H4505 - Viking Imitation, Scandinavia or the greater Baltic region, copying England, Aethelred II, the Unready (978-1016), Silver Penny, 1.43g., imitating CRVX type (c.991-c.997), bare-headed bust left with sceptre, rev., short cross voided CRVX in the angles, (cf. N.770; cf. S.1148; dies not recorded in Malmer CNS 4 (Sigtuna) or 9 (Lund)), crude die work, almost extremely fine, toned. $2495

Provenance:

B. A. Seaby Ltd stock ticket in the hand of 'Bert' Seaby (1898-1979).

H4465 - DENMARK, Knud den Store (Cnut the Great)), (King of Denmark 1018-1035, King of England 1016-1035), Silver Penning, 0.80g., Lund mint (Lund, Skåne (now Sweden)), as the English Pointed Helmet type (1024 - 1030), moneyer Alfweald, bust wearing pointed helmet holding sceptre left, +CNVT REX A, rev., voided short cross with annulet in each angle and over base of cross, +ALFPOLD MO LVND:, (cf Hauberg 10; cf N.787; cf S. 1158), good very fine, toned and rare. $995

The moneyer Ælfweald is not known at London for Cnut, moreover the die style, flan and low weight are typical of a Scandinavian issue.

ME619 – DENMARK, Harald Bluetooth Gormson (Danish: Harald Blåtand) (c.940-986), Silver Brakteater (Bracteate) Penning, 0.25g., (struck c.940 - c.960), Hedeby mint (now Schleswig-Holstein, Germany) or Jelling mint (near Vejle, Jutland, Denmark), design copied with degradation from the Carolingian deniers in the name of Charlemagne from the mint of Dorestad (near the modern Wijk-bij-Duurstede. Utrecht province, the Netherlands), with an axe below, the letters TAT in the centre are the last vestiges of the legend DORSTAT, (Hauberg 1), exquisitely toned, a practically as struck specimen on a full round flan, extremely rare. $2145 NOW $1795 SOLD

Harold Bluetooth, the grandfather of Cnut (the Great), converted to Christianity in 956 and famously had his parents Gorm the Old and Thyra posthumously converted to his new faith and reburied in a new church he had built next to their traditional pagan burial mounds at the royal site of Jelling. The achievements of Harald and Gorm are recorded on two elaborately carved runestones at the site. Jelling, is one possible mint for this coinage, the other being the large commercial town of Hedeby further down the Jutland peninsula.

JH1 - DENMARK, 'Stridsperioden' (1044-1047), Civil War between the Norwegian Kings Magnus den Gode and Harald Hardråde and the Danish King Svend Estridsen, Silver Penning, 0.96g., Lund mint (Lund, Skåne (now Sweden)), moneyer Othinkarr, radiate helmeted bust left, in armour, design borrowed from the Helmet type of Aethelred II, issued c.1003-1009, +EĐELRED RE, rev., voided long cross, each arm terminating in three crescents, a kidney shaped device in the 1^st and 4^th quarter,  +OĐĐINCAR O LVD, (Hauberg -), toned, extremely fine, an interesting type, extremely rare. $2995 NOW $2395 SOLD

Provenance:

Ex P. W. P. Carlyon-Britton Collection (1863-1938), lot 1526.

Stock ticket from B.A. Seaby Ltd, written in the hand of Frank Purvey, employed (1950-1984).

 

The 'Stridsperioden' (literally meaning a 'time of dispute') is the name given by Danish historians to the period when rival Danish and Norwegian claimants fought for the Danish throne. This type is struck posthumously in the name of the English king Aethelred II (978-1016), giving the coin a degree of anonymity which the Danish moneyers desired, keeping the coin and their work neutral in a time of conflict. Whilst the obverse regal legend is an anachronistic the reverse mint and moneyer combination is perfectly legible. The moneyer Othinkarr is also a known moneyer for issues in the names of Knud den Store (Cnut), Hardeknud (Harthacnut), Magnus den Gode and Svend Estridsten