An Intriguing Sceat

210, Lot: 473. Estimate $500. Sold for $1100. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ANGLO-SAXON, Kings of Northumbria. Eadberht. 737-758. AR Sceat (13mm, 1.15 g, 2h). Possibly a contemporary imitation of a York mint Class G (Pirie regal group Aii) issue. •EOTBEREhTVΓ, cross pattée / Heraldic creature standing right, raising foreleg; pellet-in-annulet above and before. Booth, Sceattas G var. (four roundels on rev.); Pirie, Guide 2.1c var. (same); cf. North 177; cf. SCBC 847. EF, toned. Lot includes a copy of a letter from Dr. Mark Blackburn, Keeper of Coins and Medals at The Fitzwilliam Museum, discussing the coin.

This coin is closest to Booth’s Class G, but only features two pellet-in-annulets on the reverse as opposed to four. This, along with the slightly differing form of the cross and letters on the obverse, may point to this being an unofficial issue.