V.I Eric Bloodaxe 'Sword Type' Penny.
Finally I have aquired one of my long sought after rare coins. This is a Sword Type penny of the Viking Eric Bloodaxe, twice ephemeral 10thc king of York. This is my most expensive coin purchased to date, and arguably my rarest [notwithstanding my Eadvald of East Anglia]. This coin is so rare that it is classed as a Great Rarity. This type is the rarest of the English Viking series of coins. It has added much value and prestige to my collection.
Eric Bloodaxe was the son of Harald Finehair of Norway. He apparently earned his name not in battle, as might be supposed, but by murdering his way to the Norse throne, killing each of his twenty or so brothers. Only one, Hakon escaped to become king of Norway with the support of Aethelstan of England. Eric was ousted by this brother after a short but harsh and brutal reign. Coming to England he was accepted as king in York, where he reigned first 947-948, before he was overthrown by Anlaf Guthfrithsson, and again 952-954, when he was thrown out by his own subjects and later ambushed and killed .
There are around twenty examples of the Sword Type recorded. The vast majority are in museums. Most major private collections do not possess one. The book Coinage in Tenth Century England [hereafter referred to as "Coinage"] published in 1989 states that at that time there were sixteen known examples. One other can be found on the PAS database, another fragment exists and my own coin. Mark Blackburn states around twenty coins are known to him.
There are two distinct types of Eric Bloodaxe coins. The Circumscription Cross issue of his first reign, and the Sword Type thought to be from his second reign. These are said to be based on other "sword coins" of the 920's. These types, all Viking issues, are St. Peter [there are also types without the sword], St. Martin of Lincoln [mid 920's] and Sihtric I [c.921-927].
The obverse is the same basic design across the type. ERIC REX above and below a stylised Viking sword right, with triple pellets above and below the title and at the point of the sword. Some examples have different symbols before ERIC and REX. These include annulets, pellets, bars, crescents, wedges and angles. They generally match on the same coin. Some dies have no symbols. There are also occasionally marks after REX.
The reverse of the coins has a small cross pattee, sometimes having four pellets in the field of the inner circle, as on my coin. Incidentally "Coinage" states that this pattern was then unknown for the moneyer of my coin, but common to other moneyers. The moneyer for my example is RADVULF. His whole coins also show a row of three pellets near the inner circle on the reverse die.
The MONETA[rius] signature varies with each moneyer. RADVULF has MEOI or MONΓ. ACVULF has MON. LEOFIC has MONE. INGELGAR has either nothing at all after his name or letters and symbols A, CRI, I, M, MI, OE, Γ or a triple colon. Strangely, no coins are known for RADVULF before the Circumscription Cross type of Eadgar [which throws doubt on the two moneyers being the same man], although he did mint for Anlaf Cuaran and Sihtric II prior to Eric. His name could be any of the following variants RADVULF, RADVLF, RATHWULF etc... but RADVULF [Redwulf] seems to me more likely. ACVULF, a resourceful man, also minted for the English kings Eadred, Eadwig and Eadgar. The moneyer LEOFIC is only known to have minted for Eric [with this variant of his name], although there are many possibilities for his actual name, LEOFINC etc... in which case he almost certainly coined for one or more of the Saxon kings too. INGELGAR, a prolific moneyer, minted for Eadmund, Eadred, Anlaf Cuaran and Eric.
The coins themselves are minted on large flans, common to the era, and are of reasonable quality silver. The legends are not blundered and this suggests competant moneyers based within York. There is an obverse die link between coins of Ingelgar and Radvulf, and two reverse links of Ingelgar. This suggests limited output by few moneyers. By common agreement these coins were accepted both within and outside the Danelaw. Several have been found in hoards of contemporary Anglo-Saxon coins.
Sources : Coinage in Tenth Century England. Blunt, Stewart, Lyon. The Portable Antiquities Scheme database. The library of the BNS and RNS. Special thanks to Dr. Mark Blackburn and Steve Elden.
- Posted by dragonbloodaxe on 04/08/2007.
- dragonbloodaxe's site
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