+ DAVE'S : RARE : COINS

I.IX An extremely rare monarch.

We have very little knowledge of the reign of king Beornþulf of Mercia. We do know that he overthrew king Ceolvulf I of Mercia in 823, and thus succeeded to the kingdom of Mercia, and several sub-kingdoms as well, Mercia being the supreme power at the time in Anglo-Saxon England. We may infer by the different sounding name that he was not of the same family as the previous kings Cœnvulf (of Mercia, 796-821), Cuthred (of Kent, a Mercian and brother to Cœnwulf, 798-807), and Ceolvulf I (of Mercia, another brother of Coenvulf, 821-823) . Of his own family we know that his father was a Mercian prince, Beorhtveald (died 796, the same year as the infamous king ◊ffa of Mercia), he was probably a descendant of king Beornred of Mercia (enthroned 757 and deposed by ◊ffa, 757, died 769), and that he had two sons that ruled Mercia after him, Wiglaf (827-829, 830-840) and Berhtvulf (840-852).

In a show of strength by the new king, the Mercians destroyed Degannwy, the capital of Gwynnedd in 823, invading Powys (a formidable enemy, who had had a love/hate relationship with Mercia and other Saxon kingdoms for some length of time) at the same time. They were only beaten back with some difficulty by king Cyngen (ap Cadell, 778-854). Beornþulf also decided the same year to rebuild the Abbey of St. Peter (later Gloucester Cathedral) in his capital city as a house for secular priests. It had been a decaying ruin for nearly a hundred years, since the death of its founder Osric in 729. Synods were held at Clofesho (an unknown location but thought to be in Mercia and near to London) in 824 and 825. Both were presided over by king Beornþulf, with the aging Archbishop Vulfred of Canterbury ruling and controlling. That of 824 decided the outcome of an inheritance suit, and that of 825 terminated a dispute between Archbishop Vulfred and Abbess Cwenðrytha. One charter of Beornþulf refers explicitly to his third regnal year, probably 825

Perhaps the best known event in the reign of Beornþulf was the battle of Ellendun. This was fought at Wroughton near Surrey (within the borders of Wessex) in 825, once Ecgberht of Wessex (802-839) felt able to challenge the Mercian supremacy. Beornþulf's defeat was catastrophic, with great slaughter, and Essex and Sussex were quick to pledge allegiance to the dynasty of Wessex (a dynasty, including Ælfred the Great, that incidentally would remain dominant until later Saxon kings ruled the whole of England).

After the defeat of Ellendun East Anglia rose against its Mercian overlords, and sought the protection of Wessex against Mercian reprisals. Beornþulf himself survived the battle but was killed by the East Angles (probably attempting to crush the rebellion) later the same year.

Only around twenty five coins of this extremely rare monarch are known to exist. (It is almost impossible to obtain an example).  Most are recorded, a splendid example was recently sold by Mike Vosper and my fragment is a detecting find. They are separated into the following types : Type I = N 394, Type II = N 397, and Type III = N 396. (N 397.5, known from a single coin, is a type II).  All were minted at an unknown location (maybe Ipswich ?) somewhere in East Anglia.

My coin, below, is a tiny fragment (in fact the smallest fragment I own) of Beornþulf Type II, N 397. It is part of a known larger chipped coin, owned by a museum in Baltimore, USA. Only about ten coins with the Cross-Crosslet reverse are known. North rates this type as Very Rare. In my opinion it is Extremely Rare. Moneyers for this type are Eacga (who had previously minted for Ceolwulf I) Eadnoth (who went on to mint for Ludica in the next reign) and Monna (Man, who struck my coin) These coiners sometimes employed Runic inscriptions on their dies.

We only know of a probable five Type II pennies minted by Man, (c.824). Mine is not a die match for any known coin. The dies are unrecorded, [the 'B' of Beornþulf is composed of a series of straight lines as opposed to a normal rounded 'B']. The privy marks are unique, and in this case are used to identify the reverse die - not the moneyer. The name Monna is struck on my example differently to any other. The unbarred Mercian 'Λ' is vertical. On others it is horizontal or inverted. The fragment was found at Great Bookham, Surrey in 1982.

