My newp from the recent Baltimore show (aka, what's in a name?)

EVillageProwler

My trip to the Baltimore show was brief, arriving Thursday afternoon and leaving Friday morning. But, I made up for the brevity by buying what I think is a very cool Anglo-Viking penny from Danish East Anglia (aka, the East Danelaw).

Before I show you my newp, let me first show you a coin I bought last year that is also from Danish East Anglia (same SCBC catalog attribution too!):

ANGLO-SAXON, Anglo-Viking (Danish East Anglia). Imitations of Alfred the Great.

Circa 885-915. AR Penny (19mm, 1.34g, 3h). Two-line (’Guthrum’) type. Cuthbeorht, moneyer. + ÆL FR ED RE, small cross pattée / CΛÐB ERHE:· in two lines; pellet between. SCBI –; BMC –; EMC 2005.0047; North 475/1; SCBC 966. Near EF, attractively toned. Well engraved Danelaw imitation.

Bt Joe Linzalone (Wolfshead Gallery), Nov. 2021.
Ex CNG 109, 12 September 2018, lot 874.

This first coin is a contemporary Viking imitation (not counterfeit!) of an Anglo-Saxon issue. That means that the Viking rulers wanted to mimic the Anglo-Saxon type. But why did the Vikings want to imitate an Anglo-Saxon type instead of producing their own type of coinage? Per Blackburn and others, the peace treaty after the Viking defeat in 878 allowed for a division of lands and the creation of the various Danelaw territories. And in their effort to establish new states, they had to issue coinage that can circulate with confidence within the local population. The easiest way for the Vikings to do that was to issue imitative coinage. And that is why for these coins you will see the royal and moneyer signatures to be Anglo-Saxon. ('Cuthbeorht' was an Anglo-Saxon moneyer.)

But the second coin, the one I bought at the recent Baltimore show, is similar but not the same:

ANGLO-SAXON, Anglo-Viking (Danish East Anglia). Imitations of Alfred the Great.

Circa 885-915. AR Penny (19mm, 1.32g, 1h). Two-line (’Guthrum’) type. Sigemund, moneyer. EL FR ED REX, small cross pattée / SIMVN ME FEC in two lines; trefoil of pellets between. North 475/1; SCBC 966. Near EF, attractively toned. Minor peck marks on the obverse, and several on the reverse that give the appearance of runic lettering (one set of marks looks like ᚠ). Very rare with a Danelaw moneyer.

Bt Joe Linzalone (Wolfshead Gallery), Oct. 2022.
Ex Palos Verde collection, bt. Nov. 1996 (from JL).
Ex G.C. Drabble collection (Part I, Glendining, 4 July 1939), lot 387 (part of).

This coin is different in that it has a Danelaw moneyer. It also says "ME FEC", which is short for "ME FECIT" which means "MADE ME" as in SIGEMUND MADE ME. An Anglo-Saxon issue would use MO (MONETA) instead of FEC (FECIT).

But what is the big deal with the moneyer? In the first case, the coin has a totally anonymous attribution, so one ought to say tempore Guthrum (meaning, "in the time of Guthrum"). We say this because it is possible that it was not a duly authorized issue. (It probably was, but reasonably maybe not.) The second coin has a Danelaw moneyer, so that very strongly suggests that it was a duly authorized issue, and we can attribute with high confidence that coin to Guthrum, the Viking leader of the Eastern Danelaw, the Southern Danelaw and the Outer Danelaw. This is a big deal because accurate attribution is difficult and these coins with Danelaw moneyers are very rare.

This second coin (the newp) is also interesting in that the reverse has a cluster of knife marks in the center that resemble runic graffiti. What they actually are, and what might they mean, is uncertain. It is possible that they are as uninteresting as an excess of Viking peck marks; or, they are a personal message from a long ago Viking. One group of marks on my coin does resemble the rune ᚠ, or maybe that is just wishful thinking. It is also possible that these are a bunch of value-limiting graffiti, but I am not sure I agree with that sentiment. Vikings have a habit of marking their coins with runic letters, but frequently ones from Byzantium or Islamic territories.

Stork

Well, that is just cool.

bidask

I like the look of both coins congratulations