Harold II (1066), PAX type with Sceptre [BMC I; N 836; S 1186], Penny, Chichester, Ælfwine, Gp B, +harold rex ang, no fillets to crown, rev. +ælwine on cicei, 1.30g/8h (Bt 45, this coin; Pagan, NM p.190 [ten examples noted]; BMC 5, same dies; HHK 134). Good very fine, mottled hoard patina, rare £2,400-£3,000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Braintree Hoard of Late Anglo-Saxon Pennies.

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Struck from the same dies as Braintree 44

Late Anglo-Saxon pennies were struck from square faced dies (with faceted corners). A collar was probably employed in the striking process; this overlapped the two dies and kept the trussel stable in the striking process. As result we find that the trussel die is locked in a fixed plane of alignment with the obverse die. For the majority of Harold’s pennies in the Braintree Hoard we see this alignment is 12h, 3h, 6h, 9h. The present coin (and the following die duplicate) follows a different alignment: 11h, 2h, 5h, 8h. The engraver responsible for cutting these Chichester dies also sunk dies employed at Ipswich (Braintree 56-58), and these follow this adjusted die-alignment.