Northumbrian silver sceatta

This coin measures only 12mm in diameter but is shown greatly enlarged. It was unearthed by Mark Cummings, who wanted to know more about it, including what it might be worth.

The coin is a Northumbrian silver sceatta, which will date from 738-757 AD. It’s a joint issue of Eadberht (King of Northumbria) and Ecgberht (Archbishop of York) and is listed in the Standard Catalogue as number 852.

Around a central cross on the obverse is a legend reading EDTBREhVL. On the reverse is the standing figure of Archbishop Ecgberht, who holds a crook in one hand and a long cross in the other. The legend on the reverse reads ECGBEAhT followed by V and an inverted letter L. The V and L will be meant to represent AR, which is an abbreviation of Archbishop.

Valuation

When Part I of the Abramson collection was sold in 2021 it included six specimens of this type of Northumbrian sceatta. In the collection were a number of different varieties of S. 852 but it did not contain an example that matched Mark’s find. Therefore, this coin will obviously be of some rarity.  

The obverse is a little weak in the centre but is otherwise VF. The reverse is better and would grade good VF. If I was cataloguing this coin for sale at auction then I would set the pre-sale estimate at £550 to £650.

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