Sale: CNG 75, Lot: 1349. Estimate $300.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 23 May 2007.  Sold For $300. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ANGLO-SAXON, Primary Sceattas. Circa 680-710. AR Sceat (1.16 g, 12h). Series BI, type 27b. Mint in Essex or East Anglia. Diademed head right within serpent-circle / Dove standing right on cross pattée; annulets flanking; all within serpent-circle. Beowulf 7 (this coin); Abramson B210; Metcalf 105; North 126; SCBC 777. Good VF, lightly toned.

From the Beowulf Collection.

This piece is unusual in that the annulets that are typically at the bottom of the obverse and reverse are not present. The serpent-circle device on the obverses of some Series B and J sceattas was indicative of the magical protective circle that served an apotropaic function (Gannon p. 36). Regarding the reverse, there are multiple varieties of types depicting birds and crosses, all reflecting Christian iconography: the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, and the cross. The diverse array of prototypes, both from numismatics and elsewhere, account for the many variations in their style and presentation (Gannon, pp. 107-112).