“Simon made me”

281, Lot: 598. Estimate $750. Sold for $950. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ANGLO-SAXON, Anglo-Viking (Danish Northumbria). Imitations of Alfred the Great. Circa 885-915. AR Penny (19mm, 1.17 g, 10h). Imitating the two-line (‘Guthrim’) type. Simon, moneyer. EL FR ED REX, small cross pattée within circle / SIHVN/ HE FEC; trefoils flanking, pellet at center, suspension mark over VN. SCBI 1 (Fitzwilliam) 556; BMC 370; MEC 1, 1367; North 475/1; SCBC 966. Near EF, toned, broken in two and repaired without loss of metal.

In 865/6, Viking invaders arrived in force and rapidly seized East Anglia and Northumbria. Supplemented by additional reinforcements in 872, the conquerors soon directly controlled all of England save Mercia and Wessex. Yet while Mercia maintained its autonomy by virtue of collaboration, Wessex remained free only by the staunch defense led by King Alfred. Still the invaders did not rest; continual attempts by Guthrum, the ruler of the Danelaw, to expand his territory marred the era with broken treaties and surprise attacks. Alfred eventually gained the upper hand and reversed the flow of the incursions, with the English advancing into territory held by the Danelaw. Saxon control was at last restored over all of England with the conquest of Northumbria in 927 under Æthelstan.

Much was the atmosphere in which the early coins of the Danelaw were struck. As in most areas they controlled, the Vikings initially struck coinage in direct imitation of others, only later naming their own rulers or developing unique types. These earliest, anonymous issues of Guthrim are derived primarily from the two-line inscription type of Alfred. This series is distinguished from official Wessex issues by a lower weight, a distinct style, and frequent misspellings. The moneyer Simon is believed to have operated solely in the southern Danelaw (Blackburn, “The Ashdon Hoard,” BNJ 58, p. 29) and used the uncommon Latin formula, Simun me fec(it) (“Simon made me”).