Sources : Wikipedia website. Anglo-Saxons Timeline website. Everything2 website. World History Database website. Softdata, Gloucester Cathedral website. From kings of Powys website. Timeline of the Early British Kingdoms website. Catholic Encyclopedia website. Anglo-Saxon Resources website. EMC database website. SCBI database website. Britannia website. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle Anne Savage. English Hammered Coinage Volume One JJ North. Anglo-Saxon Pennies Michael Dolley. Special thanks to P.A.

• Posted by dragonbloodaxe on 28/05/2006.
• login or register to post comments

I.VIII From the same dies ............

       Unregistered Eadred, Type HR 2. My Collection.

This coin is extremely rare. Coins of Eadred (946-955) are not particularly so. This is an uncommon type, HR (Horizontal Reverse) 2, which features a cross patee between two annulets on the reverse. North lists this type as VR. It is from an unknown North Western mint town. The moneyer is Thurmod. His name spelt this way on the reverse die makes the coin ER. Only three are EMC/SCBI recorded for Eadred (and another two for Edmund), the British Museum has one, the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge has another, and mine is the third known example. My coin is broken into three pieces, the other two are whole. Mine is also the only single find of the five (although its findspot is unknown), and the only one not in a museum.

Thurmod is DRMODE MO(NETA) on only these three coins of Eadred. There are only seven known coins of his recorded, minted in the name of Eadred, and the style of his name varies on these coins. He also minted for Edmund (939-946), Eadwig (king of England 955-957) and Eadgar (king of England 959-975).

All three 'DRMODE' Eadred  coins are a perfect die match. This means that the same reverse die, called a trussell (the obverse die is called a pile) was used to strike all three coins. This can be ascertained by a simple process of comparison. If two fixed points on the obverse or reverse of coins of the same monarch and coiner are identical then this is a match. If this process is repeated for several fixed points on both coins with the same results, then the likelihood is that they came from the same die or dies.

SCBI 1, 1958, coin 594. Fitzwilliam Museum. Same dies

SCBI 34, 1986, coin 662. British Museum. Same dies.

There are several fixed points on these coins that provide a perfect match :

The centre cross patee is slanted right.

The configuration and position of the rosettes of pellets.

DEMO, the bottom line on the coin, slants down and to the right.

The die has a flaw which causes the 'O' on the top line to be almost completely filled in.

The three 'O's on the right of the field are in an exact line downwards.

The initial 'D' (theta).

There is a small die flaw within the 'M' of MO(NETA).

The proximity of the 'E' of DRMODE to the cross patee.

I have listed only eight matches here, although there are others. The obverse die, the pile, I believe is also the same one used for all three coins. Both dies are slightly flawed but not worn.

Sources : SCBI database website. EMC database website. Wikipedia website. Spink, Coins of England. English Hammered Coinage, Volume One. JJ North.

• Posted by dragonbloodaxe on 03/05/2006.
• login or register to post comments

I.VII Light Coinage fragments of King Offa.

The above fragments from my collection are examples of the Light Coinage (c.765-c.792) of King ◊ffa of Mercia. The first coin is North 287, Kings Name across Field obverse, 18 coins are on record at Cambridge, 13 struck by this moneyer, Æðelveald (with 'EX' obverse, and 'μA' reverse). The second coin is a mule. It consists  of an obverse of North 300, Floriate Cross with Lozenge Centre, only two examples are recorded, both are portrait coins with the moneyers name (Ibba) around the portrait and this reverse (top left), and a reverse of North 267, Cross of Pellets with fleured ends on Linear Square, again only two examples are recorded. The moneyer for the recorded coins is Babba, as on my example. As far as I know this coin is unique. I cannot find reference to it anywhere. Both coins were minted at Canterbury (or possibly London) and have unrecorded privy mark configurations. The North 287 fragment is struck from different dies to the recorded coins. The mule is also struck from at least one unrecorded die.

An update. 28.02.07. The Fitzwilliam museum in Cambridge has confirmed the latter coin as a unique example with the moneyer BABBA. It has no North or Blunt designation. On the Corpus of Coins Of Offa of Mercia at the Fitzwilliam this coin has the designation Type 91A. It is published with permission [D. Darrington Collection].

