Reconstructing the biography of an early medieval moneyer - a new addition and a die-study

[Roerbakmix]

Coin collecting is fun. Even though most of you don't collect early medieval coins, the fun of collecting and studying them is universal (I believe). This post illustrates how a couple of hours studying, scrolling through auction lots and databases can bring you closer to the origins of your coin. 

The start 

Last week, I bid and won one sceatta in a not well-known Dutch auction house that sells both stamps and coins. The photo's were not super (to say the least), the coin was misidentified, and the description very minimal and in Dutch. Here's the auction photo:

The auction house misidentified it as a very common series D BMC 2c, however the reverse is very atypical, and it is in fact a rare transitional series A > C sceatta (sceatta list 3-60). It reminded me of a coin I bought earlier this year, which is extremely rare (sceatta list 3-70):

 

Obviously the obverse is in a very different style - the coin in auction is a crude face looking to the right, whereas the one I already had is a somewhat realistic (relatively speaking 😛) face to the left. Yet, the reverse is very similar. 

I bid on the coin, and won it for less than my maximum bid. Here is my photo, with the correct orientation of the obverse and reverse:

 

Then comes the fun part which most of you probably can relate to: studying the coin, and looking for similar examples. This proved to be difficult, as the rev, while very typical in style (with the diagonal orientation of the typical TToII) is very recognizable, there's no specific term for it. So I scrolled through > 1000 sceatta sales on ACsearch, checked all entries in the EMC database of series A, series C and series R (only to find later that one example was included as a SEROALDO type). 

Finally, I found the 'missing link', allowing me to match my two coins. In the end, I've identified four obverse dies, and two reverse dies, allowing me to construct a die chain of 11 coins:

So what can we learn from this small die-study? First, the sequence and dating. Our moneyer probably worked in the 715s:

1) the series can be placed late in the series A phase (which is the primary phase, c. 675-715 AD). Why? Because of #11, with the obv 4 / rev 2 die combination, shows a very typical (that is, not abstracted or 'imitative') series A obverse die. The die has die-breaks, so it has been used for minting a large number of 'normal' series A coins before the die-cutter of the reverse die acquired it (perhaps he bought it? Traded it? Loaned it? Who knows ...) The reverse die of #11 is crisp - it must have been one of the first specimens minted with it. 

2) then, the moneyer crafted a very odd, crude obv die for #10, using die-combination obv 3 / rev 2. The obverse die of #10 is crisp, so this is one of the first examples minted. And perhaps he minted only a very small number of sceattas with these two dies, as the reverse die on my example (#5) shows very minimal wear. 

3) he (or she) then minted a large number of the obv 2 / rev 2 die-combination: this is the largest die-chain I've found, with 5 of the 11 examples. The reverse die showed progressive wear until he stopped using it. He then crafted the missing link: reverse die #1, and minted coins with the obv 2 / rev 1 die combination (i.e. he used the obverse die for a while, even though it showed multiple die-breaks). The difference between rev die 1 and 2 are minimal: the T's are slightly cruder and larger, the dotted square is slightly smaller, and there's no cross on the top of the square (but an inverse V). I found two examples of this die combination - the missing link 

4) finally, he minted # 1 and #2, using the obv 1 / rev 1 die combination. My example, #2, shows a very minimal die-break in the upper part of the left T, fusing it with the dotted border. 

 Second: where did our moneyer live? This is always a tricky question to answer, as find locations do not necessarily imply that the coin was minted there: there was an extensive trade network in the 700-800s, and sceattas minted in Danmark ended up in France or England (and were imitated there subsequently). Furthermore, find locations are not always known. However, in my small die study of 11 coins, 5 were found in the UK (three in the coastal region <50 km of London, one in the mainland West of London (<50km) one near Leeds (which is quite the outlier). My example #2 is probably from the coastal region of France, and #5 (my new addition) was auctioned in a Dutch auction house, so it might have a Dutch provenance. Perhaps our moneyer traveled, perhaps his coins traveled - we'll never know, but he probably lived in the UK. 

Third: was it a decent bloke? In the early sceatta phase, coins were of good silver and even included a bit of gold. The average series A is about 1.15g. This is also the case for our group of coins, weighing between 1.05 and 1.22(!) g, even the corroded ones. As far as I can tell from the photo's, there are no plated examples (which would weigh a bit less as well).

 

To conclude: Our moneyer started his career in the 715s with a very ordinary, well-used, late series A obverse die, perhaps gifted to him by his father, a die-cutter who worked in the primary phase, living in the coastal region in the UK. He crafted his own reverse die, but quickly ditched the series A die and crafted his own, very typical and crude obverse die (representing his father?). This didn't work out well, and he crafted an abstract series C-like obverse (obv. die 2) which he used for quite a while, until the reverse die (rev die 2) started to wear out. He then crafted a new reverse die, which he used for a short period, but then made a new obverse die, again in a very unique and personal style. It was a decent bloke, using good silver of decent weight, with a very peculiar style. 

Edited November 15, 2024 by Roerbakmix

[wuntbedruv]

This is excellent work. I do hope you will publish your findings in the BNJ, it would be a worthy inclusion. Creating a die chain like this for sceattas is not something commonly done, in my experience.

[John Conduitt]

Nicely worked out. With these studies it's good to have an easy-to-spot style and not hundreds of coins. I imagine doing similar with Series E could be a nightmare, although Series R is probably quite huge.

I agree it is likely the engraver was from the UK, given it is cruder and they were copying Series A. Even Series A is thought to be made in the UK and the more experienced engravers were on the Continent.

[Roerbakmix]

Thank you @wuntbedruv. Two major die studies have been published by Metcalf and Op den Velde: on series D (Jaarboek 2003) and series E (jaarboek 2009 and 2010). They can be accessed for free here:

https://jaarboekvoormuntenpenningkunde.nl/jaarboek/2003/2003a.pdf

https://jaarboekvoormuntenpenningkunde.nl/jaarboek/2009/2009a.pdf

https://jaarboekvoormuntenpenningkunde.nl/jaarboek/2010/2010a.pdf

It's a wealth of knowledge on these very interesting series. I'd be happy to contribute and publish my findings in the BNJ - do you know how? 

 

[John Conduitt]

12 minutes ago, Roerbakmix said:

I'd be happy to contribute and publish my findings in the BNJ - do you know how? 

 

You put your paper in their format and email it to them.

Edited November 24, 2024 by John Conduitt

[JAZ Numismatics]

Nice sleuthing!

[panzerman]

I agree!

 

I just wish someone would do a complete revision of Merovingian gold coinage with colour plate 4X life size/ detailed descriptions.

[wuntbedruv]

12 hours ago, Roerbakmix said:

Thank you @wuntbedruv. Two major die studies have been published by Metcalf and Op den Velde: on series D (Jaarboek 2003) and series E (jaarboek 2009 and 2010). They can be accessed for free here:

https://jaarboekvoormuntenpenningkunde.nl/jaarboek/2003/2003a.pdf

https://jaarboekvoormuntenpenningkunde.nl/jaarboek/2009/2009a.pdf

https://jaarboekvoormuntenpenningkunde.nl/jaarboek/2010/2010a.pdf

It's a wealth of knowledge on these very interesting series. I'd be happy to contribute and publish my findings in the BNJ - do you know how? 

 

author your article, put it into their format (google: BNJ - guidance for contributors) and send to the editor - Dr Martin Allen at the Fitzwilliam. His email below:

 

mra25@cam.ac.uk