Sale: CNG 75, Lot: 1429. Estimate $750.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 23 May 2007.  Sold For $750. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ANGLO-SAXON, Secondary Sceattas. Circa 730-740. AR Sceat (1.21 g). Series S, type 47. Mint in Essex. Female centaur standing left, holding palm fronds / Four wolves’ heads in counterclockwise circle, tongues forming whorl. Beowulf 96 (this coin); Abramson S100 var. (rev. type clockwise); Metcalf p. 540; North 121; SCBC 831. EF, lightly toned, obverse a little off center.

From the Beowulf Collection.

Originally regarded by Christians as ‘representations of the figure of devils’, centaurs eventually were assimilated into Christianity as worthy creatures, possibly through such descriptions as the good centaurs hoping in Christ’s salvation encountered by Antony in the desert (Gannon, pp. 153-154). Regarding the reverse, like coiled serpent-like creatures, whorl-like creatures were also a common protective motif in pre-Christian artwork. This symbol was likewise assimilated into Christianity, possibly as an allusion to Christ’s Resurrection, but also possibly as a representation of the message of Psalm 34:8 -- “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Gannon, pp. 141-142).