Sale: CNG 70, Lot: 1253. Estimate $2000.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 21 September 2005.  Sold For $2400. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ANGLO-SAXON, Kings of All England. Cnut. 1016-1035. AR Penny (1.11 g, 12h). Helmet type, circa 1024-1030. Lincoln mint; Matathan Balluc, moneyer. Helmeted bust right; sceptre to right / +MATADAN BALLVC O LI, voided short cross, limbs united at base by two circles with pellet in center; broken annulet enclosing pellet in each angle. Mossop pl. XLVI, 9 = SCBI 14 (Copenhagen), 1751 (same dies); North 788; SCBC 1158 var. (bust right). EF, toned. Very rare moneyer on an extremely rare type. ($750)

Ex William J. Conte Collection (Triton VI, 14-15 January 2003), lot 1373.

The Irish name Matathan is found on the coins of Lincoln mint in two forms, Matathan and Matathan Balluc. V. Smart, "Osulf Thein and Others: Double Moneyers' Names on the Late Anglo-Saxon Coinage", Studies in Late Anglo-Saxon Coinage, pp. 437-453, noted alternative readings of the surname. If Balluc is Old Gaelic, as the forename, it is derived from balach, or "boy". This indicates there were father-and-son moneyers at Lincoln, both named Matathan, with the younger denoted by the added name Balluc.