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Need help identifying a newp (Anglo-Saxon sceat)
EVillageProwler
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I bought this at the October/November 2014 Baltimore show. I paid handsomely for it, but I think it is a nice example, grading near EF, of a tougher type. I'm hoping someone can help me nail down the Spink catalog number. Based on the tiny pictures in my Spink 2014 book, this appears to be one of the Series K ('Kent') S-803x varieties (perhaps it is S-803).
This is the dealer's item description on the ticket:
720-745 AD. Silver Sceat, 12mm (1.02 gm). O: Diademed bust right, holding cross. R: Wolf's head right. North 93var.
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This is the dealer's item description on the ticket:
720-745 AD. Silver Sceat, 12mm (1.02 gm). O: Diademed bust right, holding cross. R: Wolf's head right. North 93var.
How does one get a hater to stop hating?
I can be reached at evillageprowler@gmail.com
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Comments
1. Is it well detailed/struck?
2. Is it well centered?
3. Is it minimally porous?
4. Is the metal wholesome?
5. Cracks, splits, etc.?
6. Peck marks? (mostly an issue for the danegeld period)
7. Cleaning? (the degree of cleaning matters a lot in the US market)
I think my specimen is a pretty nice piece.
EVP
How does one get a hater to stop hating?
I can be reached at evillageprowler@gmail.com
I would call it S.803, BMC type 33. This is a large category with several different designs.
This particular coin features a diademed bust right, with jeweled overlapped drapery on the obverse. The reverse depicts a wolf's (or lion's) head facing right, with a long tongue that extends out and ends in the shape of a chevron. The chevron was a very important icon for these people, and many of the early Anglo-Saxon coins display it. Sometimes on Series K the chevron is on the obverse, made from tying the wreath that's sitting on he bust's head. On your coin the chevron is on the reverse, the wreath is untied. There are several pellets over the creature's head, which presumably also had symbolic meaning.
Tony Abramson calls this variety 38-10.
I agree that it's a pretty nice piece
How does one get a hater to stop hating?
I can be reached at evillageprowler@gmail.com
<< <i>Thanks, Nap. So I guess the obverse person is probably Eadberht I? (Unlikely to be the Archbishop, or is it?!?) >>
Have to be cautious assigning a name to these otherwise nameless faces (and dateless coins). I suppose Eadberht of Kent, a petty king who flourished in the early 8th century is as good a guess as any, although it's speculation at best. If the face is meant to represent a specific person, it could also be Aethelbald of Mercia, who likely was overlord of Kent during much of this period.
Must say that is an obviously nice example of a really neat type, though. I like the wolf's head motif.
Usually the sceatta are too crude for my tastes, despite being historically fascinating. That's a problem I have with most Dark Age coinage, actually. I find the period intriguing and can appreciate the coins, but their crude manufacture coupled with their sometimes lofty pricetags have so far prevented me from traveling down that road much.
That being said, your sceat there seems pretty well executed, and has loads of character. I like it.