Sources : EMC database website. SCBI database website. English Hammered Coinage, Volume One, JJ North. Special thanks to Dr. Mark Blackburn and Rory Naismith of the Fitzwilliam.

• Posted by dragonbloodaxe on 15/04/2006.
• login or register to post comments

I.VI Coins of Aelfred and Southern Danelaw Imitations.

The Viking invaders began to settle permanently in England in the late 9th century. Once established they naturally wished to become as civilised as their neighbours, and to this extent they began to mint coins. Lacking any experience or expertise in this field,  the natural choice for imitation was the coinage of Ælfred (the Great) the most powerful English monarch. Many different  types of Ælfred's coins were copied, and carried his name instead of that of the Viking ruler. These coins, minted at Lincoln, Leicester and other places are often identifiable by their crude style, low weight, and often blundered legends, although some coins are struck from beautifully engraved dies, the only difference then being the weight of the coin and, in some cases, the Danelaw moneyer. Some early Anglo-Viking coins copy the names of Alfred's moneyers, others carry the names of official Danelaw moneyers and several examples are badly blundered. Viking copies of Frankish and Byzantine coins, as well as Islamic dirhams, have also been found in England and elsewhere.

In the Southern Danelaw the 'Two-Line' coinage of Ælfred was copied extensively, including half pennies, (die links exist between English and Danelaw coins as might be expected) and dates from after c.880. The genuine pennies of Ælfred are Third Coinage, non-portrait issues c.880-890. The kings name is divided into four (or occasionally three) portions and is centred around a small cross pattee. The reverse of the coin has the moneyers name in two lines with pellets or crosses between and around. The mint at which these coins were struck can be determined from the style of the dies used to strike the coin. A substantial number of mints were in operation at this time.

The scan above shows a scarce Two-Line penny of Ælfred (top). The moneyer is Cuðbert. The thick lettering reveals dies from the Canterbury mint. There are Viking imitations of coins of Cuðbert, a moneyer active in the west Midlands (probably Chester or Shrewsbury) in the 880's and 890's, on record. This coin is also peck-marked, ie. it has been tested for silver content by scoring with a knife or dagger. This was a particular Viking practice and would only have been done by the Danelaw settlers (in this case) or invading Scandinavian armies recieving the Danegeld payments. The coin would then be weighed to determine its true value. The Scandinavian system of value depended heavily on weight. Basically only foreigners who were ignorant of the purity and standard weight of the English penny, (1.6g, as opposed to Danelaw coins which were minted to a standard of around 1.35g), would have any reason to do this at all.

The other official Ælfred coin above is the fragment in the centre. It is also a Two-Line penny, although this example is struck from Mercian dies and has the designation N 637. On this coin the die engraving is of superior quality.

The bottom coin has very crude workmanship, is much lighter than the Saxon standard weight, and the legends are very blundered. One 'R' on the obverse is reversed, and the moneyers name is nonsense. The letter 'Λ' is unbarred on this example, as on standard Viking coinage. It is North 475/1. The imitation coins are rarer than the Ælfred originals. They are shown together for comparison.

sources : BBC History, Viking Money website. English Hammered Coinage, Volume One, JJ North. Coinage and the Economy in Anglo-Saxon England website. EMC database website.

• Posted by dragonbloodaxe on 15/04/2006.
• 1 comment

I.V Rare Cross and Wedges penny fragment.

This fragment unfortunately offers little clue to the identity of the monarch. We know that this Cross and Wedges type was produced only by King Cœnvulf of Mercia, 796-821, and King Cuthred of Kent, 798-807, his brother and a sub king under Cœnvulf. It was minted only at Canterbury, by Cœnvulf 805-810 and Cuthred 804-807. Therefore this coin was minted sometime between 804 and 810. It is either North 211 or North 344. The diademed bust right is copied from Roman siliqua coins.

I am fairly certain that the moneyer of this coin is Verheard. The two kings had this moneyer in common and this coin matches most closely his dies on the EMC. Coins minted by this moneyer are for the most part of good style. Other moneyers for this type were Beornferth, Eaba and Sigeberht, who minted for both kings, Duda and Heremod, who minted for Cuthred and Seberht who minted for Coenvulf. There are 41 Cross and Wedges coins recorded on the EMC/SCBI website, 26 for Cuthred and 15 for Cœnvulf.

