Baldwin & Sons
Auction 109 9 Mar 2023
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Danelaw (c.890), Five Boroughs, Penny, imitation of London Monogram type A, of Alfred the Great, unnamed moneyer, coarse style, type E, XL?F D' EDREX, F inverted, diademed bust right. Rev, monogram with inverted N and L, 1.30g. (MacKay Danelaw E, obverse similar to coin 5.1, die combination 5, O5/R5 – see plate 6, no. 95; S.964; cf. N.463). Peck marks on reverse, face weakly struck, otherwise extremely fine, excessively rare.
Found 2020, recorded with the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, EMC 2020.0234.
This example belongs to a group of coarse?style Viking imitations of the London?issued Monogram coins of Alfred the Great, struck in the Danelaw circa 885?90. MacKay, in his Corpus of London Monogram Coins of Alfred the Great and the Danelaw (British Numismatic Journal 89, 2019), noted fourteen examples of Danelaw E pence struck from twelve die combinations. Of these, twelve are in institutional collections and this coin is one of just three or so of this type available to collectors.
This new coin adds another die combination with neither the obverse nor reverse die recorded up until this point. Die duplication in the Danelaw imitation series is unusual. The majority of Danelaw E coins, nine, derive from the Cuerdale 1840 hoard. A single coin, MacKay Danelaw E, coin 5.1, BMA.445, derives from the Stamford 1902 hoard, with deposition c.890. The obverse of this is of a similar style, but not from the same die as this coin. This, and the presence of a similar coin in the Stamford 1902 hoard, suggests this new coin is from the same source of production and this allows the coin to be attributed to the North East Midlands/ Lincolnshire and dated to c.890. One of three or so Danelaw type E coins available, with a new die combination. Of the highest rarity.
Found 2020, recorded with the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, EMC 2020.0234.
This example belongs to a group of coarse?style Viking imitations of the London?issued Monogram coins of Alfred the Great, struck in the Danelaw circa 885?90. MacKay, in his Corpus of London Monogram Coins of Alfred the Great and the Danelaw (British Numismatic Journal 89, 2019), noted fourteen examples of Danelaw E pence struck from twelve die combinations. Of these, twelve are in institutional collections and this coin is one of just three or so of this type available to collectors.
This new coin adds another die combination with neither the obverse nor reverse die recorded up until this point. Die duplication in the Danelaw imitation series is unusual. The majority of Danelaw E coins, nine, derive from the Cuerdale 1840 hoard. A single coin, MacKay Danelaw E, coin 5.1, BMA.445, derives from the Stamford 1902 hoard, with deposition c.890. The obverse of this is of a similar style, but not from the same die as this coin. This, and the presence of a similar coin in the Stamford 1902 hoard, suggests this new coin is from the same source of production and this allows the coin to be attributed to the North East Midlands/ Lincolnshire and dated to c.890. One of three or so Danelaw type E coins available, with a new die combination. Of the highest rarity.