Cut halfpenny of Alexander III

This is the second find to come in this week from Anthony Hopkinson. He had already identified it as a Scottish cut halfpenny but I was asked to provide further details.

The coin was struck during the first coinage of Alexander III. How much information can be gleaned from a cut halfpenny depends on where it has been cut. Sometimes it is only possible to identify the mint or the moneyer but on this coin I can name them both.

What remains of the legend on the reverse reads XAN ONE. The first three letters make up the end of the moneyer’s name; the next three start with ON (this appears before the start of the mint signature) and the last letter is E, which is the first letter of the name of the mint. Therefore, the moneyer is Alexander and the mint is Edinburgh.

Insufficient detail shows up on the obverse for me to identify the class. There was a class VII penny in the Lockett collection with a legend reading ALE XAN ONE DEN. Anthony’s find might be a die duplicate of the Lockett coin.

Valuation

This is a very rare cut half but, unfortunately, its state of preservation leaves much to be desired. The obverse is half flat and only ALE shows up. The reverse is better but only Fair. Despite being a rarity, in its present condition my price range would be no higher than £25-35.

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