+ DAVE'S : RARE : COINS

III.V Merry Christmas !!!

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all visitors to my site a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR........from DAVE.

• Posted by dragonbloodaxe on 25/12/2006.
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III.IV In the shadow of a great man.

King Æðelberht [858-865] of the House of Wessex, is mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as the brother of kings Æðelbald [856-860*] and Æðelred I [865/866-871] of the West Saxons, upon their respective accessions. But his most famous brother is king Ælfred [The Great, 871-899] of Wessex. Today the great man is a household name. Who, outside of specialist circles, has heard of Æðelberht ?

The term brother should not be taken literally in this sense. He was at most half brother to the sons of king Æðelvulf [839-858]. King Æfreds will calls Æðelberht his "kinsman" [and implies that his succession as king was irregular]. The same document refers to the other two sons of Æðelvulf as Ælfreds "brothers". This leads to several possibilities. Æðelberht may have been an illegitimate son of Æðelvulf by a concubine. He may have been the son of Æðelvulf by a previous marriage. He may have been a child of queen Osburga [wife of Æðelwulf] by a previous marriage. But it is more likely that he was related by blood somewhat more remotely, perhaps a nephew of the king treated as a son at court. Kinsman should therefore be taken to mean "adopted brother".

Æðelberht held a position of authority and power during the lifetime of king Æðelvulf. This was probably due to him being older than the legitimate sons of the king, and perhaps also to his being groomed to counter the ever-growing Viking threat. A charter of Æðelvulf, dated 853, has Æðelberht REX as witness. It has been deduced from this that he was created sub-king in Kent and its subsiduaries around the time that Æðelvulf left on a pilgrimage to Rome, c.853.

This under-kingship was revoked at some stage, as Æðelvulf took these territories to rule over himself upon his return to England. This was part of his arrangement to divide the kingdom between himself and his eldest legitimate son Æðelbald. A probable explanation for this is that Æðelberht disgraced himself by plotting against the king whilst he was away in Rome. Æðelbald was elevated to the under-kingship of Kent in 855....in an attempt to strengthen his position for eventual succession to the whole kingdom. But by now Æðelberht had powerful support.

Æðelberht retained and consolidated his own power, as the chronicle states that following Æðelvulfs death, his TWO sons inherited the kingdom. Æðelbald took Wessex and Æðelberht Kent, Essex, Sussex and Surrey. An agreement must have been reached between the two kings, with each not quite powerful enough to oust the other. Upon the death of Æðelbald in 860, Æðelberht became ruler of the kingdom of Wessex also, presumably displacing the less powerful true heirs who were still minors at this time [Ælfred himself was only eleven years of age].

Æðelberht granted charters, some of which are still extant, and was the first king of Wessex not to delegate a sub-king to Kent. His charters for the first time show a full compliment of West Saxon and kentish witnesses.

Danish attacks increased during Æðelberhts reign. The largest army yet faced [The Great Army] landed in East Anglia in Autumn 865. They unsuccessfully stormed Winchester and ravaged eastern kent.

The reign of king Æðelberht of Wessex lasted a little over seven years. He died and was buried alongside his adoptive father, and adoptive brother at Sherbourne Abbey in Dorset. The Chronicle relates that he was succeeded by Æðelred I in 865/6, and describes his reign as one of good harmony and great internal peace

Two types of penny were issued during Æðelberhts short reign. Both have the classic bird-like bare-headed bust right, with the legend ÆÐELBEREHΤ REX. H and T are ligate.

The first type, initiated during his fathers reign, was the Inscribed Cross coinage. This was minted [for Æðelberht] between c.858 and c.864. Over forty different moneyers coined this type. It differed from that of his adoptive father only in name. The moneyer on my own example [below] is ÆÐELRED. Taking into consideration the Mercian style "M" on my coin, examples by this moneyer are quite rare.

