England (997-1003) penny S-1151
This specimen was lot 1656 in Künker Auction 425 (Osnabrück, July 2025), where it sold for €320 (about US$453 including buyers' fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"EUROPÄISCHE MÜNZEN UND MEDAILLEN · ENGLAND, Aethelred II, 978-1016. Penny, ca. 997-1003, Lincoln. Long cross penny. Münzmeister ELFSIC (Ælfsige). Brustbild l.//Langes Doppelfadenkreuz mit Halbmonden an den Enden. Vorzüglich. (kingdom of England, Aethelred II, 978-1016, penny, circa 997-1003, Lincoln mint.)"
The reign of Aethelred II, nicknamed "the Unready", saw the use of several designs of the silver penny as the moneyers tried to stay ahead of the counterfeiters. This one is called the "Long cross type" because of the long cross on the reverse, designed to discourage clipping.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 1.76 g, silver, 21 mm diameter, this specimen 1,63 g.
Catalog reference: North 774; Seaby 1151.
- Lobel, Richard, Mark Davidson, Allan Hailstone and Eleni Calligas, Coincraft's Standard Catalogue of English and UK Coins, 1066 to Date, London: Coincraft, 1995.
- Skingley, Philip, ed., Standard Catalogue of British Coins: Coins of England & the United Kingdom, 46th edition, London: Spink & Son, 2011.
- [1]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Katalog 425: Gold coins from the Medieval and Modern Times, from the Mohr family collection, e.g. | Silver coins, e.g. highlights of medallic art | German coins after 1871, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2025.
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