Completed a moneyer set of Anglo-Saxon Northumbrian stycas

Nap · May 23, 2016 11:12PM

With a recent purchase, I have completed a complete set of every moneyer known to strike coins for Northumbrian England. Northumbria is located in the north of England, with its major center of York. It was one of the seven kingdoms of the "Heptarchy" during Anglo-Saxon times, and was once the major power in England, but faded quickly after the Vikings attacked in the 8th and 9th centuries.

Coins in Northumbria are called stycas, a word that means "piece" and is not contemporary, probably comes from the 18th century. Coins during this time would not have been labeled as such, but since that is what they are traditionally called, I will continue the use.

Stycas were a debased currency, which started as a silver alloy and over the years progressed to a brass or bronze composition. They followed the sceatta currency, which in Northumbria featured the name of a ruler with an animal form on the back. I collect these too, but since there is no moneyer on the coin, I will ignore these types for a later thread. The stycas were probably all made at the city of York. They are among the simplest of literate coins, with the names of a ruler on one side, and the moneyer on the other. They were minted for kings- Aethelred I, Eardwulf, Aelfwald II, Eanred, Aethelred II, Redwulf, and Osberht, as well as for powerful church leaders- Archbishops Eanbald I, Eanbald II, Wigmund, and Wulfhere.

There are several thousand stycas known, with large hoards found during the 19th and 20th century, mostly residing in museums. There are not many people who collect these, but I have met some. These coins are among the last artistic coins ever created.

The moneyers were the guys that actually made the coins. They placed their names on the reverse for practical reasons, to identify the product and so they could be judged as to whether their coins were up to the standards of the day. Overall, there are 40 distinct moneyer names found on styca coins. As can be expected, some are very rare, while others extremely common. I've been hunting them down for several years, and have been fortunate enough to find an example of each.

Some are quite worn and others look like the day they were struck. I am still looking for upgrades on a number of them.

Here are the coins:

Aethelheah, a moneyer for king Eanred
O:+EANRED RE
R: +EDILECH

Aethelhelm, a moneyer for king Osberht and Archbishop Wigmund
O: +OSBRCHT
R: +EDELHELM

Aethelweard, a moneyer for Archbishops Eanbald II and Wigmund
O: +EANBALD
R: +EDILVEARD

Aldates, a moneyer for king Eanred
O: +EANRED RE
R: +ALDATES

Alghere, a moneyer for kings Aethelred II and Redwulf
O: +AEDILRED Rx
R: +ALGHERE

Badigils, a moneyer for king Eanred
O: EA++NRED R (retrograde)
R: +BADIGILS

Brother, a moneyer for kings Eanred, Aethelred II, and Redwulf
O: +REDVLF RE
R: +BRODER

Ceolbald, a moneyer for king Aethelred I
O: +AEDILRED
R: +CEOLBALD

Coenred, a moneyer for kings Aethelred II and Redwulf, and Archbishop Wigmund
O: +VIGMVND IREP
R: +COENRED

Cuthberht, a moneyer for king Redwulf
O: +REDVLF REX
R: +CVDBEREhT

Cutheard, a moneyer for kings Aethelred I, Eardwulf, Aelfwald II, and Eanred
O: +AEDILRERD
R: +CVDHEARD

Cuthgils, a moneyer for kings Aethelred I and Aelfwald II
O: ED+LRED
R: +CVD CLS

Cynemund, a moneyer for king Aethelred II
O: +EDILRED RE (retrograde)
R: +CVNIMVND

Cynwulf, a moneyer for king Eanred and Archbishop Eanbald II
O: EAIRED REX (retrograde)
R: CYNVALF

Daegberct, a moneyer for king Eanred
O: +EANRED REX
R: +DAEGBERCT

Eadwine, a moneyer for king Eanred
O: +EANRED REX
R: +EADVINI

Eadwulf, a moneyer for Archbishop Eanbald II
O: +EANBALD
R: +EODVVLF

Eanbald is probably Archbishop Eanbald I, but there is some thought that it represents a moneyer named Eanbald (since there is no title). I include for completion
O: +AEDILRED
R: EANBALD

Eanred, a moneyer for kings Aethelred II and Redwulf
O: +AEDILRED R
R: +EANRED

Eanwulf, a moneyer for kings Aethelred II and Osberht
O: +EDILRE R (retrograde)
R: +EANNLF

Eardwulf, a moneyer for king Aethelred II
O: +EDILRED REX
R: +EARDVVLF

Forthred, a moneyer for kings Eanred, Aethelred II, and Redwulf
O: +REVL RE
R: +EORDRE