Cuthred coins of this type have the name of the mint added, and often the legend is split by small moline ends. The legend reads +CUÐRED REX CANT. The reverse has the moneyers name followed by MONETA (this is the same for both kings.)

Coenvulf's Cross and Wedges type, which are Group II portrait coins, read +COENVVLF REX M(ERCIORUM). Cœnvulf king of the Mercians. With no mint name added, and a similar reverse to that above.

Sources : English Hammered Coinage, Volume One, JJ North. Coins of England 2004, Spink. EMC/SCBI database website. Timeline Originals website. 

• Posted by dragonbloodaxe on 23/03/2006.
• login or register to post comments

I.IV Dealers Attitudes.

I collect rare Anglo-Saxon, Viking and Norman coins. If I collected Roman coins, I could pick and choose my dealers at will as the list  is endless. Similarly there are countless dealers in medieval coinage. If I simply  collected normal or common Saxon coins I would find the list of dealers to be limited. As I collect rare Anglo-Saxon coins the list contains less than ten reputable dealers !!

In my experience, having spent a small fortune on coins of this kind in the last couple of years, most specialised dealers perhaps regard themselves as members of an exclusive club, and in a way they are, as they can and do provide the material to meet collectors strict requirements. But beware, at times the attitude of a specialist dealer can seem like rudeness or arrogance. This kind of subject arrogance is often to be found also in the specialist collector. The only difference being that one is a hobby and the other a business.

I have had only a couple of experiences of dealers with bad attitudes, and these I now avoid. This is a shame as one or two can blacken the list for all the rest, especially a new collector who dosen't know how things work. If a dealer cannot or will not enter into a discussion about their coins and/or related subjects with a buyer, without a good reason, then this should be viewed as negative. There are always others that will. All dealers are in business to make money, regardless of whether they enjoy their profession or not. Some are better at it than others. Some care more about their customers than others, - BUT ALL OF THEM NEED CLIENTS. So a bad attitude is very offputting and they lose out in the long run.

I have to say that the majority of my specialist dealers are very kind and friendly, decent and honest people. I have to puchase most of my coins in instalments and most have no problem with this and will accomodate me with a layaway facility. This way we can come to a mutually beneficial agreement and both parties are happy. We both want something out of the arrangement and so work together to achieve this. I even get Christmas cards from some of my dealers.

This is a slightly altered version of an original post that I published to the Online Coins website forums in January of this year (2006). The subject was Dealer Indifference. This post was my reply. The original may be viewed at the Online Coins site.

Source : Online Coins website. Forums. Dealer Indifference. dragonbloodaxe.

• Posted by dragonbloodaxe on 22/03/2006.
• login or register to post comments

I.III An extremely rare Offa of Mercia penny.

This is an extremely rare example of the coinage of King ◊ffa of Mercia, 757-796. It is an 'Annulet and pellet' penny, North 289. There are only three coins of this type in existence. One found at Hindringham, Norfolk in 1990, my example, found at Atcham, Shropshire, and one other with a similar obverse but a different reverse (North 320) in the British Museum, from a Nineteenth century collection.

The obverse reads +◊FFΛ REX ME(RCIORUM), ◊ffa King of the mercians. The '◊' of Offa is lozenge shaped and Runic. The 'M' of Me is Mercian in style and particular to Mercian coins. This title was one of many used by ◊ffa throughout his reign, and by the end had become fairly standard. The central device is probably a 'C' with a contraction mark above, continuing the 'Merciorum' legend. Similar to devices on the early coins of Archbishop Æðelheard, with ◊ffa as Overlord.

The reverse is a celtic cross, with annulet centre containing a saltire cross. The moneyers name, OSMOD, is between the angles of the celtic cross. Osmod is a rare moneyer and minted this type, North 263 and 264 of the light coinage and North 320, of the heavy coinage, mentioned above. Only eleven of his coins are recorded on the EMC. 

