Billung dukes of Saxony: feudal coins from 10th-11th-century Germany and Frisia

[JeandAcre]

This is a shameless repost from the older forum, in the interests of propping up the now-terminal Medieval category.  ...Of which nearly everyone still on this one seems to be terrified.  It's also about an eventual new OP, advancing the genealogical narrative you get here, from a couple of recent acquisitions.

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by +VGO.DVCKS, Jul 4, 2021.

 

• 
  The German empire, c. 919-1125, with Saxony to the north. From Shepherd, Historical Atlas (1925), via Wikimedia Commons.
  
  In the later phases of the Viking Age, the Billung duchy was Germany’s geographic window on the Scandinavian world. Not surprisingly, like much of the later Carolingian aristocracy in France, the Billungs made their dynastic name repelling Viking incursions.
  The dukes’ affinities with Francian precedent didn’t end there. Bernhard II revolted against his Salian overlord, Heinrich II. He proceeded to pursue a unilateral alliance with King Magnus ‘the Good’ of Norway and Denmark, especially against Slavic incursions from the east. In 1042, his eldest son, Ordulf /Otto, married Ulfhild Olavsdotter, a sister of Magnus, and a daughter of St. Olaf /’Olaf the Stout’ of Norway and Astrid Olofsdottir, an illegitmate daughter of Olaf 'Skottonung' of Sweden. This, and an ongoing feud between the dukes and the local archbishopric, earned both of them the ire of its chronicler, Adam of Bremen (an important, if less than consistently reliable source for late Viking history).
  
  But we can start with the first duke, Bernhard I (973-1011), who fought the Danes from the beginning of his reign through the 10th century, and who was a loyal adherent of the emperor Otto III.
  
  
  
  Bernhard I, denar of Bardowick (in northeastern Saxony); or possibly neighboring Lüneburg, or Jever (on the east Frisian coast).
  Obv. Profile; BERNHARDVS DVX.
  Rev. (From 4 o’clock: ) N NOMINI DNI AMEN. Dannenberg 585; cf. 585a, noting a variant with more blundered legends, anticipating the later issues.
  
  
  Bernhard I; denar, with the same range of possible mints.
  Obv. (From 11 o’clock: ) BERNHA[R DV]X.
  Rev. (From 4 o’clock: ) DENMON[IOMO]. Dannenberg 587 (obverse); 589 (reverse).
  
  Bernhard II, Duke of Saxony 1011-1059. Denar of Jever.
  Obv. Facing portrait. Blundered, indifferently struck legends.
  Rev. Gonfanon (/banner). Legends as above. This side should be turned 180 degrees. Dannenberg 191-3, variant.
  
  Dannenberg’s most frequently cited plate (25. 591 --in contrast to 593) has been perpetuated in dealers’ pictures to this day. But in this and the following example --despite the endemically haphazard striking of the legends-- one can see the initial cross on the reverse, at 6 o’clock, which generally appears at the beginning of legends (12 o’clock), as in plate 593.
  
  Similarly, Dannenberg refers to the reverse motif, somewhat anachronistically, as a ‘church flag.’ The origin of this type of banner, known as a gonfanon (Fr. gonfalon), is decidedly secular, drawing from 11th-century (and conspicuously Scandinavian) precedent back to Cnut and Harald Hardraada, before the inception of European heraldry. Which is where, in one instance, it eventually migrated. In the 12th century, a gonfalon was adopted by the counts of Auvergne as their coat of arms. (The right-hand picture is from a later 12th-century seal; both show the correct, non-gravity-defying orientation.)
  
  The Wiki.fr. article on the flag and blason of Auvergne notes a tradition that a gonfanon was used by Eustace III of Boulogne, who accompanied his brother, Godfrey de Bouillon on the First Crusade (1096-1100). https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blason_de_l'Auvergne. Their father, Eustace II (Count of Boulogne from c. 1049) is shown with a similar one on the Bayeux Tapestry, where he points to Duke William during the Battle of Hastings. The chronology, and proximity of both counties to Flanders (including Bouillon), puts us in easy range of Bernhard’s issues.
  
