Classical Numismatic Group, LLC
Auction 114 13-14 May 2020
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ANGLO-SAXON, Pale Gold Phase. Circa 645-665/70. Pale AV Thrymsa – Shilling (12mm, 1.24 g, 6h). Trophy (Constantine variety/'Oath-taking') type, Star and Annulets group. Mint in East Anglia. Diademed bust right; cross to left, star-with-annulets [and cross] to right / Roman trophy and captives scene devolved into a trapezoid containing vertical lines, surmounted by pellets, with two crosses below; garbled Latin legend around. Marsden 16–20 (dies 1/S); cf. Sutherland Class IIT.ii; A&W Type V.xxv; MEC 8 table 3, 26a; cf. North 17; SCBC 766. Lightly toned, slightly weak strike on reverse. Good VF. Extremely rare.
From the James & Martha Robertson, purchased from Spink, January 2007.
This coinage was previously classified as the Constantine or 'Oath-taking' type, based on a supposed derivation of the obverse type from certain coins of Constantine the Great (cf. Sutherland pp. 39 and 80, and A. Gannon, The Iconography of Early Anglo-Saxon Coinage (Oxford, 2003), p. 65). However, Marsden conclusively argues that the obverse type here is novel, and that the reverse, in fact, is the derived type, taken from late Roman bronzes showing a trophy with two captives below that were struck in London, Lyon, and Trier under Constantine, circa AD 320. These Roman bronzes were still common objects during the 7th century in Britain, and frequently used as pendants. Thus, this coinage should properly be called the Trophy type.
From the James & Martha Robertson, purchased from Spink, January 2007.
This coinage was previously classified as the Constantine or 'Oath-taking' type, based on a supposed derivation of the obverse type from certain coins of Constantine the Great (cf. Sutherland pp. 39 and 80, and A. Gannon, The Iconography of Early Anglo-Saxon Coinage (Oxford, 2003), p. 65). However, Marsden conclusively argues that the obverse type here is novel, and that the reverse, in fact, is the derived type, taken from late Roman bronzes showing a trophy with two captives below that were struck in London, Lyon, and Trier under Constantine, circa AD 320. These Roman bronzes were still common objects during the 7th century in Britain, and frequently used as pendants. Thus, this coinage should properly be called the Trophy type.