This type belongs to the light coinage of ◊ffa, c765?-792, but is believed to be an early transitional issue of the heavy coinage, 792-796. At any rate it was the last non-portrait type of the reign. We do not really know where the type was minted. Probably at Canterbury, often the principal mint of the 8th/9th century. The Hindringham coin is certainly attributed to Canterbury. The alternative is London, where some of his coins were also minted. There was also an East Anglian mint (this type was not produced at that mint) and there may have been one (probably ecclesiastical) at Rochester.

King ◊ffa reformed the English coinage in the 760's to bring it in line with the new Carolingian penny of Charlemagne. It was the same size and weight, and therefore could be traded internationally at the same value. Although ◊ffa prohibited the circulation of foriegn coins in England so that his own coinage would dominate the currency. In 792 ◊ffa reformed the currency again, increasing the size and weight of the English penny. This made it deliberately incompatible with the French denier, as he and Charlemagne were at this time engaged in a trade war.  

My coin, above, was purchased from a well known dealer, in two halves, separately, about a year apart. The first half, found in 1992, was sold to the dealer by the detectorist that found it. I purchased it from an online website. This is the silver coloured half. The detectorist then, almost unbelievably found the other half of the coin in the same field twelve years later in 2004!! He then sold that half to the dealer, who contacted me to see if I wanted to purchase it. I of course did purchase it, and sent photos of the completed coin to the dealer to be forwarded on to the detectorist for his records. A remarkable story, but nevertheless a true one !! The coin is registered on the EMC database as EMC 2006.0061.

Sources : EMC database website. SCBI database website. BBC history website. Coinage and the Economy in Anglo-Saxon England website. English Hammered Coinage, Volume One, JJ North. With special thanks to Dr. Martin Allen of the Fitzwilliam museum, Cambridge.

• Posted by dragonbloodaxe on 22/03/2006.
• login or register to post comments

I.II Thoughts on the life and coinage of Eadwald of East Anglia.

Almost from the start of his reign, ◊ffa, the mighty and oppressive king of Mercia, 757-796, claimed precedence over several neighbouring territories. Client kingdoms and puppet monarchies were created almost at will, and any sign of dissent in any form, was punished mercillessly. Æðelbert, 779-794, a sub king of East Anglia recognised ◊ffa as Overlord for most of his reign, and was permitted to mint his own coins. His moneyer LUL, a resiliant man, minted coins for Æðelbert, Offa, Eadvald of East Anglia, and Cœnvulf of Mercia in turn. But in 794 in the wake of a renewed bid for independence, Æðelbert came to Sutton near Hereford, probably to contract a marriage with one of ◊ffa's daughters. ◊ffa captured him there and had him beheaded. He was later canonised and Hereford Cathedral dedicated to him. ◊ffa then directly ruled East Anglia from Mercia for the next two years, until he died, probably campaigning against the Welsh, something he did on a regular basis. This created a better oppurtunity for independence in East Anglia. Eadvald exerted himself in a push for the throne, but was stopped by King Ecgferth, son of ◊ffa, who ruled for only five months before he was killed fighting the Welsh. Eadvald did not attempt to take the throne directly again. 

We know next to nothing about King Eadvald or his reign. He was obviously of East Anglian royal blood and may have been in exile during ◊ffa's lifetime. He then probably became sub king under Coenvulf of Mercia. However the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle lists several kings under the year 796, such as Eadberht Praen of Kent, 796-798, (whose reign roughly coinsided with that of Eadvald, and who was also in exile during ◊ffa's lifetime,) but omits any mention of a monarch in East Anglia. Perhaps seen as an insignificant puppet, the chronicler does not think his actions worthy of mention. It seems probable that he was either elderly or diseased as his reign, though difficult to date definately, lasted only a couple of years - three at most. Coenvulf then ruled East Anglia directly from c.798-821 when he died. After him the Mercian kings Ceolvulf I, Beornþulf and Ludica also directly ruled East Anglia. This ended when King Ludica was killed by Æðelstan Of East Anglia in 827. East Anglian independence was then assured until 869 when the Viking Great Army captured King (Saint) Eadmund and executed him. History is also silent concerning the end of Eadwald. He either died or was deposed c.798. As opposed to Eadberht Praen of Kent, also a client king of Mercia under Cœnvulf, who, the chronicle boldly tells us, was led bound into Mercia to have his eyes put out and his hands cut off. Probably in return for backing a rebellion or uprising of some kind.

