.