PREVIEW: THE BRAINTREE HOARD OF LATE ANGLO-SAXON PENNIES: 21 FEBRUARY

No chapter of Anglo-Saxon history is as well known as the final one: the successful repelling of Viking invaders in the North of England by Harold II (Godwinsson) followed by his final defeat at Hastings in October 1066.

So began 1,000 years of monarchy that continues to this day, beginning with William I, The Conqueror, Duke of Normandy.

 

Now, the Braintree Hoard, found near the Essex town in the summer of 2019 by two metal detectorists and processed under the terms of the 1996 Treasure Act, presents us with an intriguing archive of information relating to coinage of the period.

Colchester Museum and the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge elected to purchase 16 coins between them from the hoard, including two 11th century Byzantine coins. In late 2023 the balance was disclaimed and returned to the finders.

Out of a total find of 144 coins, Noonans offer 122 here, with only a small handful of coins being retained by the owners.

Their first characteristic of note is that the Pennies were struck under the last two Anglo-Saxon kings of England, Edward the Confessor and Harold II Godwinsson, and the hoard was buried during the course of the year 1066 – within five years of all bar two of the coins being minted.

The hoard contains a preponderance of coins minted within East Anglia and Essex, suggesting that the hoard’s owner was a local man.

Late Anglo-Saxon currency was changed every few years, with all previously circulated coins being withdrawn and reminted. This explains why hoards from this period typically comprise only a single type, or two chronologically adjacent types.

The Braintree Hoard is different, being strong in Edward the Confessor’s penultimate issue and the coinage of Harold II, but having few coins from the intervening Pyramids type. This might be the result of the owner building a ‘savings pot’ over time and keeping it hidden rather than the hoard being an emergency burial in a time of crisis.

"While the deposition of the Braintree Hoard might not relate directly to the events of 1066, the fact that it was never recovered surely did," said Noonans' specialists Bradley Hopper. "Twelve shillings was a considerable sum of money and its retrieval must have been prevented by some great personal misfortune; we cannot say with any certainty whether or not the Braintree hoard’s owner died fighting at Hastings, but it is a tantalising possibility."

The hoard also offers a cross section of coinage from several important mints of the period, including great rarities from Bridport and Cambridge.

It offers an excessively rare pair of die-duplicate Harold II Pennies from the Guildford moneyer Leofwold as well, and a single specimen from the Hastings mint, whose surviving output for the period is extremely rare. The Hastings coin offered here is only the second to appear at public auction in the last 40 years. The other, sold through these rooms, achieved a hammer price of £20,000.

Other featured add significantly to knowledge of the Suffolk mint of Sudbury, and the hoard also offers an excessively rare pair of die-duplicate Harold II Pennies from the Worcester moneyer Viking. Although he struck throughout most of the last six or seven issues of Edward the Confessor, none of his coins survive in quantity.

"We are particularly fortunate that the following catalogue contains not only the rarest and most academically interesting English coins from the Braintree Hoard, but also those pieces in the finest state of preservation," said Bradley Hopper.