Nap

See SCBI 67 by the late Stewart Lyon for an in-depth discussion. It is very likely that there were no coins issued for the possible “Aelfwald II”. The coins are probably more appropriately assigned to Aelfwald I, though it is not 100% clear. There are moneyer coins of Aelfwald by the moneyers Cutheard and Cuthgils. Cuthgils likely belongs with Aelfwald I as it shares similarity with coins of Aethelred I. Coins of Aelfwald by Cutheard could be from Aelfwald I or II and it’s known that Cutheard coined for Eanred, so there remains a possibility that the Aelfwald/Cutheard coins can be assigned to Aelfwald II.

Pirie’s cataloging is confusing but the book is still worth picking up. My approach is to put the moneyers in the following classes- 1st reign: Alghere, Brother, Coenred, Cynemund, Eanred, Forthred, Hunlaf, Leofthegn, Odilo, Wendelberht, Wihtred, Wulfred 2nd reign: Eanwulf, Eardwulf, Wulfsige I am not sure where to put Monne since he coined for Eanred, Aethelred, Redwulf, and Osberht- a remarkably long career and probably one which spanned both of Aethelred’s reigns. I base this less on die links which can sometimes be haphazard and chaotic. The moneyers Brother, Forthred, Odilo, Wihtred, and Wulfre also coined for Eanred, so they should have been active in Aethelred’s 1st reign. The moneyers Eanwulf and Wulfsige coined for Osberht so they fall into the latter reign. Of the others, it seems Leofthegn was the dominant moneyer in the first reign and Eardwulf in the second. The usurpation or Redwulf and attacks by the Vikings may have decreased the need for moneyers. It is not clear that any of the guys who coined for Redwulf (other than Monne) continued to work for Aethelred during his second reign. Wulfred is also a difficult case as there is an episcopal moneyer named Wulfred who coined for Wulfhere, it’s not clear this was the same person who was coining for Eanred and Aethelred. I believe in his landmark paper from years ago, Hugh Pagan suggested a ‘Monne A’ and ‘Monne B’, and ‘Wulfred A’ and ‘Wulfred B’

William the Lion Scottish cut halfpenny

Thanks!

Ceolwulf I was reasonable and I regret not bidding on it. Remarkable provenance.

Northumbrian coins can be linked to other Saxon coins as well, as well as other coins of the contemporary 8th-9th century. Here is a coin of Aethelred II of Northumbria by the moneyer Leofthegn, featuring a hound, compared with a series K sceat of Kent from nearly 100 years before. The "hound" creature is very similar on the two coins.

Interesting, this looks like a brand new type. And a large hoard to boot

Williams IV was weaker than the other portions of the sales. Less interest in the specialty collection probably led to less interest in the main auction.

All the Harolds. This issue seemed to be getting "less rare" even without this hoard (yes I know they were never that rare to begin with). I guess in retrospect it was fortuitous to have not purchased a Harold II penny yet. Even if this hoard goes to a museum in entirety, the knowledge that there are so many floating around will surely impact the prices. Well maybe it will.