  (From Wikimedia Commons. Cf. Bridgeford, 1066: The Hidden History in the Bayeux Tapestry, esp. 140; 192 and n. 2, identifying the protagonist as Eustace. II.)
  
  Bernhard II; the more common type, with the facing portrait more nearly a three-quarters view. Still with fragmentary, but evidently variant legends. Cf. (...yep) Dannenberg 191-3.
  
  Ordulf /Odo /Otto, Duke of Saxony 1059-1072. AR denar of Jever; obverse only.
  Ordulf facing, crowned; (from 6 o’clock, entirely retrograde: ) ODD[O] + D[VX]. Dannenberg 595.
  
  Herman (brother of Ordulf), ducal regent of Saxony during the minority and imprisonment of Ordulf’s son Magnus (by Heinrich IV, following a revolt in 1070), c. 1059-1080. Obverse only.
  Same motif as above. +HEREMON. Dannenberg 597.
  
  Here, the absence of the title, ‘DVX,’ along with the seamless continuation of Ordulf’s 'portrait,' underscores Herman’s function as regent.
  
  You’re cordially invited to post anything from the Viking Age, or of any other kind (or perceived level) of relevance. ...Including, for instance, chronology, regardless of geography. You will get points for the creativity of your associations!
  Last edited: Jul 4, 2021

• +VGO.DVCKS, Jul 4, 2021

• Egry, TheRed, Tejas and 15 others like this.

The next OP will happen Soon!

Edited May 27 by JeandAcre

[Edessa]

Anglo-Scandinavian coinage. Imitation of Æthelræd II, AD 978-1016. AR Penny (21mm, 2.23g). 'Last Small Cross' type with blundered legends. Obv: Blundered Æthelred legend retrograde round very stylized bust right in solid inner circle ('Bohemian hair' style). Rev: Small cross in solid inner circle with blundered legend. Ref: See Viking collection, Spink Auction 150 (14 March 2001), Lot 1230 (same dies). Very Fine, heavy example, nice toning. Ex. Noble Numismatics Auction 72 (26 Mar 2003), Lot 958. Ex Spink 18012 (3 July 2018), Lot 279. Ex Bruun Rassmussen Auction 904 (2 Nov 2021), Lot 6. Ex Bruun Rassmussen Auction 916 (7 Nov 2023), Lot 62.

[Tejas]

Very interesting post. These are coins from my home region.

Top left: Duke Bernhard I (Bardowick or Lüneburg)

Top right: Duke Bernhard II (Jever)

Bottom left and right: Count Thiadmar (a brother of Bernhard II, who was killed in 1048 in a judicial duel). Hamburg?

The dukes of the house of Billung, were decendants of the last pagan Saxon duke Widukind who had fought against Charlemagne during the Saxon wars. Despite the eventual defeat and baptism of Widukind, the relation to his family bestowed great nobility and recognition to the Billung dukes.

 

Edited May 27 by Tejas

[JeandAcre]

Stunning example, @Edessa, and some Amazing provenance!  Whew. 

...For Anglo-Scandinavian, all I have are two fragmentary neo-AEthelreds; the cuts aren't even clean.  Except, Sure, I was glad to get those.

@Tejas, many thanks for the background on the Billungs, along with the stellar examples.  ...I can wonder whether it's too much of stretch to suppose that the Billungs' relatively recent pagan background might have facilitated their contact with the newly converted Norse and Swedes.

[Anaximander]

17 hours ago, Edessa said:

Anglo-Scandinavian coinage. Imitation of Æthelræd II, AD 978-1016. AR Penny (21mm, 2.23g). 'Last Small Cross' type with blundered legends. Obv: Blundered Æthelred legend retrograde round very stylized bust right in solid inner circle ('Bohemian hair' style). Rev: Small cross in solid inner circle with blundered legend. ...

I love those blundered imitations!  I wonder if this Scandinavian imitation of Æthelræd (nice use of ligated letters, @Edessa) came from the Stridsperioden. What's the Stridsperioden, you ask?  Read on...

Speaking of Svend Estridsen, here's a trio of pennies. All have blundered legends. 
The top penny of Viborg is reminiscent of the Hiberno-Norse coinage, of which it was contemporary. 
The middle penny of Lund is clearly Byzantine style, one side being divine and the other secular.
The bottom penny of Roskilde is a tapestry of geometric lines, arcs, and circles. 
 

