The Late Jim Sazama Collection of Medieval Coins

Scotland, Alexander III, First coinage, Sterling, type Ia (Short cross Phase E), Berwick or Roxburgh, Wilam Iohan, bare-headed beardless bust right with sceptre, rev. four stars of six points, wilam iohan on r, 1.48g/10h (SCBI 35, –; cf. B –, fig. 75b; S 5039). Slightly uneven flan, some surface marks, otherwise good fine, extremely rare £1,200-1,500

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Late Jim Sazama Collection of Medieval Coins.

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Provenance: M.J. Anderson Collection, Spink Auction 183, 26-7 September 2006, lot 437.

Burns states that the rare sterling reading wilam iohan on (B 75b) is likely to have been struck at Berwick rather than Roxburgh since Willam and Iohan are both known separately as Berwick moneyers. However this was written before the chronology of the Long Cross coinage was properly understood. Iohan only struck at Berwick in types VII and VIII, while the Berwick moneyer (usually referred to as Willelm) normally signed his coins Will or Wilel. On the other hand, the Colchester Hoard contained a previously unknown type II coin of Roxburgh by the moneyer Wilam. That combined with the clear letter r on this coin suggests that these extremely rare transitional coins of Wilam and Iohan should be reattributed to Roxburgh