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Noonans sell Braintree Hoard for £325,560

On 21 February 2024, Noonans sold 122 coins from the Braintree hoard, found by a pair of detectorists in 2019. The total hammer price of £325,560 far exceeded the pre-sale estimate of £180,000.

Following the sale, Nigel Mills, Artefact and Coin Expert at Noonans, said: “Wow, this has exceeded all our expectations. The atmosphere in the packed saleroom was euphoric with bidders – in person and online – wanting to purchase just one example from this important collection.

The landowners attended the sale and afterwards said: “We are delighted with the results which is a life-changing amount of money for the finders.”

To view any of my selected lots in the auction catalogue click on the lot number. The full catalogue can be found here.

There is a buyer’s premium of 24% (plus VAT) on the hammer price.

Braintree Hoard

Finding the hoard

The hoard was found by two detectorists who had been searching together for 20 years but had only found copper coins and crotal bells previously on the field near Braintree, Essex.

They were out detecting in late September 2019 when they got a signal from the Minelab CTX 3030. Digging down four inches revealed a silver penny. Half a dozen more turned up in a 30-metre radius and that evening they realised they were rare pennies of Harold II. Over the next few days around 70 more were found by slow and methodical use of the detectors. This was repeated in 2020 with another 70 coins uncovered.

The hoard

The hoard comprised 144 coins in total from the last two Anglo-Saxon kings of England – Edward the Confessor and Harold II Godwinsson. The absence of coins of William I suggest the coins were buried before 1066. It is clearly a possibility that their retrieval was prevented by the events at Hastings in that year.

An exceptional feature of the hoard is that it contained two Byzantine coins.

The find was recorded at the PAS as ESS-1CFF0B and went through the Treasure process.  Colchester Museum and the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge decided to buy 16 coins between them from the hoard, including the two 11th century Byzantine coins. The remainder were disclaimed.

Featured Lot

Photo: © Noonans

Hastings penny of Harold II

Mint: Hastings
Estimate: £5,000 – £6,000
Hammer: £24000

A mint was established in Hastings in the 10th century and produced a steady production through to the Anarchy of the mid 12th century. However, output was significantly reduced during the reign of Harold II; as illustrated by only three of the 1,238 coins of the Chew Valley hoard were minted in Hastings. Therefore, it is an extremely rare mint in this type and this is only the second specimen to appear at public auction in the last 40 years.

Reverse reads DVNNING ON HAE giving the moneyer as Dunning.

Other mints

The hoard contained coins from a large number of different mints. The best example of each is shown below. Each mint’s dies were different with some containing specific extra details, such as the Sudbury mint coin with a dash from the “X” to the sceptre and a pellet in the field on the obverse. Some suggest that these are an early form of privy marks rather than just a natural variation in the dies.

Photo: © Noonans

Bridport penny of Harold II

Only a small scale mint, with the moneyer also operating out of the nearby mint of Dorchester. Reverse reads PATEMON ON BRVD giving the moneyer as Hwæteman.
Estimate: £3,000 – £4,000
Hammer: £7000
Photo: © Noonans

Cambridge penny of Harold II

Reverse reads GODPINE ON GRANTV giving the moneyer as Godwine.
Estimate: £3,000 – £4,000
Hammer: £6500
Photo: © Noonans

Canterbury penny of Harold II

During much of the the eighth and ninth centuries Canterbury was the most significant mint-place in England. By the late tenth century its importance was ‘of a second order’, and in the reign of Harold II output appears to have been particularly limited. Reverse reads ELFWINE ON CAN giving the moneyer as Ælfwine.
Estimate: £3,000 – £4,000
Hammer: £6000
Photo: © Noonans

Chichester penny of Harold II

Reverse reads ÆLWINE ON CICEI giving the moneyer as Ælfwine.
Estimate: £2,400 – £3,000
Hammer: £5500
Photo: © Noonans

Guildford penny of Harold II

Reverse reads LEOFPOLD ON GILDI giving the moneyer as Leofwold. He was an extremely rare moneyer for the Facing bust type of Edward the Confessor.
Estimate: £5,000 – £6,000
Hammer: £7000
Photo: © Noonans

Ipswich penny of Harold II

Reverse reads ÆLFWINE ON GIPPES giving the moneyer as Ælfwine.
Estimate: £3,000 – £4,000
Hammer: £4200
Photo: © Noonans

Lincoln penny of Harold II

Reverse reads ALFGEAT ON LIN giving the moneyer as Ælfgæt.
Estimate: £4,000 – £5,000
Hammer: £6000
Photo: © Noonans

London penny of Harold II

Reverse reads EDPINE ON LVNDEI giving the moneyer as Eadwine.
Estimate: £4,000 – £5,000
Hammer: £7500
Photo: © Noonans

Maldon penny of Harold II

Few pennies of Maldon are known from the reign of Edward the Confessor, and even fewer from that of Harold (there was only one example in Chew Valley). Reverse reads GODPINE ON MEL giving the moneyer as Godwine.
Estimate: £2,400 – £3,000
Hammer: £4600
Photo: © Noonans

Rochester penny of Harold II

Reverse reads LEOFPINE ON RO giving the moneyer as Leofwine.
Estimate: £4,000 – £5,000
Hammer: £8000
Photo: © Noonans

Sudbury penny of Harold II

The mint of Sudbury was previously unrecorded in the reign of Harold; it is now known from five Pennies, all of which are offered for sale in this auction. Reverse reads FOLCPINE ON SVÐ giving the moneyer as Folcwine.
Estimate: £3,000 – £4,000
Hammer: £7500
Photo: © Noonans

Worcester penny of Harold II

The hoard contains an excessively rare pair of die-duplicate Harold II Pennies from the Worcester moneyer Vikingr. Although he struck throughout most of the last six or seven issues of Edward the Confessor, none of his coins survive in quantity. Reverse reads PICING ON PIHRI giving the moneyer as Vikingr.
Estimate: £2,000 – £2,600
Hammer: £5500
Photo: © Noonans

Colchester penny of Harold II

PAX type without Sceptre. Reverse reads BRIHTRIC ON COL giving the moneyer as Beorhtric.
Estimate: £1,500 – £1,800
Hammer: £6000
Photo: © Noonans

Dover penny of Harold II

Reverse reads CINSTAN ON DOFI giving the moneyer as Cinstan.
Estimate: £5,000 – £6,000
Hammer: £9000
Photo: © Noonans

Huntingdon penny of Harold II

Reverse reads GODPINE ON HVNIED giving the moneyer as Godwine.
Estimate: £4,000 – £5,000
Hammer: £11000
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