The second type is very rare. The short-lived Floriated Cross was only minted for a year or so at the end of the reign. There are less than ten coins of this type including my fragment [bottom]. The moneyer is CUNEFREÐ.  A complete example [with minor edge chipping], found together with my fragment on the A64, later sold for just short of two thousand pounds.

[* There is no known official coinage of Æðelbald of Wessex, although I believe he DID indeed mint coins in his own name].

Sources : Early Medieval Coinage, Fitzwilliam website. SCBI website. England, Anglo-Saxon and Danish Kings website. Anglo-Saxons.net, Æðelberht + Charters website. Andy Gillis website. Books. Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Anne Savage. English Hammered Coinage Volume One. J.J. North.

• Posted by dragonbloodaxe on 14/12/2006.
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III.III A bit of fun...........Did you know ?

The phrase "to pay through the nose" [refering to exhorbitant pricing] comes from the Viking practice of slitting the noses of anyone who would not or could not afford to pay their tribute !!

By the reign of king Eadgar [959-975] the penny was so overvalued that 65lb of money = 50lb of silver, bullion weight. The penny was far too light but was still circulating as legal tender.

There are 16 entries in the Domesday Book refering to moneyers.

In the 10th/11th century there were an estimated 5 million pennies circulating in England. Aethelred II [978-1016] payed over 40 million pennies in Danegeld. THIS IS EQUIVALENT TO AROUND ONE HUNDRED MILLION POUNDS TODAY. WITH PERHAPS THE PURCHASING POWER OF CLOSE TO ONE BILLION POUNDS STERLING.

The Norman mint of Dunwich is now under the North Sea.

There have been more Anglo-Saxon pennies found in Scandinavia than England. This is due to coin hoards of Danegeld.

Archbishop St. Dunstan once refused to celebrate mass until three dishonest moneyers had been deprived of their right hands.

Until 1180 it was expressly forbidden for Winchester moneyers to work in the same building. This was thought to prevent dishonesty.

In 1124 king Henry I judged his 150 moneyers, mutilating 94 of them for debasing the coinage. They each lost their right hand and one testicle.

In late Saxon times the penalty for coining "outside the walls" [ie. not in a lawful town or city] was death.

In 973 king Eadgar reformed the coinage and introduced a royal portrait as standard on the obverse of coins.

King Aethelstan [924-939] was the first monarch to mint coins with a crowned portrait. Until this reign kings were diademed or bare-headed on English coins. 

William the Conqueror was so impressed with the standard of the English coinage [by far the best in Europe] that he allowed it to remain in place. The same family of late Saxon royal jewellers produced the coin dies of William I also.

King Cnut was the first Danish monarch to mint coins. He did so in England first, then exported English moneyers to Denmark to establish a mint there.

The most expensive Anglo-Saxon coin ever sold is the Coenwulf gold Mancus, discovered in 2001. It was bought by the British Museum in 2005 for £357, 832.  www.scvhistory.com/scvhistory/signal/coins/worden-coinage0106a.htm

The only Anglo-Saxon queen permitted to mint coins in her own name was Cynethryth, wife of king Offa of Mercia [757-796].

The broad flan, thin penny [as opposed to the sceat] was probably introduced by the transitory king of Kent, Heaberht [c.774]. 

Anglo-Saxon coins were produced onto squares of silver...then trimmed round.

A pair of coin dies in the late Saxon/Norman period consisted of one obverse die and two reverse dies, as these broke easier.

An Anglo-Saxon gold Mancus was worth thirty silver pennies. The silver penny represented one days pay for a skilled craftsman. It was a huge sum of money to the ordinary peasant.

Under the laws of Cnut witnesses had to be present for any transaction involving more than four pennies.

In the tenth century a horse could be valued at up to [the enormous sum of] 120 pennies. You could buy an ox for a mancus, a cow at twenty pence, a pig at ten pence, a sheep at a shilling [here being four pennies] and a goat for two pence.

There were more mints operational in England after the Norman conquest [over seventy] than there are active in the whole world today. Over one hundred countries entrust the modern Royal Mint to coin their money.