Pretty much all that we know of Eadvald comes from his coins. Four separate types were minted, all in East Anglia, at an unknown location, possibly Ipswich. (Based on evidence of coin finds at Ipswich there was probably an economic decline during Mercian rule, which did not improve until the time of the Viking invaders.) There are only NINETEEN coins of Eadvald in existance. It is virtually impossible to obtain one. (In 1985 there were fourteen, and in 1982 only seven. But in 1845 there were only three.) Nine are whole coins, four are fragments, four are chipped (including my example) one is unknown and one is a contemporary forgery. As expected most of these were found in and around Norfolk and Suffolk. My coin was found near Kings Lynn. Types for this coinage are as follows, Three line quatrefoil : twelve examples. Cross and Pellets : one example. Circumcision Cross : two examples. Cross Fourchee with Lozenge centre : two examples. Of the twelve examples of the Three line quatrefoil, SIX coins are from the same pair of dies. Almost unheard of in this early period. My coin is one of these six.

The six coins from the same dies of course have the same moneyer, Eadnoð, who also minted the Cross and Pellets and the Circumscription Cross types. The forged coin is in his name. Eadnoth also minted coins for Offa of Mercia prior to Eadwald, the Runic type North 336/1 is his.

Another moneyer for the Three line quatrefoil type is LUL. His coinage for Eadvald differs from Eadnoð's in that it has a cross before † EADV, ALD is on the bottom line and REX on the top line. The quatrefoil is different also and has rosettes of pellets around the edge. Four examples are known. This East Anglian moneyer appears to have been quite flexible, and apparently indifferent to whom he minted coins for. He began by minting coins of Æðelbert, then coins for ◊ffa of Mercia, then coins of Eadvald and finally coins for Cœnvulf of Mercia [image here http://etribes.com/node/87568?size=_original]. All of these are extremely rare.

Three other moneyers minted for Eadvald. These are Vintred, who minted the Cross Fourchee and Lozenge type, and also coins for Offa and Cœnvulf of Mercia. Wodel, represented by a single Eadvald fragment, who was also moneyer under Cœnvulf and his successor Ceolvulf I of Mercia. And finally Botred, also represented by a single Eadvald example. He also minted for ◊ffa, Cœnvulf and Ceolvulf I of Mercia. Some coins of these moneyers are runic in style.

This study is not exhaustive of course, other information can be deduced or surmised, and hypotheses produced. Many of these extremely rare coins are in museums and universities. Excavations reveal exciting new variations on existing Eighth century coinage from time to time, and through the blessing of metal detectors more often still. This was an exciting time for the English coinage. The penny had been introduced in the 760's and was still in its infancy. Many moneyers minted for several monarchs and bishops, and diversity of design was common. Silver resources were plentiful and some later kings such as Æðelvulf of Wessex 839-858 controlled vast amounts. It is perhaps fitting that Eadvald, whom the chroniclers ignore, is today best known and remembered for the rarity of his coinage.

Sources : EMC database website. SCBI database website. Kessler, Kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxons website. Anglo-Saxons, timeline website. Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Anne Savage.  English Hammered Coinage, Volume One, J.J. North. Keith Chapman at Anglo Saxon Coins.

• Posted by dragonbloodaxe on 19/03/2006.
• login or register to post comments

I.I A note on rarity.

Each of my coins is in some way rare or uncommon. Before buying each coin I research as much as I can about it. My basic research tools are very simple. In the first instance I use Jeffrey North's 'English Hammered Coinage' Volume 1. This has a rarity rating for each known variant of coinage in existance (c.600AD - 1272). The scale of rarity ranges from Common (C) to Extremely Rare (ER), and although not infallible it is very useful. As a rule ER coins have 10 or less known examples, VR (Very Rare) coins 10 to 30, R (Rare) coins 30 to 50, and S (Scarce) coins 50 to 100. Normal (N) and Common coins have very many more examples of course. Added to this there are unique coins or one-offs, but some numismatists will hesitate to brand a coin unique because once this is done other specimens have a habit of making themselves known - especially through metal detecting. Excessively rare (ExR) is often used instead. North is more specialised than Spink for example but readily understood with a little patience.