Fulcnoth, a moneyer for king Eanred
+EANRED REX
+FVLCNOD

Gadutels, a moneyer for king Eanred
O: +EANRED RE
R: +GADVTEIS

Herreth, a moneyer for king Eanred
O: +EANRED REX
R: +HERRED

Hnifula, a moneyer for king Aethelred I
O: +EDILRED
R: +HNIFVLA

Hunlaf, a moneyer for kings Aethelred II and Redwulf, and Archbishop Wigmund
O: +VIGMVD IPER
R: +HVNLAF

Hwaetnoth, a moneyer for king Redwulf
O: +REDVLF REX
R: +HVAETNDD

Hwaetred, a moneyer for king Eanred
O: +EANRED REX
R: +HVAETRED

Leofthegn, a moneyer for king Aethelred II
O: +EDILRED REX
R: +LEOFDEJN

Monne, a moneyer for kings Eanred, Aethelred II, Redwulf, and Osberht
O: +EDILRED
R: +MONNE

Odilo, a moneyer for kings Eanred, Aethelred II, and (possibly) Redwulf
O: +EANRED REX
R: +ODILO MON

Tidwine, a moneyer for king Eanred
O: +EANRED RE
R: +TIDVINI

Tidwulf, a moneyer for king Aethelred I
O: +AEDILRED R
R: +TIDVVLF

Wendelberht, a moneyer for kings Aethelred II and Redwulf
O: +REDVVLF REX
R: +VENDELBERHT

Wihtred, a moneyer for kings Eanred and Aethelred II
O: +EDILRED REX
R: +VIHTRED

Wilheah, a moneyer for king Eanred
O: +EANRED REX
R: +VILHEAH

Winiberht, a moneyer for king Osberht
O: OSBERCHT RE
R: VINIBERHT

Wulfheard, a moneyer for king Eanred
O: +EAHRED R
R: VLFHEARD

Wulfred, a moneyer for kings Eanred, Aethelred II, and Osberht, and Archbishop Wulfhere
O: +VLFHERE ABED (retrograde)
R: +VVLFRED (retrograde)

Wulfsige, a moneyer for kings Aethelred II and Osberht
O: +EDILRED RE
R: +VVLFSIC

bronzemat · May 23, 2016 11:16PM

Neat coins and congrats on completing it.

TwoKopeiki · May 23, 2016 11:22PM

Congrats on completing the set, Nap! Love the coins and history!

Swampboy · May 24, 2016 12:03AM

Absolutely awesome collection.

Congratulations and thanks for this informative post!

Jackthecat1 · May 24, 2016 12:11AM

A fascinating collection and a great accomplishment.

JCMhouston · May 24, 2016 1:24AM

Excellent write-up and a very nice set!

Aethelred · May 24, 2016 1:33AM

What an impressive set! Thank you so much for sharing it with us!

STLNATS · May 24, 2016 6:20AM

Originally posted by: Aethelred

What an impressive set! Thank you so much for sharing it with us!

+ a bunch on both points

Not really familiar with this series so didn't realize this was even possible. I've only really finished one in depth set like this (of national currency), appreciate how hard it is to do and am in awe when I see something like this. Congrats on an outstanding accomplishment.

EVillageProwler · May 24, 2016 7:41AM

Great job! One thing that struck me is that the Angles of Northumbria weren't that creative with their coinage design, much like the Americans of recent generations. Even the sceattas from before the merging of Bernicia into Deira didn't seem that creative. And, frankly, that was one of the nice things about collecting sceattas: the large variety of that series.

Zohar · May 24, 2016 9:51AM

Very impressive - coins and knowledge. Thanks for sharing.

Andres · May 24, 2016 10:10AM

Congrats completing the set , deserves a nice display case, the one you can stick on a wall.

and I think the Tidwine needs some love and tender , doesn't look healthy imho.

Zohar · May 26, 2016 2:53AM

The Numismatist this month has a great article on Saxon Gold and Moneyers. Worth a read.

Nap · May 26, 2016 7:21AM

Thanks for the kind words all.

The collection, like all collections, will forever be a work in progress. While I managed to track down every moneyer, I still don't have every monarch. I lack coins of kings Aelfwald I, Eardwulf, and Aelfwald II. These are all quite rare, but they'll eventually turn up. There are combinations of kings and moneyers which I lack, some of which are stupendously rare. There are upgrade candidates, like the coin of Tidwine, which are sorely needed. There are kings for which no coins are known (but could still potentially turn up). Plus there's all of southern Anglo-Saxon England, with its Egberht's, Aethelred's, Aethelberht's, etc. Could collect for a lifetime with unlimited funds and never finish. But that's part of the fun of it.

