Sceatta

This coin is the second to come in this week from Alex Hilton, who said it was unearthed last month. After identifying it as a silver example of the sceatta coinage Alex said he was struggling to pin it down.

On the obverse is a fairly simplistic ‘Wodan’ head with what is sometimes described as a ‘keyhole’ face. On the reverse is a square standard containing four lines, two trefoils and a central annulet with a pellet in the centre. Therefore, this sceatta is amongst the types and varieties listed as number 835 in the Standard Catalogue.

In 2021 the comprehensive collection of Dark Age coins formed by Tony Abramson was sold at auction. Part IV was the Continental portion and lot 1191 was an example of the same coin. It was described as a type 30b obverse muled with a type 8 reverse. This is a very rare variety.    

Valuation

The Abramson coin was struck well off centre and was only in Fair condition but the hammer price was £160. The coin found by Alex would grade VF but has a couple of minus points. It is dark in colour (collectors prefer those with nice silver surfaces) and it has a small edge chip. After considering the plus and minus points, if I was cataloguing this sceatta for sale at auction then I would set the pre-sale estimate at £250 to £300.

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