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Auction: 25360 - The 360th Anniversary Sale
Lot: 4

'PAXS' TYPE PENNY OF HAROLD II, FROM THE BRAINTREE HOARD

Harold II Godwinesson (5 January - 14 October 1066), 'PAX' Type with Sceptre, Penny, 1066, London, Swetman, + HAROLD REX ANGL, crowned head left, beard of two rows of small pellets, in front a sceptre tipped with a quatrefoil of pellets and a further pellet at bottom and middle of sceptre shaft, rev. + SVETMAN ON LVN, commencing at 3 o'clock, across field and between two pelleted lines, PAX, within beaded inner circle, 1.27g [19.60grns], 6h (SCBI 2 [Hunterian], 1200; SCBI 9 [Ashmolean, Part I], 1100; SCBI 18 [Copenhagen, Part IV], 1296; SCBI 48 [Northern], 1083; EMC 2013.0231, 2015.0128; North 836; BMC I; S.1186).
Gently bowed, light patina characteristic of hoard over fresh metal, good very fine.

As the Bayeux Tapestry is shortly to come to England, there has been much conversation and a recent BBC drama about both Harold and William and the Battle of Hastings. There are few dates in English history that resonate as strongly as 1066, perhaps 1805 and Nelson (covered elsewhere in this sale). It is difficult to own any object that relates to both these monarchs and to the Norman Conquest of England, these coins are one way to hold contemporary 11th century, 1066 and all that history in your hand.

It is believed that the Braintree Hoard was concealed around the year 1066, no more than five years after almost all of its coins were struck. Although the act of burying it may not have been directly linked to that turbulent year, its permanent loss probably was.

The finders, initially unearthed a small silver coin just four inches down, followed by several more nearby. That same evening, they realised the pieces were rare issues from the reign of Harold II. Over the following days, patient searching revealed about seventy more coins, and in 2020, a similar sweep produced another seventy.

Altogether, 144 coins emerged from the soil, representing the final two Anglo-Saxon kings - Edward the Confessor and Harold II Godwinsson. These coins had been struck in mints across England, from major centres like London, Cambridge, and Canterbury to smaller and rarer sites including Sudbury in Suffolk and Bridport in Dorset.



Provenance

Noonans, Auction 290, 21 February 2024, lot 1071*

Braintree Hoard (Essex, February 2019)

~ Recorded with the British Museum (ref. PAS-YORYM-B9AB51) ~


This is the only coin struck at London from the moneyer Swetman found in the hoard.


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Estimate
£4,000 to £6,000

Starting price
£4000