[Gordon Grant]

Thanks for reviving the medieval section with incredible coins and knowledge, keep posting.

[JeandAcre]

Many thanks for the encouragement, @Gordon Grant, and please receive a hearty, belated welcome to the forum!

I've been under the weather the past couple of days (due to improve soon), which is holding up my own next OP.  But in reference to the one below, this is a Danish penning of Magnus the Good of Norway, rival of Hardecnut of Denmark and ally of the Billungs.  I have nothing in print for this --Hauberg is only available in .pdf, a medium I do not get along with.  But here it is, with the auction page's description.  (I've found similar listings online (duly bookmarked --especially under the circumstances), but they're effectively redundant.)

...A spot of context.  The conflict between Magnus and Hardecnut amounts to the earlier phase of the Stridsperioden, as @Anaximander admirably encapsulates and brilliantly demonstrates, swiftly pitting their successors, Harald Hardraade and Svein Estrithsen, against eachother.  (Between Old Norse, modern Scandinavian languages, and modern English, the orthography for these folks is all over the map.  Regarding any pretense of consistency, I gave up a long time ago.)  @Anaximander, your note of the blundered legends having been intentional on the part of the minters, 

"[...] so that any coin produced would be accepted by whichever king controlled the mint at a given time[,]"

is a Total Epiphany.  I could have spent the rest of my life Never arriving at that possibility, even as speculation.  But as much of a territorial 'football' as this part of Denmark was, it makes brilliantly intuitive sense.

"Denmark. Time of Magnus den Gode (the Good). 1042-1047. AR Penning (17mm, 0.85g). Imitation of Roskilde mint. [__]VOII, rectangle with [_]IIOOII across diamond shape / Triquetra. Hbg. 21 (for prototype). Fine. Flan perforation."

The triquetra, along with being an early High Medieval symbol of the Trinity, appears on Viking rune stones at least from the early 11th century.  The obverse motif evokes anonymous, c. early 11th-century issues of Lower Lotharingia and Frisia, like this one.  (Also quoting the auction listing; there are numerous variants of the same type to either side of the citation of Ilisch.)

★ Rare Type ★

Belgium. Lower Lorraine. Ludwig circa 1020. AR Denar (18mm, 1.07g). Antwerpen mint. [ANT VER P]EN SIS, across [M]ONET[A] across / +LVDO[VVICVSIMP], cross with pellet in each angle. Ilisch 26.3.1. Near Very Fine. Rare.

Even on an impressionistic level, this underscores the volume of established trade already happening between the Scandinavians of the southern Baltic and the Frisians.  I have to like how the Vikings unblinkingly appropriated the same currents and trade winds that their recent ancestors had used for, hmm, more nefarious means.

...From there, we could get into the term, 'Viking,' with its cultural connotations getting increasing emphasis the further we get into the 11th century.  But that's already looking like an epic (what's the adjectival form of 'saga?') digression. 

 

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

 I might venture a pun, the billon Billung coins are quite interesting.  The 3/4 Bernhard II coin is really neat!

[Gordon Grant]

Thanks again, keep posting, great stuff 👍

[Anaximander]

7 hours ago, JeandAcre said:

...in reference to the one below, this is a Danish penning of Magnus the Good of Norway, rival of Hardecnut of Denmark and ally of the Billungs.  I have nothing in print for this --Hauberg is only available in .pdf, a medium I do not get along with.  But here it is, with the auction page's description...

"Denmark. Time of Magnus den Gode (the Good). 1042-1047. AR Penning (17mm, 0.85g). Imitation of Roskilde mint. [__]VOII, rectangle with [_]IIOOII across diamond shape / Triquetra. Hbg. 21 (for prototype). Fine. Flan perforation." The triquetra, along with being an early High Medieval symbol of the Trinity, appears on Viking rune stones at least from the early 11th century.  The obverse motif evokes anonymous, c. early 11th-century issues of Lower Lotharingia and Frisia, like this one. 

