Spink
Auction 18012 3 Jul 2018
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(x) Wessex, Alfred (871-899), Halfpenny, 0.64g, Two Line ('Guthrum') type, Cuthberht, + elfred re, around beaded inner circle containing plain cross, rev. cvdb erht, retrograde, the ht ligate, in two lines divided by pellets and crosses (cf. Numismatic Chronicle, vol. V (1842-43), plate 3, no. 30; Grierson Halfpennies and Third-Pennies of King Alfred, BNJ XXVIII (1955-57), pp. 477-493, and plate XXVIII, no. 9 this coin; BM. 436 same dies; N.640; S.1068), small scratch on reverse, very fine, extremely rare.
Provenance:
Purchased from Baldwin, November 1991
Lockett, part 1, Glendining, 6 June 1955, lot 495, (illustrated with the reverse upside down, and the moneyer's name given as 'eadberht, (retrograde) in two lines'), £25 to Spink
Watters, Glendining, 21 May 1917, lot 52 (moneyer's name given as 'cvditire retrograde'), £13.10/- to Baldwin
Rashleigh, Sotheby, 21 June 1909, lot 232 (moneyer's name given as 'eadb-erht, the last four letters retrograde, with ht in mon.'), £12
Bergne, Sotheby, 20 May 1873, lot 171 (moneyer's name given as edilcadi, 'very fine and of great rarity', £14.5/- to Webster
Murchison, Sotheby, 28 May 1866, lot 213 (moneyer's name given as ebil-cadi), £7.7/-
Martin, Sotheby, 23 May 1859, lot 18 (moneyer's name given as erilcadi, the r inverted), £18.10/- to Murchison
From the Cuerdale, Lancashire, hoard, 1840
Illustrated in John Lindsay, A View of the Coinage of the Heptarchy (Cork, 1842), plate iv, no. 100. That the Rev. J. W. Martin was then the owner is confirmed on page 129.
It is interesting to note the various misreadings of the moneyer's name on this one specimen, culminating in the upside down illustration in the Lockett catalogue. In the British Museum catalogue, published in 1893, a die duplicate of this coin (436), is listed under Cudberht and the legend is correctly printed in retrograde. Indeed the Rashleigh catalogue does say the second line of the name is retrograde, and the Watters catalogue also notes the name is retrograde and even goes as far as to cite the two British Museum specimens, nos. 435 and 436, and yet these catalogues still give the name as eadberht' and 'cvditire'.
The various misreadings were not only caused by the failure to realise both lines of the legend were retrograde. The curves of the b are hardly visible and the forward foot of the r can be imagined rather than clearly seen. The ligate ht is also not obvious. There are however numerous other coins that can help with the reading. In the British Museum collection the other Halfpenny of Cuthberht, no. 435, has the legend not retrograde and this clearly reads cvdb-erht. That this moneyer was prone to producing retrograde legends is well attested, for of the 23 Pennies of Alfred by him in the British Museum catalogue, four have his name retrograde and a fifth has the king's name retrograde.
It is also interesting to note the prices paid. At the Martin sale in 1859 the coin sold to Murchison for £18.10/-, a huge sum at the time, and a price that was unbeaten until the Lockett sale in 1955.
Estimate: £2,000 - £2,500
Provenance:
Purchased from Baldwin, November 1991
Lockett, part 1, Glendining, 6 June 1955, lot 495, (illustrated with the reverse upside down, and the moneyer's name given as 'eadberht, (retrograde) in two lines'), £25 to Spink
Watters, Glendining, 21 May 1917, lot 52 (moneyer's name given as 'cvditire retrograde'), £13.10/- to Baldwin
Rashleigh, Sotheby, 21 June 1909, lot 232 (moneyer's name given as 'eadb-erht, the last four letters retrograde, with ht in mon.'), £12
Bergne, Sotheby, 20 May 1873, lot 171 (moneyer's name given as edilcadi, 'very fine and of great rarity', £14.5/- to Webster
Murchison, Sotheby, 28 May 1866, lot 213 (moneyer's name given as ebil-cadi), £7.7/-
Martin, Sotheby, 23 May 1859, lot 18 (moneyer's name given as erilcadi, the r inverted), £18.10/- to Murchison
From the Cuerdale, Lancashire, hoard, 1840
Illustrated in John Lindsay, A View of the Coinage of the Heptarchy (Cork, 1842), plate iv, no. 100. That the Rev. J. W. Martin was then the owner is confirmed on page 129.
It is interesting to note the various misreadings of the moneyer's name on this one specimen, culminating in the upside down illustration in the Lockett catalogue. In the British Museum catalogue, published in 1893, a die duplicate of this coin (436), is listed under Cudberht and the legend is correctly printed in retrograde. Indeed the Rashleigh catalogue does say the second line of the name is retrograde, and the Watters catalogue also notes the name is retrograde and even goes as far as to cite the two British Museum specimens, nos. 435 and 436, and yet these catalogues still give the name as eadberht' and 'cvditire'.
The various misreadings were not only caused by the failure to realise both lines of the legend were retrograde. The curves of the b are hardly visible and the forward foot of the r can be imagined rather than clearly seen. The ligate ht is also not obvious. There are however numerous other coins that can help with the reading. In the British Museum collection the other Halfpenny of Cuthberht, no. 435, has the legend not retrograde and this clearly reads cvdb-erht. That this moneyer was prone to producing retrograde legends is well attested, for of the 23 Pennies of Alfred by him in the British Museum catalogue, four have his name retrograde and a fifth has the king's name retrograde.
It is also interesting to note the prices paid. At the Martin sale in 1859 the coin sold to Murchison for £18.10/-, a huge sum at the time, and a price that was unbeaten until the Lockett sale in 1955.
Estimate: £2,000 - £2,500