Love the coins and history!

Thanks, I wish there was more history. Almost nothing is known about this kingdom of Northumbria, besides a list of kings and trifle amount of details in the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" and the writings of Alcuin. The coins are the history, they are the primary sources, they are all we have. These moneyers were nobodies, craftsmen (skilled is probably a little generous), who lived and died in complete anonymity over 1000 years ago, who possible could neither read nor write, and yet through these little ugly coins, we have a glimpse into that dimly lit world. All we know is their names, but even the humble craftsmen were given names aspiring to greatness, fit for a king: Aethelweard, noble-protection; Leofthegn, beloved-thegn; Cynewulf, royal-wolf.

Not really familiar with this series so didn't realize this was even possible. I've only really finished one in depth set like this (of national currency), appreciate how hard it is to do and am in awe when I see something like this. Congrats on an outstanding accomplishment.

Thanks. I was fortunate on three points:
Firstly, that completion of a set like this is indeed possible. For later coins, such as those of king Aethelred the Unready, there are hundreds of moneyers making coins at dozens of mints. London itself probably has over a hundred moneyers just during this king's reign. Completion of this would not just take crazy resources, but would probably not be possible as some moneyers are represented by single coin or two in the large institutional collections of the UK and Sweden.
Second, that these coins are just expensive enough that they are worth selling individually, but not so expensive that they are out of range for a collector of modest means. Twenty or thirty years ago, these coins were rarely cataloged since they did not command much, and were frequently thrown together in large lots without any description.
Third, there have been some very large collections that have come to market over the last 3-4 years that have allowed the procurement of otherwise hard to find items. Many were sold by CNG, making life easy for me since they are located in the US.
Fourth I should add, is the thing we can never look past as collectors, that we are so fortunate as to have the disposable money to spend on silly luxuries like antique coins.

Great job! One thing that struck me is that the Angles of Northumbria weren't that creative with their coinage design, much like the Americans of recent generations. Even the sceattas from before the merging of Bernicia into Deira didn't seem that creative. And, frankly, that was one of the nice things about collecting sceattas: the large variety of that series.

Thanks. It's good to see consistency though. While the East Angles had all kinds of strange human designs, the northern English were far less creative. It would have been something to investigate, had the currency taken a major decline in its artistic quality over a generation. However, that's not the case, stycas a simple and exactly what we might expect. Stycas were a practical currency for internal trade and they lack any sort of frills.

Congrats completing the set , deserves a nice display case, the one you can stick on a wall. and I think the Tidwine needs some love and tender , doesn't look healthy imho.

Thanks, I am probably going to put together a coin tray for them, for the times when they are not living in the safe box. And I'd like to upgrade the Tidwine coin when possible

The Numismatist this month has a great article on Saxon Gold and Moneyers. Worth a read.

I don't belong to the ANA but was considering joining. This might be enough to push me into action.

lordmarcovan · May 26, 2016 9:27AM

That's an impressive accomplishment. Congratulations.

STLNATS · May 26, 2016 9:56AM

Appreciate the explanation and other comments you shared. This is a fascinating period but I never realized that the series you have put together was both relatively affordable and somewhat limited vs later issues. Nonetheless an amazing effort to get them all so congrats again.

Third, there have been some very large collections that have come to market over the last 3-4 years that have allowed the procurement of otherwise hard to find items.

It's funny how this happens. I had a similar situation putting together my set of every conceivable major or minor variety of small sized national currency notes for St Louis. It took about 11 years to find all 70 pieces. I started by merging key pieces of a friend's collection with mine (my friend had been working major variety set (44 pieces) for about a decade). After the merge, I needed just 6 notes and within a week picked up one of those. Then for the next 9 1/2 years I found only 2 notes and I was beginning to think there was no end in site. About that time a previously unreported variety (but which I'd identified as existing) appeared on ebay that went cheap and over the next 14 months the last 2 fell into my net, thanks to the Newman collection sales.

As you say, disposable income is a necessary condition, but success is also strongly correlated with a realistic plan of attack, a great deal of patience and frankly a bit of luck to be in the right place with enough money when opportunity knocks.

Completed a moneyer set of Anglo-Saxon Northumbrian stycas

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