Home World & Ancient Coins Forum

Newp: Anglo-Saxon sceatt

EVillageProwlerEVillageProwler Posts: 5,859 ✭✭✭✭✭
edited April 12, 2017 9:16AM in World & Ancient Coins Forum

ANGLO-SAXON, Secondary Sceattas.

Kingdom of Essex, Saelred (c. 709-746) or Swæfbert (c. 715-738). Circa 735-745. AR Sceatt (0.8g). Series S, type 47. Female centaur standing left, holding palm fronds / four wolves’ heads in clockwise circle, tongues forming whorl. North 121; SCBC 814 (831). Near EF, with attractive cabinet toning.

Ex Baldwin's Spring 2017 FPL, lot 83.

This new acquisition is sort of a duplicate. I say "sort of" because the other coin has the centaur standing right. Not sure how they know the centaur's gender. I don't really like the duplicate coin, which I got a couple of years ago from a CNG e-Auction (340, lot 556 and graded GVF with light porosity). I like my new coin much more than the old one based on the image (I don't have it in hand yet).

Baldwin's calls this variety (SCBC 814, centaur left) rare, but it is probably just scarce (or at least priced as such in the catalog).

Both images are from the sellers.

How does one get a hater to stop hating?

I can be reached at evillageprowler@gmail.com

Comments

  • EVillageProwlerEVillageProwler Posts: 5,859 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Stupid me, it just clicked in my head why the centaur is female. No, I don't need a refresher course on basic human anatomy.

    How does one get a hater to stop hating?

    I can be reached at evillageprowler@gmail.com

  • TwoKopeikiTwoKopeiki Posts: 9,528 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited April 13, 2017 4:38AM

    @EVillageProwler said:
    Stupid me, it just clicked in my head why the centaur is female.

    [golf clap] well done, sir! :)

    Nice addition your Sceatts.

  • NapNap Posts: 1,702 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Looks like a nice upgrade to your current example, which has some delamination and base metal peeking through the silvering. I don't have much to say about the series S coins, suffice to say that the examples I see are typically porous and of poor silver. I recall the recently sold Lord Stewartby example looks to be of extremely low silver content, more like bronze.

  • NapNap Posts: 1,702 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Fun fact-

    Series S is named 'S' for 'sphinx'

    Initially, the coin was presumed to represent a sphinx, which it really does not quite resemble. It is unlikely the East Saxons would have been familiar with Greek art, and while the concept of the sphinx from Sophocles might have trickled up to the Saxons in England, the imagery likely could have been muddled, especially since it's doubtful anyone there was familiar with the appearance of a lion. The body is much more appearing like a horse, and eventually the description of a "female centaur" replaced that of "sphinx" but the 'Series S' was kept.

    Here's an article on this:
    britnumsoc.org/publications/Digital%20BNJ/pdfs/1985_BNJ_55_3.pdf

Sign In or Register to comment.