Hauberg plate VII #21 (shown below) has no corresponding entry in the French summary. Such poor resolution in the PDF.  I don't know to generate a translation for you from a PDF, but I'll say that it's fascinating to read that Magnus the Good's paternal uncle was Harald Haardraade, and that Sven Estridsen is the nephew of Cnut. 

[JeandAcre]

Many thanks for this, @Anaximander.  (And @Gordon Grant and @Nerosmyfavorite68.  ...Maybe those of us who speak Pun (woops: should that be Punnish? people who don't might say so) amount to our own brotherhood.  No ring or secret handshake required.)

...Sadly, and to my shame, as much easier as the French is than the original Danish, I'm still having trouble navigating the French, too!  I need to write it out and put it into Google Translate from there.  Still too lazy to do that....

But from your synopsis, it was bracing to confirm the genealogy.  Regarding that, a truly top-drawer online reference for medieval Europe (mostly) is this.  For anything comparable, either in print or online, the level of documentation, beginning with primary sources, is exceptional, if not unique.  https://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/CONTENTS.htm 

But mostly I stuck to the genealogical tables in Frank Barlow, Edward the Confessor (1970 /1984) and The Godwins (2002/3).

Magnus the Good was an illegitimate son of Olaf II (king of Norway 1014-1030, d. 1035), who was a half-brother of Harald Hardrada (d. Stamford Bridge, 1066 --at a relatively advanced age).  

And, Yep, Sven Estridsen was a maternal nephew of Cnut, and grandson of his namesake, Svein Forkbeard, king of Denmark 988-1014.  Harald Harefoot and Harthacnut were his first cousins.  ...Even as early as this, the Scandinavian dynastic connections are this fraught.  Right, branching out into Sweden and Kievan Rus', and leading to dynastic warfare on a comparable scale to what was happening in Francia.  ...Why does anyone need to watch soap operas?

 

 

[Anaximander]

13 hours ago, JeandAcre said:

...a truly top-drawer online reference for medieval Europe (mostly) is this.  For anything comparable, either in print or online, the level of documentation, beginning with primary sources, is exceptional, if not unique.  https://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/CONTENTS.htm ...

Now THAT'S a resource, one with serious information density.  While I try to wrap my head around that, I'll keep perusing my Franco-Danish reference (as it matches my own heritage). So, speaking of Svein Forkbeard, I have some coins from his line of descent.  The 26 years of Danish kings of England was the triumph of Vikings over Anglo-Saxons, yet the first of his line, Svein Forkbeard (aka Svend Tveskæg) was King of England for just five weeks (December 25, 1013-Feb. 3, 1014).

Svein Forkbeard usurped his father, Harald Bluetooth, and was King of Denmark for nearly 30 years (986-1014) and King of Norway for 15 years (999-1014).  Three hoards contain coins of Sven, whose coinage resembles that of other Nordic kings (the Norwegian Olaf Tryggvason and the Swedes Olaf Skötkonung and Hakon Jarl), likely struck in Lund, in imitation of English pennies of Æthelred II.

Svein's son Cnut (1018-1035) then ruled a northern empire of sorts, and Cnut's sons Harold I Harefoot (1035-1040) and Harthacnut (1035-1042) ruled England.

 

 

Svein's descendants continue to rule in Denmark (via Svein’s daughter) and in England (through marriage from the Danish royal line to king James VI).

[JeandAcre]

Thanks for the cool background, @Anaximander --including your own!  ...So you can do equally well with Kierkegaard and Sartre (...sort of both ends of Existentialism)!  I like that a lot.

And your coins are Amazing.  I'd never seen a penny of Svein Forkbeard other than from books.  It's fantastic that the mint is York, with an Anglo-Scandinavian moneyer.  The the 'perfect storm' since, as surely you know, York had an even larger and more powerful Scaninavian presence than the southern parts of the Danelaw.  The 'men of York' were a sort of 'fifth column' for Svein's invasion, and again in the incursions as late as the 1070's, under Svein Estridsen.

I was very happy to land these examples of AEthelred and Cnut, with a similar convergence of mint and Scandinavian moneyer's name.

(Moneyer Swertgar.)

(Even better, if possible: Beorn.  ...The Anglicization of the name evokes Siward 'the Dane,' earl of York and Northumbria from at least as early as the last couple of years of Cnut's reign.  Siward is an Anglicisation of 'Sigurd,' also back to late Old English.  (...Heck, 'Cnut' is another one!)

