Sale: CNG 69, Lot: 2124. Estimate $10000.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 8 June 2005.  Sold For $12500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

NORMAN. Henry, Earl of Northumberland, son of David I of Scotland. 1139-1152. AR Penny (1.18 gm, 10h). Corebridge mint; (H)erebald, moneyer. +hENRICVS •[F RE?], crowned bust right, sceptre before / +EREBALD: ON [C]OREB:, cross moline with fleur in each angle within tressure. Mack, "Stephen and the Anarchy 1135-1154," BNJ XXXV (1966), 283 (same obverse die); Boon 12; SCBI 48 (Northern Museums), 1360; North 912; SCBC 1309. Good VF, creased flan, dark toning. Extremely rare coin of the Anarchy. ($10,000)

When Henry I died in 1135 he desired his daughter Matilda (or Maud), married to the Holy Roman Emperor Henry V, to succeed him. But Henry's nephew Stephen of Blois, Count of Boulogne, was the quickest to react to news of the king's death and crossed the Channel to claim the throne. Matilda rallied her own supporters and landed in England in 1139, sparking a 15 year civil war, the Period of Anarchy. During this period many of the contesting nobles struck coins in their own names. Matilda's uncle, king David of Scotland, invaded northern England in her support, but was defeated by Stephen at the 'Battle of the Standard" in 1138. To avert further hostilities, Stephen agreed to name David's son Henry Earl of Northumberland, and left the north under nominal Scottish control. Stephen was captured in 1141, but his supporters continued the conflict. In 1153 when Eustace, Stephen's son and heir designate, died, the two sides reached an agreement to end the conflict. Stephen would retain his kingdom for life and in return adopt Matilda's son, Henry Plantagenet, as the new heir.