Domesday Book names twenty eight mint towns.

The largest hoard of pennies of Norman England was found at Beauworth, Hampshire in 1833. The hoard contained at lease eight thousand coins. Sixty five mints are represented. Prior to the discovery of this hoard the PAXS type of William I was his rarest type. It is now his most common by far.

Spink's Coins Of England and the U.K. is one of the most frequently stolen library books in the country.

• Posted by dragonbloodaxe on 28/10/2006.
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III.II MY APPRECIATION..............

  I WOULD LIKE TO TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO THANK EVERYONE WHO HAS SUPPORTED MY WEBSITE SINCE ITS CONCEPTION ALMOST A YEAR AGO.

• Posted by dragonbloodaxe on 25/10/2006.
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III.I Known Anglo-Saxon and Norman mint towns.

These are places of issue for various coins from the early Saxon period [c.600 AD] to the end of king Stephen's coinage in 1159.

CERTAIN ATTRIBUTIONS.

These are mint towns that can be attributed with a high degree of certainty.

AXBRIDGE, AYLESBURY.

BARNSTAPLE, BATH, BEDFORD, BEDWYN, BERKELY, BRAMBER, BRIDPORT, BRISTOL, BRUTON, BUCKINGHAM, BURY ST. EADMUNDS.

CADBURY, CAISTOR, CALNE, CAMBRIDGE, CANTERBURY, CARDIFF, CARLISLE, CHESTER, CHICHESTER, CHRISTCHURCH, CISSBURY, CORBRIDGE, CREWKERNE, CRICHLADE.

DERBY, DORCHESTER, DOVER, DROITWICH, DUNWICH, DURHAM.

[The mint of Dunwich, along with the town, six churches and three chapels, now lies beneath the North Sea. Image here www.etribes.com/node/94704?size=_original]

EXETER.

FROME.

GLOUCESTER, GUILDFORD.

HASTINGS, HEDON, HEREFORD, HERTFORD, HORNCASTLE, HORNDON, HUNTINGDON, HYTHE.

ILLCHESTER, IPSWICH.

LANGPORT, LAUNCESTON, LEICESTER, LEWES, LINCOLN, LONDON, LYDFORD, LYMPNE.

MALDON, MALMSBURY, MARLBOROUGH, MELTON MOWBRAY, MILBOURNE PORT.

NEATISHEAD, NEWARK, NEWCASTLE, NORTHAMPTON, NORWICH, NOTTINGHAM.

OXFORD.

PEMBROKE, PERSHORE, PETHERTON, PEVESNEY.

READING, ROCHESTER, ROMNEY, RYE.

SALISBURY, SANDWICH, SHAFTSBURY, SHREWSBURY, SOUTHAMPTON, SOUTHWARK, STAFFORD, STAMFORD, STEYNING, SUDBURY, SWANSEA.

TAMWORTH, TAUNTON, THETFORD, TORKSEY, TOTNES, TUTBURY.

WALLINGFORD, WAREHAM, WARMINSTER, WARWICK, WATCHET, WILTON [WILTSHIRE], WILTON [NORFOLK], WINCHCOME, WINCHESTER, WORCESTER.

YORK.

UNCERTAIN ATTRIBUTIONS.

These are possible mint towns. Some are of course partial legends of known and unknown mints. / between two mints signifies that these probably represent the same mint. Some legends will be those of illiterate moneyers, or purposely obscure. A few may be temporary or illegal mints.

AESTHE, ANTOI, ATE.

BA, BDAON, BI, BIURD, BRIDIAN, BRENE, BRIC, BRYGIN, BURI.

CIPEN, COLEB, CRST, CVER.

DARENT, DELCA, DENN, DERNT/DERNE, DEV/DEVAI, DEVITUN, DRI/DYR.

EAEWIC, EANBYRI, ERL.

FANI, FCEDND.

GOTHABYRIG, GREN, GROMBES.

HA.

LAEWUDE, LANDC, LIHA, LVVIC.

