Classical Numismatic Group, LLC
Triton XXIII 14-15 Jan 2020
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
ANGLO-SAXON, Kings of Wessex. Alfred the Great. 871-899. AR Penny (18mm, 1.52 g, 2h). London monogram type (BMC vi). London mint. Struck circa 883. ÆLFR ED RE+, diademed bust right / Londonia monogram, four pellets in central O; small crosses pattée above, . Grierson, Coins of Medieval Europe 104; SCBI 30 (American), 302 (same dies); MacKay A1(ii), dies O3/R3, no. 10 (this coin, incorrect weight noted); North 644; SCBC 1061. Minor metal flaws on reverse. Old cabinet tone. Near EF. Wonderful portrait. Rare.
From the Richard A. Jourdan Collection of Medieval European Coins, purchased from Charles H. Wolfe, III, 1999. Ex J. P. Linzalone Collection (Stack's, 7 December 1994), lot 2353; Reverend A. Mallinson Collection (Spink 39, 6 December 1984), lot 74, purchased from Spink.
Under Alfred's leadership the Anglo-Saxons turned the tide against the onslaught of Viking attacks. Alfred's issue of fine silver pennies in London, after the city was recaptured from the Danes in 883, are an expression of the new found English confidence. The obverse adopts a portrait based on late Roman prototypes, much finer than anything produced since the days of Offa a century earlier. The monogram of London on the reverse was possibly inspired by Papal issues. William MacKay has recently published a masterful study of this most famous of Anglo-Saxon coin types, see BNJ 2019.
From the Richard A. Jourdan Collection of Medieval European Coins, purchased from Charles H. Wolfe, III, 1999. Ex J. P. Linzalone Collection (Stack's, 7 December 1994), lot 2353; Reverend A. Mallinson Collection (Spink 39, 6 December 1984), lot 74, purchased from Spink.
Under Alfred's leadership the Anglo-Saxons turned the tide against the onslaught of Viking attacks. Alfred's issue of fine silver pennies in London, after the city was recaptured from the Danes in 883, are an expression of the new found English confidence. The obverse adopts a portrait based on late Roman prototypes, much finer than anything produced since the days of Offa a century earlier. The monogram of London on the reverse was possibly inspired by Papal issues. William MacKay has recently published a masterful study of this most famous of Anglo-Saxon coin types, see BNJ 2019.