Help Identifying A couple of Coins

[Guest saintdaz]

Hello all,

any help Identifying these two coins would be very helpfull.

Thanks in advance.

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[Sylvester 56]

Could you possibly make the pictures bigger? Or better still make out the letters/legends and type them out, (if possible i know it's not always easy). The coins look Anglo-Saxon, one looks to be Aethelred? it's difficult to tell though. (Plus i'm not a specialist on hammered coins). If you can get a bigger picture i'll have more of an idea, i will have to go and consult a coin book on this one. I presume they are both pennies. (I'll get back to you on this...if someone doesn't beat me to it).

Chris might be able to tell you more though.

Sylvester.

[Guest saintdaz]

Thanks Sylvester.

These are a little clearer of one of the coins, i will try to get some better pictures up.

Any idea of value anyone ?

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[Sylvester 56]

Right...lets see;

Since you've got the coin at hand, it's a bit hard for me to tell, but does the lettering on the Obverse (front, portrait side showing the king) read something along the lines of this, starting at the bottom left of your coin;

+ C O E N V V L F R E X

If so then from what i can tell from my coin book (it's very complicated, lots of different varieties many of them not illustrated, and so many kings with the same name etc...) that your coin is of Coenwulf of Mercia (796-821), and is an Anglo-Saxon penny...that's if it is indeed British.

With regards to the reverse well i can't find one that matches, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist, as the last line in my book for Coenwulf just states; 'R. (stands for reverse/back) various types from...[then gives some prices]).

As for a price on this coin it is very difficult to quote a price on it as i don't know whether the coin is genuine or not, i'm not an expert by any means on this period of coins, and there are so many varieties. But to give you a clue of the value, and this is a rough clue if the coin is from the period it appears to be from, and is a British coin even! then the rough price would be £250 upwards. And my catalogue is dated 1993 so expect the price to have changed a bit.

Sylvester.

My advice to you is to get a coin dealer to examine it, as they will know much more than i do about it, especially one that specialises in hammered coins

Now i've just got to identify the other one 'Possibly Aethelred' did i say? i'll get back to you on that one.

[Chris Perkins 228]

Thanks Sylvester, for handling this one, I get such precious little free time at the moment, and am also not an expert in that period.

saintdaz, don't get your hopes up with values because like Sylvester says they need to be confirmed as genuine and the prices quoted from Sylvesters book are dealers selling prices too, not buying prices.

Good luck,

Chris

www.predecimal.com