Sale: CNG 60, Lot: 2338. Estimate $4000.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 22 May 2002.  Sold For $6750. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Stephen. 1135-1154. AR Penny (1.34 gm). York Group, 'Ornamented Series'. Flag type, circa late 1138-1139. R.P. Mack, "Stephen and the Anarchy 1135-1154," BNJ XXXV (1966), 217; North 919; Seaby 1313. Toned, good VF, well struck and of good metal. Very rare. ($4000)

According to Mack, "[the] object which replaces the sceptre in the King's right hand on the obverse of these coins has been variously described but the most likely explanation is that it represents in miniature the standard which was carried into battle at Northallerton in August 1138 when Stephen's army, raised by Archbishop Thurstan of York, defeated the Scots. The standard consisted of a heavy mast carrying the flags of St. Peter of York, St. John of Beverly and St. Wilifrith of Ripon, borne on a four-wheeled wagon and crowned with a silver pyx containing the Host."