 

[Grimulfr]

Great thread @JeandAcre. Following @Anaximander's wonderful Forkbeard Crux type penny, here's another that's not as pretty but which imitates Aethelred's Long Cross type. It too was struck using a York reverse die (moneyer Eadric): 

The following penny from across the Irish sea is far more handsome.  Mark Blackburn speculated this may have been minted in York using a Hiberno-Norse obverse die but it is usually classed as part of the first phase of the coinage of Sihtric III Olafsson of Dublin (aka Siggtryg Silkbeard) and is thought to have been struck c. 1000-10. 

 [both coins from CNG]

[JeandAcre]

Bravo on the Hiberno-Norse, @Grimulfr!  That's a stunning example.  Was Mark Blackburn referring only to the type in general, or did he actually see your example?  As exceptional as it is, I wouldn't be surprised!!!

For contrast (Snort), here's the one I managed to land.  I was just glad enough that it was also a first-phase one, predating the Battle of Clontarf.  Note the double-striking of the eye!  (Siggtryg's smile almost makes it look as if he's in on the joke!)  Otherwise, it's fun to think that it could have been worn as a souvenir by someone on the winning side.

[Anaximander]

Awesome coinage, @Grimulfr and @JeandAcre.  Those Hiberno-Norsemen all went to the same barber!

Your Phase I, Grimulfr, is such an amazing strike. It has such readable legends and a delicious peck-mark.  While I regret that I have four SCBI volumes on Hiberno-Norse coinage and just one such coin, at least I can share some findings with those who boast such lovely specimens.  My trusty copy of SCBI 22 (Copenhagen V) at hand, it took me several minutes to ID JeandAcre's coin, with its several pecks. It looks like #15 (FÆMENIM) on plate 1 and Grimulfr's looks like #30 (HILDULF) on plate 2. Happy to hear if you know better.  (click on the images below for something larger, higher-rez. available on request).

 

My own Hiberno-Norse coin is a humble Phase III. Like pretty much all of my nordic coinage, the legends are barbaric. And no peck marks. 

 

London Coin Galleries had a table at the 2017 FUN Show in Tampa Bay. I think they were marking time ahead of the NYINC. They appeared baffled with an actual floor sale, and couldn't handle a check or a credit card.  So it was a cash sale.

Hiberno-Norse. Echmarcach mac Ragnaill-Murchad mac Diarmata Phase III (c. 1035-1060) Penny (0.87ᵍᵐ 17.6ᵐᵐ 12ʰ) Long Cross & Hand type, imitation of Aethelred II long cross type. Spike-haired draped bust left. Blundered legends. ✠IFIIⱵ TIⱵIFCIDDI.  / Voided cross w/ triple crescent ends, hand symbols in 1ˢᵗ/4ᵗʰ quarters & cross pommée in 2ⁿᵈ. ✠IⱵ DTϽ DⱵI IDI. VF. Bt. London Coin Galleries, FUN Show 2017. SCBC Ireland 6132, Dowlee & Finn 24; O'Sullivan 16; SCBI 22 Cop.V 182-185; SCBI 32 Belfast 228; SCBI 8 BM-Dolley 100; B.Roth (BNJ VI 1910) 110; MEC 8 -. cf CNG 90 (2012) 2649; J.Lindsay (1839) Suppl. Pl 2 #29.

 

[Grimulfr]

Some of the Hibero-Norse portraits really are very characterful! No @JeandAcre my coin not listed but it follows the coins of Reverse 3 which he noted.  I've copied extract below from SCMB (https://archive.org/details/seabyscoinmedalb1977base_z7b6/page/348/mode/2up): 

Edited June 5 by Grimulfr

[Grimulfr]

38 minutes ago, Anaximander said:

Awesome coinage, @Grimulfr and @JeandAcre.  Those Hiberno-Norsemen all went to the same barber!

