PREV ARTICLE
NEXT ARTICLE
FULL ISSUE
PREV FULL ISSUE
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
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:
The coin is offered as Lot 567 in DNW's sale. Here's the full image and lot description. -Editor
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
To read the complete lot description, see:
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
THE BOOK BAZARREWayne Homren, Editor The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org. To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All Rights Reserved. NBS Home Page Contact the NBS webmaster 
|