MAINT, ME, MI, MONI, MORT.

NA, NIENEN, NIEWEN, NIWAN, NUH.

OCO.

ROV, RVCI, RYTHCO.

SCII, SMRIE, SPES, STES.

THI, TO, TOM, TROB.

UN.

VEIRE, VERI.

WE, WEINGI, WIHT, WIS.

"_ _ _LUTHEY"

Sources : Anglo-Saxon Coins. Timothy D. Cook website. Wikipedia. History of the English Penny. Various authors including myself website. Canterbury Archaeological Trust, Reconstruction Images website. English Hammered Coinage, Volume One. J.J. North. Book.

• Posted by dragonbloodaxe on 22/10/2006.
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III. Moneyers, mints, abuse and the Law.

From the very introduction of the penny in the mid eighth century, the kings official known as the moneyer was always responsible for its production according to the law. He alone was answerable if the weight was incorrect or the silver debased.....and his name was struck on the reverse of each coin, sometimes with  the mint of issue, so that it could be traced back to him. Privvy marks were also added on most coins so that individual batches of coins could be identified with some certainty.

Moneyers in Anglo-Saxon and Norman times were at the very top of their social class, they were burgessess representing their town or city and held the royal warrant of the king himself. Often trained jewellers, they had an intricate knowledge of the workings and special skills of the mint and could therefore afford to remain administrators and hire blacksmiths to actually make the coins on their behalf. Their names are often found as witnesses on royal charters. They were successful experienced exchangers, with high standards....and very prosperous.

The mint was [and still is] the place that the coins were made. They were generally [in later times by law] within busy towns, cities and ports. It had to be "within the walls" to be sanctioned. Those without the walls were illegal mints beyond the law. This practice was punishable by death. Each mint had access to its own supply of raw silver for the pennies, and was based around a smithy. The dies used in the hammering process were usually made at regional centres like London, York and Canterbury. Each reverse die was engraved with the moneyers name and often the name of the mint, along with the design [the class or type] chosen for the latest issue of coinage. The dies were then sent out to the provincial mints for the coining process. Types were changed periodically [every two or three years on average in later times] and this created a profit for the king, as the populace had to exchange its old coin for the new type at the mint of issue. In the 10th/11th century there were an estimated five million pennies in circulation in England.

Abuses of the coinage were always rife, but hit epidemic proportions around the reign of Henry I. Despite the harshest laws coins were clipped, shaved and shaken in bags [to produce silver dust]. Some of the worst abuses centered on the moneyers themselves. Underweight coins were produced and debased silver was commonly substituted, with the excess skimmed off the top and into the moneyers pocket. This was in fact treason of a kind. The common punishment for this offence was amputation of the right hand. Henry I [1100-1135], in responce to the public outcry concerning the state of his coinage [people were bending and breaking the pennies to see if they were genuine or plated forgeries], called an assize of moneyers at Christmas 1124 in Winchester. All 150 moneyers were called to account. All but three honest men were found guilty. 94 were mutilated according to law, each losing their right hand and one testicle. The rest paid huge fines to escape this punishment, although many were banished. The abuses of course did not stop. In an attempt to curb the excesses Henry introduced the first [short-lived] issue of round halfpence and farthings [literally forthings, named for the practice of halving and quartering coins at the mint to provide small change] They did not catch on and it was not until the reign of Henry III [1216-1272] that this was attempted again. These coins [about a dozen or so are known] are excessively rare today.