Your Phase I, Grimulfr, is such an amazing strike. It has such readable legends and a delicious peck-mark.  While I regret that I have four SCBI volumes on Hiberno-Norse coinage and just one such coin, at least I can share some findings with those who boast such lovely specimens.  My trusty copy of SCBI 22 (Copenhagen V) at hand, it took me several minutes to ID JeandAcre's coin, with its several pecks. It looks like #15 (FÆMENIM) on plate 1 and Grimulfr's looks like #30 (HILDULF) on plate 2. Happy to hear if you know better.  (click on the images below for something larger, higher-rez. available on request).

 

My own Hiberno-Norse coin is a humble Phase III. Like pretty much all of my nordic coinage, the legends are barbaric. And no peck marks. 

 

London Coin Galleries had a table at the 2017 FUN Show in Tampa Bay. I think they were marking time ahead of the NYINC. They appeared baffled with an actual floor sale, and couldn't handle a check or a credit card.  So it was a cash sale.

Hiberno-Norse. Echmarcach mac Ragnaill-Murchad mac Diarmata Phase III (c. 1035-1060) Penny (0.87ᵍᵐ 17.6ᵐᵐ 12ʰ) Long Cross & Hand type, imitation of Aethelred II long cross type. Spike-haired draped bust left. Blundered legends. ✠IFIIⱵ TIⱵIFCIDDI.  / Voided cross w/ triple crescent ends, hand symbols in 1ˢᵗ/4ᵗʰ quarters & cross pommée in 2ⁿᵈ. ✠IⱵ DTϽ DⱵI IDI. VF. Bt. London Coin Galleries, FUN Show 2017. SCBC Ireland 6132, Dowlee & Finn 24; O'Sullivan 16; SCBI 22 Cop.V 182-185; SCBI 32 Belfast 228; SCBI 8 BM-Dolley 100; B.Roth (BNJ VI 1910) 110; MEC 8 -. cf CNG 90 (2012) 2649; J.Lindsay (1839) Suppl. Pl 2 #29.

 

Thanks @Anaximander  - that's a really good strike on your Phase III coin!  Strangely, the Copenhagen plate coin 30 looks to display a pellet in the third quarter of the reverse which Blackburn doesn't list, he has it listed this as second quarter.  I may have crossed wires though as to which quarter 1 is supposed to be - I presume it to be upper left quadrant but sometimes I see people refer to upper right quadrant as the first quarter (as on a clockface?)…

Edited June 5 by Grimulfr

[ominus1]

...o the quantumnist of  coin collecting @JeandAcre...^^

[JeandAcre]

1 hour ago, Anaximander said:

Awesome coinage, @Grimulfr and @JeandAcre.  Those Hiberno-Norsemen all went to the same barber!

Your Phase I, Grimulfr, is such an amazing strike. It has such readable legends and a delicious peck-mark.  While I regret that I have four SCBI volumes on Hiberno-Norse coinage and just one such coin, at least I can share some findings with those who boast such lovely specimens.  My trusty copy of SCBI 22 (Copenhagen V) at hand, it took me several minutes to ID JeandAcre's coin, with its several pecks. It looks like #15 (FÆMENIM) on plate 1 and Grimulfr's looks like #30 (HILDULF) on plate 2. Happy to hear if you know better.  (click on the images below for something larger, higher-rez. available on request).

 

My own Hiberno-Norse coin is a humble Phase III. Like pretty much all of my nordic coinage, the legends are barbaric. And no peck marks. 

 

London Coin Galleries had a table at the 2017 FUN Show in Tampa Bay. I think they were marking time ahead of the NYINC. They appeared baffled with an actual floor sale, and couldn't handle a check or a credit card.  So it was a cash sale.

Hiberno-Norse. Echmarcach mac Ragnaill-Murchad mac Diarmata Phase III (c. 1035-1060) Penny (0.87ᵍᵐ 17.6ᵐᵐ 12ʰ) Long Cross & Hand type, imitation of Aethelred II long cross type. Spike-haired draped bust left. Blundered legends. ✠IFIIⱵ TIⱵIFCIDDI.  / Voided cross w/ triple crescent ends, hand symbols in 1ˢᵗ/4ᵗʰ quarters & cross pommée in 2ⁿᵈ. ✠IⱵ DTϽ DⱵI IDI. VF. Bt. London Coin Galleries, FUN Show 2017. SCBC Ireland 6132, Dowlee & Finn 24; O'Sullivan 16; SCBI 22 Cop.V 182-185; SCBI 32 Belfast 228; SCBI 8 BM-Dolley 100; B.Roth (BNJ VI 1910) 110; MEC 8 -. cf CNG 90 (2012) 2649; J.Lindsay (1839) Suppl. Pl 2 #29.

