This week’s fresh listings:
This page is to be updated every
Tuesday and will contain all the latest Coin,
Medal & Token listings for that particular week.
Most sold coins are now
accessible via a new link on the front (index) page category grid.
Additions to www.HistoryInCoins.com
for weeks commencing Tuesday 1st September 2026
On
offer this week are three exceptionally rare and important coins - quality
coins that embody what HistoryInCoins is all about -
which we were delighted to reacquire
WSax-9407: Choice Grade, RARE Mint Cnut Late Saxon Hammered Silver Penny. Short (Small) Cross type,
B.M.C. XVI, circa 1029-1035/6.
+BLACAMAN O SNO - Blackaman of Nottingham.
An extremely rare Saxon (and Norman) mint - the town was sacked by
Robert of Gloucester during the Anarchy, the castle surrendered to Matilda, and
that was the end of Nottingham as a coin mint.
S.R.1159. Sames dies as Copenhagen # 3472. There have been some large hoards of Cnut pennies, found on both British and Scandinavian soil,
of Viking Danegeld origin - Danegeld (literally "Dane yield") was a
tax raised during the ninth century in England to pay protection money to the
Viking raiders to save a land from being ravaged. This coin is undoubtedly derives from one of
those hoards, probably the 1993 Cambridge Hoard (implied also by the excellent
numismatic researcher Jon Mann on his impressive ticket), which accounts for
its near "as struck" grade: coinage was literally struck at the mints
and immediately bagged up as Danegeld, having seen zero circulation. See all old tickets here. Eadmund Ironside, Aethelred's son,
continued the defiance and fighting spirit of his father towards the Viking
invaders but upon Eadmund's death, Cnut, once he'd consolidated his rule by marrying Emma of
Normandy, embraced the easier (albeit ridiculously expensive, and not always
successful!) Danegeld system. Exceptionally rare Midland's mint, struck up,
well centred, clear legends, beautifully toned, 1.04g, problem-free, superb
provenance and very high grade - in fact, unambiguously choice. 
£1,995
Provenance:
Likely ex
Danegeld coin hoard 1993 (Cambridge)
ex
"MFX, 98" referenced on the Baldwin ticket
ex Baldwins (Jan 2005 - ticket in the hand of
Michael Sharp, reference on the back to "Stewartby
265" in the hand of Jon Mann)
ex
Lord Stewartby collection, dispersed ...
ex
Spink sale 234 (Stewartby lot 263, March 2016)
ex Jon
Mann (ticket)
ex Tim
Owen (ticket)
ex HistoryInCoins (2017)
ex
Paul Simpson collection
WMH-9408: Choice Henry IV Medieval
Hammered Silver Penny. Light
Coinage, 1412-13 only. [+hENR]ICVS RE[X AnGLIE]
legend with a truly remarkable portrait of the Lancastrian king who was born in
Bollingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire.
Collectors will be aware that Henry IV very coins rarely turn up, for
reasons outlined below, but when they do, they're invariably of very low grade,
often damaged and with little portrait remaining. Stemmed trefoil on breast. Light coinage Episcopal pence do not carry
the annulet and pellet by the crown of the London silver. The reverse reads: [CIVI] TA[S] DVn OL[M] - Durham Episcopal mint. The gothic n in DVnOLM
implies that the dies may have been prepared during the Heavy period but not
delivered until the weight reduction had restored the viability of Bishop
Langley actually issuing coinage.
Primary series, Stewartby class P. S.R.1735. During the latter years of the Heavy
Coinage, possibly from as early as 1408 up until Easter 1412, there was much
inactivity at the mint due to virtually no silver coin being produced - silver
coin headed for the Continent in huge numbers as silver was worth more there
than in England, thus it was economically unviable to issue fresh coinage. Heavy coinage silver, and any other silver
coin in circulation, was clipped by profiteers, even though the penalties were
severe. As a result of this inactivity,
there was a severe shortage of available skilled staff at every level in 1412,
specifically Easter 1412, when the first world value of silver bullion
increased, thereby allowing a prudent economic decision to mint coin again,
albeit at a reduced weight - hence Light Coinage. Clearly this staff shortage was not remedied
overnight and that, taken with the fact that Henry IV died less than a year
later in March of 1413, goes some way to identifying just why this monarch,
numismatically at least, is so very rare in any grade, let alone this
spectacular grade. I have seen at least
one similar grade penny go through auction with a hammer price a fair bit over
£1,000 and so with 30% commission on top of that...! A very rare and desirable
penny. £1,275
Provenance:
Metal
detecting find, Lincolnshire, purchased...
ex
Mark Mailard (ticket), sold to...
ex HistoryInCoins (2018)
ex
Paul Simpson collection
WMH-9409: Rare Southern Variant
Stephen Hammered Silver NORMAN Penny.
B.M.C. I var,
but VOIDED Cross Moline “Watford” type. Obverse legend reads: +STEFN REX. The +S is ambiguous but the cross can just
about be made out two thirds along the annulet collar with the lower half of
the S, respondent with serifs, following close on. The king facing right,
collar of annulets, the legend remarkably clear for this Southern Variant
issue. The regnal name is
unambiguously STEFN, so no letter I midway and a missing E at the end. The king's crown has exaggerated fleurs and there are three pellets at the foot of the
sceptre, presumably in place of the usual fingers. Reverse voided cross moline, vestiges of annulets in the end
of the voided cross. Legend: [---] SAN
[---] which is Sanson on Ant (sometimes just AN):
moneyer Sanson at the Southampton mint. The S is unusually on its side. The excellent E.M.C. (Fitzwilliam) database
lists several of these Southern Variants, not one of which we'd term a nice
coin - it seems that the dies were crude and locally made, the planchets were
undersized and the actual minting of the coinage appears to have been
undertaken by an individual bereft of any kind of skill or training. This coin comes with paperwork from Spink
strongly suggesting the coin is from the Bedford mint. See Spink tickets here. It is not.
The voided cross moline is typical of this Southern
Variant issue, as is the annulet collar, as is the regnal reading of the king's
name. Mack (Stephen and the Anarchy,
1135-1154) lists six different examples of this issue, as referenced by the
single S.R.1295 listing. The only
example with STEFN as the reading (all omit the middle letter I but nearly all
have the final E) has a full obverse reading of STEFNX (Mack 208). This coin obviously has a very clear REX in
place of Mack's X. In terms of the
reverse reading, Spink had it as [---] MAS ON B [---]. The B is just not there. I can see why they thought the M was there
but although far from clear, I'd suggest that the letter preceding the sideways
S, Spink's M, is an N with a die sinker's mirror
error. On the topic of odd lettering,
the afore mentioned sideways S is not a feature of this Southern Variants, at
least one I've not come across - there appears to be no such errors on the
E.M.C. database either although Mack does have a single example, Mack 208,
though this coin has a regular N preceding the S, even though Mack 208 was the
closest in terms of obverse legend to this coin. In summary, a rare Southern Variant from the Southampton mint,
previously misattributed as a standard B.M.C 1 Bedford penny. The obverse, especially the legend, is remarkably
impressive for this very poor issue and is an unrecorded die. The reverse would also appear to be
unrecorded. The coin has been struck on
a small, irregular planchet which I'd suggest has not been clipped but was the
standard used for this issue at the time.
Creasing stress mark to the obverse. A most interesting coin.
£965
Provenance:
ex
Spink
ex HistoryInCoins (2019)
ex
Paul Simpson collection
