Harold II (1066), PAX type with Sceptre [BMC I; N 836; S 1186], Penny, Bridport, Hwæteman, Gp B, +harold rex a, rev. +patemon on brvd, 1.30g/6h (Bt 37, this coin; Pagan, NM p.186 [one example noted, same dies]; BMC –). Gentle curve to flan, good very fine, light hoard patina; the mint excessively rare in this reign £3,000-£4,000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Braintree Hoard of Late Anglo-Saxon Pennies.

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Bridport was the location of only small-scale mint activity during the mid-eleventh century. The mint appears to have entered abeyance during the reign of Edward the Confessor, except for a short period when a few Small Flan Pennies were struck under Hwæteman. This moneyer, who shared his services between Bridport and the nearby mint at Dorchester, continued his occasional employment at the former throughout the reign of Harold and the early part of that of William; during this time he was Bridport’s sole moneyer. Coins of William struck at the mint of Bridport are very rare, and those of Harold extremely so; only a single specimen was known to Pagan while the Chew Valley hoard, otherwise strong in the coinage of Wessex, added only a single specimen.