I also like to know roughly how much my coins are worth, and of course how much to pay for them!! For this I use Spink 'Coins of England' which is published annually and has values for most variants of known coinage from Roman to date. Values for hammered coins are given (for complete coins) in Fine condition and Very Fine condition. Fragments are difficult to put a price on, but as an example I look up the coin variant and see how much it is worth in VF, then work backwards. I take into consideration the grade of the fragment and how much of the coin is extant. A cut half will be worth roughly half the value of a whole coin in the same grade, less about 10%. A half coin fragment is worth less than this because it is broken. Although a trimmed coin (one which was found as a fragment but doctored to become a cut half or quarter, usually betrayed by a shiny edge rather than one that is patinated) is worth less again. Coin prices in Spink are on the whole optimistic, with dealers basing their selling prices on them, but auction prices are often more realistic. You would be lucky to achieve spink prices when selling to a dealer.

An invaluable research tool that I use consistently is the Early Medieval Coinage (EMC) database at the Fitzwilliam museum Cambridge, and The Sylloge of Coins of the British Isles (SCBI) which together form the searchable database on the EMC website www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/coins/emc/ The EMC records all reported single finds of coins from early Saxon times to Henry II, and the SCBI contains all known published examples of English and British coins in most public and major private collections all over the world. Taken as a whole this resource is formidable. The database can be searched by Monarch, coin type, mint, moneyer or many other variables, or a combination of them, on a multi-coice search form. What makes this resouce so valuable is that the database consists of many thousands of coins, and each is listed individually with all known information about it and in most cases photos. A quick example on use should suffice. A search for pennies of Æðelred II will bring up thousands of coins, but narrow it down to Winchester mint and there are less than a hundred. Add the moneyer Anderboda, and that results in only about a dozen coins, each of which can be studied alone or all together.

To sum up, rarity can be measured by a number of factors : Monarch, type, variant, mint, moneyer, value, grade, markings etc... alone or in combination.

Coins do not need to be highly graded or worth hundreds of pounds to be rare. If there are only twenty known specimens of a certain type for example, and two of the specimens are fragments, then these are as rare as the whole coins. I saw a unique Æðelvulf Phase II portrait penny (chipped and holed) recently sell for £850. I myself recently purchased another unique Æðelvulf [broken into pieces] for £7.00 !! [image here www.etribes.com/node/88466?=_original] The coin tells a story, it has plenty of character. Its state is poor, its grade is poor, its value is questionable and its appeal is limited. Not to me. I have something no-one else has. And I am proud of that fact. This coin is published on the 2006 Coin Register in the Journal of the British Numismatic Society. Coin 187.

Sources : EMC database website. SCBI database website. Timeline originals website. English Hammered Coinage, Volume One, J.J. North. Spink Coins of England. Dr. Martin Allen at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.

• Posted by dragonbloodaxe on 08/03/2006.
• 2 comments

I. A warm welcome to Daves rare coins.

Hi, and welcome to my website. I've been collecting antiquities for several years  now and coins for just a few years. I still buy the occasional antiquity from time to time but my love these days is coinage. I started my coin collection with Edward I Medieval coins, then moved on to mainly Short Cross cut halves and quarters, especially Henry III. Parallel with these I also collected Norman (a field I still enjoy to this day) cut coins, Henry I and Stephen. I then  discovered Saxon coinage, in particular Edward the confessor.  I guess it was a logical progression from here  to (sell most of the rest of my collection and) try to aquire some rarer Saxon coinage when and where I could. These I bought (and continue to buy) in fragment form as I have never had the best paid  job in the world !!

But I have always found these fragments or poor quality coins to have as much, if not more character than  whole coins or higher grades. You can sense that they have been handled a lot in their own era, and not always respectfully !! If the coin is a ground find perhaps it has rotted in the earth or suffered plough damage etc...You can grab yourself some real bargains with coins in this state. They cost a fraction of the price of quality examples and generally the fragments are as rare as the complete coins. The unloved are loved by some of us !!!

• Posted by dragonbloodaxe on 27/02/2006.
• 1 comment