New help finding mint of coin Aethelred II

[Victrix]

I'm very unfamiliar with these and was wondering if somebody might know. Most examples I've found are from the Mint of London.

Thanks 🙂

[John Conduitt]

Helmet type, CARLA M Ω EAXE (Exeter).

Edited March 19, 2023 by John Conduitt

[JeandAcre]

Solid example, BTW. 

Just in case you didn't know this, those little scratch/digs are fun --even with the unfortunate one on the profile.  Especially for pennies of AEthelred, I prefer examples that have at least one.  They're known as 'peck marks,' and were made to ensure that the coin was good silver.  This was a distinctly Scandinavian practice.  It was carried on all the way from Carolingian deniers of the later 9th century to German denars of the mid-11th, but is most prominent in issues of AEthelred and slightly later Anglo-Saxon / Anglo-Danish.  As such, it greatly increases the likelihood that your example found its way into Viking hands via Danegeld.

For comparison, here's my 'worst' one ever --yep, even for me, this is a little excessive!  (Sorry for the size of the pics.)

[Dafydd]

Here is my only Aethelred II penny complete with peck marks and from the London Mint.

 

 

 

 

 

England. Aethelred II. 978-1016. AR Penny (20mm, 1.42g, 12h). Crux type (BMC iiia, Hild. C). London mint; moneyer Æthelred. Struck circa 991-997. + ÆDELRED REX ?NGLOX, bareheaded draped bust left with scepter in front / +ÆDERED M#O LVN, short cross voided, C R V X in angles. BEH 2205; North 770; SCBI 7 (Copenhagen), 708; SCBI 65 (Norway), 255. Very Fine, wavy flan, peck marks.

[Victrix]

1 hour ago, John Conduitt said:

Helmet type, CARLA M Ω EAXE (Exeter).

Many thanks!

[Victrix]

39 minutes ago, JeandAcre said:

Just in case you didn't know this

Thanks for the explanation. I had set my eyes on some of the other portrait ones at auction but they all went for 300-500 hammers and already had spent much this month. This for some reason went for 140 hammer , although not in the best shape it's a cool propaganda piece where they portray him as a strong military leader. Checks the mark for me for a viking coin 😄 . Lovely piece btw.

I also just read this online : In 877 Exeter (Exanceaster) was conquered by the Danes (Vikings), but King Alfred the Great soon drove them out. In 894 a new attack by the Vikings was repelled, but in 1001 the city was taken by them for the second time

So this is likely minted just before 1001 or after 🤔

Edited March 19, 2023 by Victrix

[John Conduitt]

11 minutes ago, Victrix said:

Thanks for the explanation. I had set my eyes on some of the other portrait ones at auction but they all went for 300-500 hammers and already had spent much this month. This for some reason went for 140 hammer , although not in the best shape it's a cool propaganda piece where they portray him as a strong military leader. Checks the mark for me for a viking coin 😄 . Lovely piece btw.

I also just read this online : In 877 Exeter (Exanceaster) was conquered by the Danes (Vikings), but King Alfred the Great soon drove them out. In 894 a new attack by the Vikings was repelled, but in 1001 the city was taken by them for the second time

So this is likely minted just before 1001 or after 🤔

This type was struck 1003-1009. I don't think the Vikings took Exeter in 1001. They burned it down in 1003 but didn't stay. They continued into Wiltshire and Hampshire to burn down other places.

The strange armour Aethelred is wearing is based on Roman Constantinian coins, as it's nothing the Saxons would've worn. They seem to have mistaken a shield for a large piece of shoulder armour.

[JeandAcre]

@Victrix, the pleasure was mine.  In the full knowledge that lots of people here are as well or better versed in this stuff than I am, it's always fun to be of any use to anyone who's interested.

Regarding the Danegelds, and their distinction from Viking conquests per se (cf. @John Conduitt's observation above), the Wiki article is surprisingly comprehensive and well done --as they are, at random intervals: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danegeld 

If you'd like a reference for the helmet type (yep, c. 1003-9, as per @John Conduitt again), the one that will impress people the most is Jeffery J. North, English Hammered Coinage, Vol. 1 (c. 600 -1272); London: Spink, No. 775.

@John Conduitt, regarding the prototype for this issue, you were Darn Close.  It's actually Probus, one of the later-3rd century Illyrians.  I posted this in the other forum.

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/yipes-i-did-this.389059/#post-8029364 

 

 

[John Conduitt]

25 minutes ago, JeandAcre said:

@John Conduitt, regarding the prototype for this issue, you were Darn Close.  It's actually Probus, one of the later-3rd century Illyrians.  I posted this in the other forum.

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/yipes-i-did-this.389059/#post-8029364 

 

I appreciate your confidence in the attribution 😉 But yes, Probus has a peak to his helmet that fits nicely. I chose Crispus because the Saxons liked to copy his coins, and on one Thrymsa even copied his name. Not that I can afford one of those.

Edited March 19, 2023 by John Conduitt

[JeandAcre]

Thanks for that!  But more especially for broadening (by narrowing?) the context, relative to the more specific dynamics of the trans-Channel region during this interval.  This time, you out-Right-Brained me!  I'm liking this, alot.  To be honest, I don't hang out in the, say, 6th-8th centuries very much.

[John Conduitt]

11 minutes ago, JeandAcre said:

Thanks for that!  But more especially for broadening (by narrowing?) the context, relative to the more specific dynamics of the trans-Channel region during this interval.  This time, you out-Right-Brained me!  I'm liking this, alot.  To be honest, I don't hang out in the, say, 6th-8th centuries very much.

The period from 410-757 is probably the murkiest in English numismatics. It was like the Celtic period all over again - starting with no coins, they imported continental gold, then silver. Then they copied some of them, but no-one is quite sure which, but in any case, many looked like Roman coins. Did the Saxons copy Roman coins they found in the ground? Or was Roman gold still circulating? Or by then were they copying copies?

The 7th century Saxons copied Roman gold. But if the Aethelred II coins (350 years later!) copy Probus or even Constantine, were they copying billon or bronze coins? Was it a continuation of the first Saxon coins, or did they come to copy Roman coins independently? Perhaps it was still gold, and Aethelred was copying an aureus. But maybe he was copying an early Saxon copy of a Probus aureus.

So, if you have a theory, it can stick, because no-one can prove otherwise.