A selection of choice Ancient & Hammered coins for sale through HistoryInCoins:
WSax-4433: Offa “Portrait” Hammered
Silver Penny. Light coinage, c.780
- 792, flower-in-inner-circle type reverse.
“OFFA.REX:X” & “E*ILVALD” where the “*” emblem is a Saxon device for “TH” (Moneyer =
Ethilwald). Bust Ea. South-Eastern mint, tentatively London. Larger image. The coin is solid and rings well. Very high grade for issue (and date) with
only minor porosity. Coin is unusually
NOT crystallised. The bust is
particularly strong. Overall this is a
much better example than Spinks’s or North’s.
Reference Spink 905, North 310 and Blunt 58. Choice. £2,775
WSax-4350: Aethelred II Saxon “BENEDICTION HAND” Hammered Penny. B.M.C. IIf. Late Saxon, 991 AD only. Bust right; reverse hand giving Latin benediction. Winchester moneyer. Extremely clear legends on a very well struck coin. This coin type followed on from the previous 1st & 2nd hand types but was quickly superseded by the CRVX type (B.M.C. IIIa). All Benediction Hand coins are very rare. There was only a single example in the entire Elmore Jones collection (# 477 in 1971) and we note that the Fitzwilliam does not hold an example. The Elmore Jones coin sold in 1971 for £440 and again in 1974 for £750 (see Bird, 1974, # 126). Note the unusual feature on the bust’s hairline – almost like a band / diadem. We further note that the National Museum of Wales holds an example of the Benediction penny from the same mint and moneyer although their example appears not to be a die-pair (obv or rev) of this coin. £3490
WMH-4355: Henry 1st
Hammered Silver Norman Penny. B.M.C.
IX – cross in quatrefoil (type 9).
Circa 1109 only. Notoriously
poorly struck issue with this example actually being better than the Spink
illustrated coin. London mint. Ex W.N. Clark, Ex D.N.W auction and ex
Spink. £1395
WMH-4356: Henry 1st
Hammered Silver Norman Penny. B.M.C.
XI – double inscription (type 11).
Circa 1115 only. Weakly struck
(angled strike) so with that in mind, approaching VF grade. Winchester mint. Ex W.N. Clark, Ex Pimprez Hoard and ex Spink. Interestingly, the only other recorded
example of this moneyer is BMC 78a.
That coin is from different dies but again interestingly, those
different dies had similar reverse die flaws.
£1195
WSax-2819: Offa Hammered Silver
Penny. Non-portrait type, “OFFA
REX” & “EOBA”. Catalogued by B.M. (see
image) and looks to be J.J. North # 276.
An extremely rare Middle Saxon English hammered silver penny. £1050
WAu-4145: Henry VII Hammered Gold
Angel - High Grade. Class III, mm
pansy (1495-8) and new-dies issue.
Subtle crimp mount marks that would take a good jeweller longer to spot
than to sort out! A very high grade
example coin. £1175
WMH-4027: Stephen Norman Kings’
NOTTINGHAM Hammered Penny. 1135 – 1154.
Cross Moline (Watford) type.
Rare Nottingham mint (SWEIN).
Good bust. Some provenance. £695
WMH-4159: Henry 1st Norman Penny,
BMC 15, London Mint. Quadrilateral
on cross fleury type. 1125-35. £440
WMH-3922: Henry II Short Cross
Hammered Silver Penny. Class 1c,
ALAIN-ON-CARD. Rarer Carlisle mint and
slightly rarer class within that mint.
Both sales tickets suggest that the dies for this coin are unrecorded
with Allen. Rare coin. £375
WMH-4182: Henry IV Hammered Silver
Penny. York mint, light coinage
(1412 – 1413). Annulet on breast fully
visible, annulet after HENRIC visible, reverse annulet stops fully
visible. The ENTIRE king’s name is
visible on this coin, something I’ve never seen before. During the reign of Henry IV, gold and
silver coins were seriously undervalued in relation to European bullion
prices. As a result, a penny coin was
worth up to double as scrap silver so coinage haemorrhaged out of England to be
melted down abroad at considerable profit.
Records show clearly that by 1408, England’s stock of gold and silver bullion
was virtually nil. The York issue was
struck at the archiepiscopal mint under Archbishop Bowet. Many dealers will only ever have one or two
Henry IV coins go through their hands and those coins will never come close to
this one in terms of strike, legend, clipping and grade. Choice. £1175
