REVIEW: ANCIENT COINS AND ANTIQUITIES: 20 JUNE

Antiquities proved to be the stars of the show, as expected, in this sale, with the stunning circa AD 600 gold Saxon sword pommel cap selling for £16,000. Discovered in Billesdon, Leicestershire by an 81-year-old metal detectorist, the ornament had motifs that recalled the rim of a shield from the Sutton Hoo ship.

Nigel Mills, Artefact and Coin expert at Noonans said: “This was a stunning piece, and we are very pleased with the result. Further research has shown that the place name Billesdon means sword hill, so it’s very apt that the pommel, which we think would have belonged to an Anglo-Saxon chief who probably lost it in a battle with a Viking, was found there!”

The pommel was declared as treasure and has now been disclaimed after the Leicester Museum declined to purchase it.

As Mr Mills explained: “The sword pommel is a beautiful example of fine Anglo-Saxon gold measuring 4 centimetres by 1.5 centimetres and weighing 20.5 grams. It is of cocked hat form using beaded wire filigree ornamentation. On one side are two dragons or beasts facing each other with their heads and front paws touching. The other side has an interlaced snakelike pattern. It compares with the detectorist-found Staffordshire hoard of gold jewellery, while the motif of the confronting beasts on the sword mounts can be seen on a shield from the Sutton Hoo ship burial. The pommel would have been fixed to the end of the sword handle both as a counterbalance and to stop the hand slipping. The imagery displayed would have imbued a mystical power to the sword.”

Other ancient artefact highlights included a Romano-British, 1st century AD bronze boar figurine, measuring just 5.2 x 3.7cm. The solid cast moulding shows the boar standing on four legs, with a ridged back, while the body is decorated with fine diagonal grooves indicating the coarse hair. The head has prominent ears and narrow recessed eyes, projecting curved tusks and a flat D-shaped snout with two indented nostrils. the open mouth is a straight slit. The tail at the rear is decorated with grooves, curled and hangs down.

The boar, which was a symbol for both the Celts and the Romans, was found at Beltinge in Kent. The XX Valeria Roman legion took part in the invasion of Britain in 43 AD and were initially based at Colchester. The legionary emblem was a charging running boar. The druids regarded the boar as sacred and the animal was a symbol of strength and fertility appearing on a number of Iron Age coins.

Intact, and in excellent condition with a smooth olive green patina, the boar in this sale had been estimated at £1,000-1,200 but trebled the high estimate at £3,600.

‘Nobby’ is the nickname for a fertility figure discovered by Bob Jemmett, a retired HGV driver and avid metal-detectorist, during an organised rally in South Cambridgeshire almost six years ago.

Detecting in a ploughed field at Little Chishill, near Royston in South Cambridgeshire on September 12, 2018, Bob recalls: “The weather was appalling with the rain lashing down, but I persevered and received a lovely signal from my Minelab 3030 detector.

“Digging down four inches, I uncovered a small bronze nude male figure which featured a prominent erection similar to the Cerne Abbas Giant that is carved into a hill in Dorset. The figure was identified as a Celtic fertility figure and published on the Portable Antiquities website and subsequently used as a logo by the rally organisers in their promotions.” 

As Nigel Mills explained: “This unique figure dates from the 1st century BC, he has an oversized bald head with deep sockets for eyes, wedges for arms and short legs. There is a loop behind for suspension.”

The figure measures 37 x 10mm and sold for a hammer price of £3,000 – double the estimate.