Monarchs have always been closely associated with their coinage, and have issued strict laws governing every area of its production and useage. The loss of the moneyers right hand [it would then be nailed above the money-smithy] for infringement was common to most Saxon and Norman kings. We have evidence of it in writing [from as early as the time of the Visigoths] in the law codes of Aethelstan, Eadgar and Aethelred II [later in reign increased to death]. St. Dunstan in the reign of king Eadgar once refused to celebrate Mass until three guilty moneyers had been dealt with according to law and lost their hands. Most kings accepted payment from the guilty to avoid the terrible punishments. We know that Aethelred II accepted WER [a payment for how much a mans life was worth according to his status] from guilty criminals, including foreigners who introduced chipped or false money into the country. Henry I accepted these payments but later passed a law stating that a man could not redeem himself with money but should lose his eyes and members. Henry, concerned more than most monarchs for the national coinage, also ordered [bizarrely], in about 1108 that all new coins from the mints of issue should have an official edge snick. This was to counter those who would only accept perfect coins and not those [even though official] that had been defaced in some way. This order was made law and by law everyone had to accept all genuine coins. Earlier, in 1101, Henry I gave the archbishop of York jurastiction over his own moneyers [of the York moneyers, most would work for the king and one or two for the archbishops profit, this in common with other ecclesiastical mints] with the power to enforce the  statutes against false coiners.

Sources :  Norman coins of Britain. Ken Elks website. British History Online. York as Centre of Administration and The Tower Mint websites. Fitzwilliam Museum. Coins and Medals. Normans website. Economists View. History of Thought website. Geocities. Farthegn moneyers website. Grunal Moneta. Coinage in Tenth Century England. Blunt, Stewart, Lyon. Spink. Coins of England.

• Posted by dragonbloodaxe on 17/10/2006.
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II.IX Treachery, rivalry and regicide. The cult of a boy king.

Eadward, called "The Martyr"  was born c.962 in Wessex. He was the eldest son of the late king Eadgar and his first wife Æðelfleda.

He was by all accounts a man of learning, of excellent conduct, wholly orthodox [in difficult and reforming times] and a good Christian. He was virtuous and very generous to the poor.

Following Eadgar's death two rival factions vied to place their claimant on the throne of England. Against Eadward was his younger brother [by Eadgar's second wife, queen Æðelthryð] Aethelred [later king Æðelred II "The Unready" 978-1016]. Eadward's claim was supported by archbishop [St.] Dunstan, ealderman Aethelwine of East Anglia and ealdorman Byrhtnoð [who was later heroically defeated by Anlaf the Dane at Maldon in 991] of Wessex. Similarly upholders of Æðelred's claim included bishop [St.] Æðelvald [of Winchester], queen Æðelthryð [naturally] and ealdorman Ælfhere of Mercia.

This state of affairs was most likely concerned with family alliances and allegiances rather than worthiness to inherit the throne. The brothers were figureheads of course, in 975 Æðelred was nine years old and Eadward not much older.

Ultimately Edward's [legitimate] claim proved the stronger...and was confirmed by the Witan. Eadward succeeded as Eadward II and he was crowned in 975.

A great famine raged during the peroid of succession, and violent attacks were commited against monasteries, [several were in fact destroyed and the monks forced to flee] stirred up by disgruntled nobles including Ælfhere of Mercia and others. Much land granted to the monastic community under king Eadgar was forcibly retaken during this period. The anti-monastic movement here is perhaps better understood as the reclamation of properties lost, rather than a direct attack on church and monastics ideals.

Eadward reigned for less than four years. On the evening of March 18th 978, Eadward was hunting near Wareham in Dorset, and decided to visit his brother Æðelred, being brought up at at Corfe Castle [a fortified manor, the home of queen Aelfthryth]. Separated from his retinue, he arrived at the house alone. Before dismounting he was offered a cup of mead, and whilst drinking this certain zealous thegns of Æðelred murdered him by stabbing him in the back. He was then dragged along the ground by a stirrup as the frightened animal bolted. Æðelred himself was not implicated in the plot due to his age. Ælfthryð herself was certainly implicated according to some accounts, and more than likely plotted the killing. [She later lived out her days as a nun in apparently sincere repentance].

Eadward was initially buried at Wareham, without royal honours, at the east end of the Holy Mother of God church. The following year ealdorman Ælfhere discovered the body and on 20th February 981 it was borne with great ceremony to Shaftsbury, where the nuns of the abbey recieved it after a seven day journey, and buried it with full royal honours on the north side of the altar.

