The Braintree Hoard of Late Anglo-Saxon Pennies

Harold II (1066), PAX type without Sceptre [BMC Ia; N 837; S 1187]
, Penny, Colchester, Goldman, Gp D, +harold rex anglor, rev. +goldman on col, 1.38g/2h (Bt 134, this coin; Pagan, NM p.194 [three examples noted]; BMC –; SCBI NM 1067, same dies). Slightly dished and with weakness along the king’s profile, otherwise very fine and rare; light hoard patina £1,200-£1,500

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

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Collection

Struck from the same dies as Braintree 127, 129-30 & 132-3

Michael Metcalf (1998, 176) recognised that during the reign of Harold some mints, including London and Lincoln, employed two distinct and parallel weight standards: one at c. 1.37g and another at c. 1.27g. When examining the coins of Goldman struck at Colchester from the Braintree Hoard we can detect the same pattern. All six of these coins are struck from the same pair of dies and it is possible, by studying changes in die wear, to determine the relative order in which they were struck. Those coins struck from fresher dies (Braintree 130, 132, 134) adhere to the heavier weight standard, while those struck from dies with developed flaws (Braintree 127, 129, 133) adhere to the lighter.

It is difficult to say whether or not we should read anything significant into this pattern; six coins is too small a sample to be statistically reliable and any hypothesis drawn from such a body of evidence must regarded as tentative in the extreme. The forthcoming full publication of Chew Valley hoard has the potential to advance our understanding of Harold’s coinage in many perspectives, not least its metrology.