 

@Anaximander, huge thanks for your offer to send higher-resolution examples from this reference --with which my nonacquaintance is Total, and which is blowing my head off.  ...In the best possible sense of the phrase!

...I'm wanting to sit down a minute to process this much, and to finally start a threatened OP about far cruder 11th-century issues, broadly from Lower Lotharingia.  But if you had more time than I did (frankly hard to imagine), you'd always be cordially welcome to initiate correspondence via the 'message' function on this platform.

[JeandAcre]

Oh, (mild expletive of choice), @ominus1, did you just (dramatic pause) coin a word?

[Anaximander]

The Hiberno-Norse Coinage in this thread deserve an elaboration on references. I have a couple of these, and other members are encouraged to submit their own. Forthwith:

              

 

1. MEC 8: Medieval European Coinage, with a catalog of the coins in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. Vol. 8, Britain and Ireland, c. 400-1066, by Rory Naismith (2017). 
2. SCBI 8 (BM): Sylloge of Coins of the British Isles. The Hiberno-Norse Coins in the British Museum, by RHM Dolley (1966).
3. SCBI 22 (Copenhagen): Sylloge of Coins of the British Isles, 22. Royal Collection of Coins and Medals, National Museum, Copenhagen. Part V Hiberno-Norse and Anglo-Irish Coins, by Georg Galster, with Michael Dolley and Jørgen Steen Jensen (1975).
4. SCBI 32 (Ulster): Sylloge of Coins of the British Isles, 32. Ulster Museum • Belfast. Part II Hiberno-Norse Coins, by Wilfred Seaby (1984).
5. SCBI 36 (Berlin): Sylloge of Coins of the British Isles, 36. State Museum Berlin Coin Cabinet. Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-Norman, and Hiberno-Norse Coins, by Bernd Kluge (1987).
6. SCBI 51 (Estonia): Sylloge of Coins of the British Isles, 51 Belfast. Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-Norman, and later British Coins, by Ivar Leimus and Arkadi Mōlvogin (2001). 
7. Blackburn Viking: Viking Coinage and Currency in the British Isles, by Mark Blackburn. British Numismatic Society, Special Publication No. 7 (Spink, London, 2011). This volume contains all five installments of Blackburn's Currency under the Vikings articles published in the BNJ. 
8. CTCE: Coinage in Tenth-Century England. Blunt, Stewart & Lyon (Oxford, 1989). 
9. North. English Hammered Coinage (Vol. 1), Spink (3rd ed., 1994). Hiberno-Norse #530-550.

Whoever needs confirmation on a reference need only to ask.

PS: Want a longer list? See M. Blackburn's Currency under the Vikings, Part 4: the Dublin coinage c.995-1050. (BNJ vol 78, 2008). You can get lost in that volume's articles alone, much less poking around the many references that Blackburn cites, which include his 1977 article in Seaby's Coin and Medal Bulletin (SCMB, Oct. 1977) quoted by @Grimulfr.

Edited yesterday at 12:10 PM by Anaximander
Added Blackburn, CTCE & JJ North as more references.

[Grimulfr]

1 hour ago, Anaximander said:

The Hiberno-Norse Coinage in this thread deserve an elaboration on references. I have a couple of these, and other members are encouraged to submit their own. Forthwith:

            

 