Miracles began to be associated with The Martyr almost immediately after his death. King Æðelred II was overjoyed with the legends and stories about his brother, and ordered the bishops to elevate the relics within the abbey. This was accomplished on 20th June 1001. The relics were placed within a resplendant casket and an ornate shrine raised, at which pilgrims reported many more miraculous occurances. Eadward The Martyr [as he was later known, to distinguish him from Eadward I "The Elder" 899-924] was formally canonised in 1001, and he is called a saint in a charter of that year. St Ælphage, [himself later martyred, by the Danes] presiding at the All English Council, glorified St. Eadward in 1008. The celebration of his three feast days was enforced in the law codes of Æðelred II and king Cnut. Eadward's cult was popular until the dissolution of the monasteries, at which time his relics were hidden to keep them safe.

The relics were re-discovered during archaeological excavations at the ruins of Shaftsbury Abbey by John Wilson-Claridge in 1931. The identity of the bones was confirmed by Dr. T.E.A. Stowell, an Osteologist. Examinations performed on the relics in 1970 confirmed the young man had been stabbed in the back and dragged along the ground by a stirrup. In 1982 Wilson-Claridge donated the relics to the Russian Orthodox Church outside Russia. They were subsequently interred within the church at Brushwood Cemetary in Woking, Surrey. The cemetary church is now named after him, the church of Eadward The Martyr.

Coinage...........

The coinage of Eadward The martyr consisted of silver pennies only. A single type was minted, similar to that of Eadgar's reform coinage. The obverse has a diademed bust [now standard after the recent reforms] of Eadward left with the legend EADþEARD REX ANGLORX. The obverse has the name of the moneyer and mint [also now standard] around a small cross pattee. Between 30 and 40 mints were striking during this reign.

My coin [shown here] is a very rare cut half penny of Eadward The martyr. Obverse EADþEARD REX ANGLORX. Reverse ÆÐELVALD NO LVNDINI. Aethelwald at London. Half and quarter pennies [cut at the mint of issue] were first produced during the late Saxon era, and are much rarer than later medieval cut coins. Those of the obscure monarchs are rarer still. I only know of four cut half pennies of Eadward the Martyr.

Sources : Anglo-Saxons.net website. Wikipedia website. Anglo-Saxon Timeline website. English Hammered Coinage, Volume One. J.J. North. Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Anne Savage. Coins of England 2004. Spink.

• Posted by dragonbloodaxe on 06/10/2006.
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II.VIII Unidentified Stephen penny Identified !!

On 01/09/06, through the contact section of this site, I recieved some photographs and a request to identify the moneyer and mint of the king Stephen penny depicted. I have researched the coin and identified both the mint and moneyer. Unfortunately the email address of the sender was not valid, leaving no means of contact other than posting my findings here.

The coin is a penny of king Stephen, Cross Moline [Watford] type, minted c.1136-c.1145. The obverse has the legend STIEFNE R, bust right with sceptre. The coin was minted in SOUTHWARK [SV on the coin, the S is rotated on its side]. The moneyer is WULFRED [struck on the coin as VLFREDI] I can find reference to only one other recorded example of this moneyer for king Stephen [also of the Southwark mint].

I think finally something has to be said about the condition of this coin. I would perhaps grade it as Good Very Fine [but as struck] and it was probably discovered as part of a hoard, rather than a single detector find. As for value, maybe a couple of thousand pounds minimum. It is arguably the best Stephen penny I have ever seen.

Coin identification is a hobby of mine. I am always willing to do this for anyone at any time. Please feel free to get in touch with me [either through this site, or through my Ebay forum "Early Medieval Hammered Coinage"] for this purpose or any other. Coins need not be from my specialised eras for me to ID them.

Sources : English Hammered Coinage, Volume One. J.J. North.

Photos supplied were of very poor quality and are not reproduced here.

• Posted by dragonbloodaxe on 04/09/2006.
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II.VII Meridith.

