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The E-Sylum: Volume 19, Number 22, May 29, 2016, Article 27

KING OFFA PENNY FOUND IN FIELD

You don't need to find a whole pot full of old coins to make some money - one coin will do if it's the right one. Here's the backstory behind the find of one rare Offa penny in the upcoming Dix Noonan Webb sale. -Editor

Offa penny A LUCKY treasure hunter, who is just months away from getting married, is set for a £5,000 windfall after he discovered a rare coin in a field near Stockbridge.

The soon-to-be bridegroom, who did not want to be named, uncovered the 1,200 year-old Anglo-Saxon penny while out and about with a metal detector.

The coin is said to be from the reign of the Mercian King Offa and is one of only two known survivors of its type.

Now the lucky 24-year-old builder, who gets married in July, could stand to gain a £5,000 pay-out from the discovery when it is auctioned in London on June 8.

The man, a builder who has been metal detecting since he was 13 years old, decided to search the field near Stockbridge.

He gained the consent of the landowner prior to the search and he will split half of the estimated £10,000 that the coin is expected to fetch at auction.

He added: “I had only been there a short time. About five minutes after I started I found a hammered coin and then two minutes later I discovered this one.

"I knew it was scarce because it had King Offa's name on it but I didn’t know how rare it was.”

Further research revealed that not only was the penny from the reign of Offa, who ruled the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia from 757 to 796, but it was made by the East Anglian moneyer Botred, whose coins for Offa are notably rare.

Only one other Offa penny by Botred is known to exist and that is in the collection of the British Museum and so will never be available to collectors.

Head of the coin department at Dix Noonan Webb, Christopher Webb said:“This is a truly remarkable find.

To read the complete article, see:
Saxon penny from the reign of Mercian King Offa in fields near Stockbridge (www.andoveradvertiser.co.uk/news/14511049.Lucky_builder_set_
for___5_000_pay_out_after_discovering_rare_coin_
in_a_field_near_Stockbridge/)

The coin is offered as Lot 567 in DNW's sale. Here's the full image and lot description. -Editor

Offa penny obverse reverse

BRITISH COINS, Kings of Mercia, Offa (757-96), Penny, Light coinage, East Anglia, Botred, offa rex between two lines, ornate plants above and below, rev. bo tr ed in runes around a linear triangle, four pellets in centre, lozenge containing pellet at each point, 1.19g/12h (Chick 161; Blunt 108; N 332; S 904). Bent, otherwise good very fine, the second known specimen and the only one available to commerce £8,000-10,000

Footnote
In far superior condition to the only other specimen (British Museum)

To read the complete lot description, see:
BRITISH COINS, Kings of Mercia, Offa (757-96), Penny, (www.dnw.co.uk/auctions/catalogue/lot.php?auction_id=434&lot_id=2046)

Former Asylum Editor E. Tomlinson Fort is a student of Anglo-Saxon coinage and a particular fan of the coinage of Offa. And so it is that in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, PA, lost among a sea of license plates bearing umpteen spelling variants on "Steelers" and "6 Super Bowls" is Tom's unique plate which reads, simply, "Offa Rex", and is no doubt a puzzlement to most of his fellow drivers. -Editor

Offa Rex license plate

THE BOOK BAZARRE

LIBERTY SEATED SILVER COINS: Q. David Bowers's massive new Guide Book of Liberty Seated Silver Coins will debut soon. 608 pages of full-color research covering 750+ coins in 7 denominations, including Gobrecht dollars and trade dollars. Reserve your copy for $29.95 at Whitman.com , or call 1-800-546-2995.


Wayne Homren, Editor

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To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com

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