1. MEC 8: Medieval European Coinage, with a catalog of the coins in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. Vol. 8, Britain and Ireland, c. 400-1066, by Rory Naismith (2017). 
2. SCBI 8 (BM): Sylloge of Coins of the British Isles. The Hiberno-Norse Coins in the British Museum, by RHM Dolley (1966).
3. SCBI 22 (Copenhagen): Sylloge of Coins of the British Isles, 22. Royal Collection of Coins and Medals, National Museum, Copenhagen. Part V Hiberno-Norse and Anglo-Irish Coins, by Georg Galster, with Michael Dolley and Jørgen Steen Jensen (1975).
4. SCBI 32 (Ulster): Sylloge of Coins of the British Isles, 32. Ulster Museum • Belfast. Part II Hiberno-Norse Coins, by Wilfred Seaby (1984).
5. SCBI 36 (Berlin): Sylloge of Coins of the British Isles, 36. State Museum Berlin Coin Cabinet. Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-Norman, and Hiberno-Norse Coins, by Bernd Kluge (1987).
6. SCBI 51 (Estonia): Sylloge of Coins of the British Isles, 51 Belfast. Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-Norman, and later British Coins, by Ivar Leimus and Arkadi Mōlvogin (2001). 
7. Blackburn Viking: Viking Coinage and Currency in the British Isles, by Mark Blackburn. British Numismatic Society, Special Publication No. 7 (Spink, London, 2011). This volume contains all five installments of Blackburn's Currency under the Vikings articles published in the BNJ. 

Whoever needs confirmation on a reference need only to ask.

PS: Want a longer list? See M. Blackburn's Currency under the Vikings, Part 4: the Dublin coinage c.995-1050. (BNJ vol 78, 2008). You can get lost in that volume's articles alone, much less poking around the many references that Blackburn cites, which include his 1977 article in SCMB quoted by @Grimulfr.

Thanks @Anaximander - super useful, I'm going to bookmark this thread.  There is also a newly-published SCBI 73 which I've not seen yet... 

SCBI 73: Manx Museum, Douglas, Isle of Man. Anglo-Saxon, Hiberno-Scandinavian, Hiberno-Manx and Other Coins and Currencies (to c. 1275). Kristin Bornholdt Collins 

   

[Anaximander]

While on the topic of Vikings and imitative coinage, here is a wowser:  Hiberno-Norse Northumbria. 

  

 Anglo-Dane. Viking Northumbria, Eltangerht. 947-949. AR Penny (1.24g, 21.8mm, 12h). Imitating an issue of Alfred the Great. Circumscription cross, "Eltangerht" ✠EΓꓕ∵A•NGERHT.  / Reinard, moneyer. ∴ RERN / ✠✠✠ / ART ∵ all enclosed in a solid line inside beaded border (Horizontal two-line type, HT1E). nVF. CNG Coin Shop #498858. ex-Spink 18006 #1576. Blunt CTCE Ch. 14 Group VIII, e (this coin), cf plate 27 #20; MEC 8 #2608; North 548/1; SCBI 34 (BM) 1264-5 (same dies); Spink SCBC 1027A. One of two in private hands. Ex Nicholas Rhodes Coll. Poss. ex-Lord Grantley Coll. (Part III, Glendining, 22 March 1944), #1079 (part of).  It was previously sold for a (comparative) pittance at Spink. 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 7 by Anaximander
Editing size of one too-large photo.

[Anaximander]

We have had a conversation about currency issued in times of conflict, where blundered legends would make issuance unobjectionable to whomever is in power at a given time. Perhaps the Eltangerht coinage is another such issuance.  

JJ North calls this issue "Uncertain (perhaps anonymous, mid 940s?)" with a note that reads "It has been suggested that these coins belong to the Northumbrian series and were struck during the struggle for power c. 947-9 (see CTCE, p.225)." 
There is a chapter in Blunt, Stewart & Lyon, Coinage of Tenth-Century England (CTCE) on Viking Coinage, so I've added it to the post on references.

In reading CTCE, that struggle is among Eric Haraldson, Eadred, and Anlaf Sihtricsson. York changed hands many times. This Eric could be Eric Bloodaxe (aka Eric Brother-Slayer), or it could be another Eric that has been conflated with him. In CTCE, there is some speculation that the obverse ELTANGERHT is a blundered REGNALD, which would make it Regnald II Guthfrithsson, possibly issued by a moneyer named BERNARD (here RERNART); I can see where Rs become Bs and Ds become Ts.  

Three hoards are named that can be searched for this coin's findspot, Machrie, Tetney, and Derrykeighan.  None of them ring a bell at the moment, but the prospect of winnowing down possible findspots is delightful.

Edited June 7 by Anaximander