Penny of Stephen

This coin was unearthed during a rally held last year. On the day the ground was very wet and muddy and the finder said he never got round to cleaning the coin. He forgot all about it until he came across it a few weeks since and realised it was a coin of Stephen. I was asked to provide a full ID and a valuation for the finder, who wished to remain anonymous.

The coin is a penny, of a type struck at York in the name of King Stephen. In the Standard Catalogue the reference number is 1312 and in volume I of J. J. North’s English Hammered Coinage it is listed as number 918.

On the obverse is a crowned bust facing right with a sceptre in front and a legend reading +STIEFNER (the last letter R is elongated). On the reverse is a cross moline and on this side the legend reads +WISSEGMOTO followed by another letter that is unclear.

This penny belongs to the ‘Ornamental’ series (circa 1145-49) which includes pennies of the flag type. The group is made up of carefully struck coins from dies that were far superior to others of the same period. 

Valuation

This coin is slightly weak in places but still good enough to grade VF. The flag type is rare but those with a sceptre are much rarer. A specimen similar to this con was sold at auction in 2022 for $13,000; it was graded as good VF but had a flat area in the legend on both sides. I’d prefer the coin pictured here to the one sold back in 2022.

If this Stephen penny was offered for sale at auction then the pre-sale estimate would be lower than the figure achieved by the specimen sold in 2022. However, it shouldn’t be any less than £6,000-8,000.

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