Early Medieval English Coins from the Collection of William MacKay

Early Anglo-Saxon Period, Sceatta, Secondary Series S, type 47, c. 710-60, Centauress standing left, with prominent anatomical features, holding two large palm fronds, rev. whorl of four wolf-headed serpents, their drooping tongues meeting at a central point to form a cruciform pattern, 1.09g (SCBI Abramson 770ff; N 121; S 814). Almost invisible striking crack, otherwise good very fine, grey tone £300-£400

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, Early Medieval English Coins from the Collection of William MacKay.

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Found in Essex in 2004 (EMC 2004.0115)

The image on the obverse of this coin has been variously interpreted. Traditionally, the figure was seen as a Sphinx, but in an article appearing in the 1985 volume of the British Numismatic Journal, Professor Morehart made a strong case for the figure to be a winged centaur; a line that was subsequently followed by Michael Metcalf and Tony Abramson. Anna Gannon has suggested that the figure might be better read as a centaur carrying palm branches, an attribute with strong precedents in early Christian iconography.