RARE 9TH CENTURY PENNY DISCOVERED IN LEWES (EAST SUSSEX) IS INCLUDED IN NOONANS’ SALE OF BRITISH COINS

It was on the 5th September 2021, when a metal detectorist discovered a rare 9th century penny from the reign of Beornwulf, who was King of Mercia between 823-26. He was conducting an ongoing survey along with two volunteers near Lewes in East Sussex and it is one of only nine recorded with a beaded inner circle on the reverse. It is expected to fetch £6,000-8,000 in a sale of British Coins at Noonans Mayfair on Thursday, June 27, 2024.

As the finder recalled: “It was a lovely Sunday morning, and we were searching in a stubble field as part of a project that I have been working on for 20 years surveying the local landscape. In the past I had discovered Saxon pottery fragments in that area and after systematically searching the area with my Minelab E-trac detector, we had no results, so moved along 100 yards. I promptly got a positive signal, dug down 7 inches and saw a silver disc, which I recognised as a Saxon coin.”

As Bradley Hopper, Coin Specialist at Noonans explained: “The coin of the Mercian King Beornwulf who ruled from 823-826 has a portrait of the King on the obverse with a cross crosslet on the reverse. It was struck in East Anglia by the moneyer Eadnoth whose name also appears in the reverse legend.”

Beornwulf was a Mercian nobleman who deposed the previous Mercian ruler Ceolwulf. During his three years as King, he rebuilt the Abbey of St Peter which had been founded around 679 AD, it was again rebuilt after a fire in 1089 and became Gloucester cathedral. In 825 Beornwulf lost one of the most decisive battles in English history by the West Saxon King Egbert at Ellandun in Wiltshire. This defeat resulted in the collapse of Mercian supremacy. Later that same year Beornwulf was killed during an East Anglian rebellion.

The Finder will be splitting the proceeds from the sale with the landowner.

Also included in the sale will be 17 gold hammered coins dating from Henry VII to the Commonwealth era. All the coins have been part of the famous Samuel Birchall Collection (1761-1814) for over 200 years. Among the highlights is a very fine example of a second period half sovereign from the reign of Edward VI (1547-1553) which is estimated at £4,000-5,000 [lot 354].

Elsewhere, a crown from the reign of Charles I (1625-1649) and produced at the Tower mint (under Parliament), carries an estimate of £4,000-£5,000 [lot 394] and also from the reign of Charles I is a group of 15 silver counters showing the King wearing a ruff and ornate tunic. They are also estimated at £4,000-£5,000 [lot 398].