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Research Coins: The Coin Shop

 

New Type for Tamworth
New Moneyer for Anglo-Saxon and Norman Series

978938. Sold For $7750

NORMAN. William II Rufus. 1087-1100. AR Penny (22mm, 1.26 g, 3h). Cross Pattée and Fleurée type (BMC iv). Tæmworth (Tamworth) mint; Nireworth, moneyer. Struck circa 1095-1098. + PILLELM RE+, crowned and draped facing bust, holding sword over shoulder / HIREPORÐ ON TIIM, cross pattée over cross fleurée in saltire. Danson –; SCBI –; BMC –; North 855; SCBC 1261. Good VF, lightly toned, slightly wavy flan. Of the highest rarity – Danson could find no examples of this issue from the Tamworth mint. Even the moneyer’s name is otherwise unattested for the whole of both the Anglo-Saxon and Norman series.


Tamworth, situated on the banks of the river Tame in Staffordshire, was a seat of the Mercian royal line from the 7th century. Sacked by the Vikings in the 870s the city was reoccupied and fortified by the Saxons in 913 under Aethelflead, Lady of the Mercians, the eldest daughter of Alfred the Great. The Normans constructed a huge motte and bailey castle there following their invasion, the remains of which stand to this day. A mint operated in Tamworth from the circumscription cross issue of Aethelstan and minting continued sporadically till the end the early Norman period. In his definitive study of the Anglo-Saxon and Norman mint at Tamworth made in 1969, E. W. Danson recorded only two moneyers striking two types for William II at this mint, with the majority of the known specimens are in museum collections. He could find no specimen for BMC type IV of William II and since this publication no other examples have been recorded. The moneyer Nireworth (or Hireworth) is apparently previously unattested in the entire Anglo-Saxon and Norman series.