Rarer and more beautiful than the Coenwulf gold mancus. A new arrival in our family, my daughter Meridith. Born 15/08/06. 9lb 80z. Mum and baby doing fine - dad still shaking.........but VERY proud.

• Posted by dragonbloodaxe on 16/08/2006.
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II.VI A basic glossary of associated terminology.

I have provided here, for convenience, a very limited introduction to the use of terms associated with early medieval hammered coinage. The backbone of this post is taken from the Coin yearbook 2005. I have added and removed explanations as necessary.

Annulet small circle often used as an ornament, or spacing device in coin inscriptions. 

Ar Abbreviation for Latin Argentum [silver] used for coins struck in this metal.

Attribution Identification of a coin by characteristics such as issuing authority, reign, mint, and by a standard reference.

Base Non-precious metal.

Beading Ornamental border found on the raised rim of a coin.

Blank Piece of cut or punched metal prepared for striking to produce coins.

Blundered Inscription Legend in which the lettering is jumbled or meaningless, indicating the illiteracy of the Vikings for example in copying English coinage.

Clipped Coins Precious metal coins from which small amounts have been removed by clipping the edges.

Cut coins Coins cut into smaller pieces to provide correspondingly smaller denominations. Often assisted by a cross on the reverse.

Debasement The reduction in the precious metal content of the coinage, usually by governments for economic reasons.

Device Heraldic term for the pattern or emblem on coins.

Die Hardened piec e of metal bearing a mirror image of the device to be struck on one side of a coin.

Ecclesistical Coins Coins struck by a religious authority such as an archbishop or abbot.

Effigy An image or representation of a person, usually a king, on the obverse or important side of a coin.

Engraving The art of cutting lines or grooves in a die. Engraving images into the face of the dies used in striking coins.

Epigraphy The study of inscriptions, involving the classification and interpretation of coin legends.

Facing Bust Term for the portrait, usually on the obverse of a coin, which faces front instead of to the side.

Field Flat part of the surface of a coin between the legend, the effigy and other raised parts of the design.

Flan The piece of metal struck between dies to produce a coin. Also called a blank or planchett.

Hammered Term denoting coins produced by the traditional method of striking flans by hand between dies.

Hoard Accumulation of coins concealed in times of economic or political upheaval. Often discovered centuries later.

Hybrid Another term for a mule.

Legend The inscription on a coin.

Ligature Term denoting the linking of two letters in a legend. For example AE on coins of king Aelfred etc...

Mint The place in which coins are produced.

Moneyer The individual charged with striking coins at the official mint. Also known as a coiner.

Mule Coin whose obverse is not matched with its official or regular reverse.

Nicked Coin Coin bearing a tiny nick or cut in its edge. Silver coins were tested by this method [especially] in the reign of Henry I. Eventually people refused to accept them. The problem was solved when the state decreed that all coins must have a nick in them.

Numismatics The study of coins and related fields. From the Latin numisma and the Greek nomisma [money].

Obverse The front of the coin. The side of a coin usually bearing the name and/or effigy of the king or ruler.

Pile In hammered coinage, the obverse die. The opposite of the trussel.

Privy Mark A mark, pattern of marks or symbol incorporated into the design of a coin to identify the mint, coiner or particular die used. 

Profile A side view of the human face or bust, widely used as a coin effigy.

Retrograde Term describing the inscriptions running from right to left, or with the letters in a mirror image. Thought by some to be the work of ignorant engravers.

Reverse The back of the coin. The side without the name or image of the monarch etc...

Saltire Heraldic term for a cross in the shape of an 'X'. St. Andrew's cross.

Silver A precious metal, formerely widely used to produce coinage.

Styca Name given to the debased silver sceats of Northumbria in the 8th-9th century.

Trussel In hammered coinage, the reverse die. The opposite of the pile.

Type Principal motif on a coin, enabling numismatists to identify the issue.

• Posted by dragonbloodaxe on 11/08/2006.
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