Sale: Triton IX, Lot: 1876. Estimate $400.  Closing Date: Monday, 9 January 2006.  Sold For $400. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

DENMARK. Sven Estridsen. 1047-1075. AR Pennig (0.94 g, 12h). Lund mint, Wulfet, moneyer. [SV]II I II, angel standing right, handing banner to king standing left / +VL(ligate)I-NE: CTO.IIIC, voided long cross with triple crescent ends; lunettes in second and third quarters. Hauberg 8 var. (legends); Hauberg (Hede) 837; cf. DNM 57/2. VF, iridescent toning, typical wavy flan. ($400)

Sven was a son of Estrid, a sister of Canute the Great, who was king of Denmark 1018-1035. When Magnus the Good died without an heir, Sven claimed the throne based on his lineage. His claim was contested by Harald Hardrada, who inherited the Norwegian throne (or the remainder of it) from Magnus, who ruled both countries. Both had been allies in rebellion against Magnus, but the compromise forged between Harald and Magnus turned Sven's friendship into enmity. Hostilities between the two lasted until a peace was forged in 1063, with both ruling their own countries. In 1069 Sven invaded England and unsuccessfully attempted to oust William I from the throne. The conflict was supported by Prince Edgar the Aetheling (the Anglo-Saxon king Aethelred's great-grandson), who, along with other Anglo-Saxons, had lobbied Sven to claim the throne based on his lineage to Canute the Great, who had ruled in Britain. A peace treaty was eventually signed in 1070 giving Sven control of Denmark. Sven's rule greatly strengthened the Danish monarchy, as well as the Christian church in Denmark.

This intriguing coin is based upon an earlier issue of Sven's with a reverse type of Christ seated facing on a throne (Hauberg 7). That coin was an assimilation of the types from a Byzantine gold coin (SB 1826 [Michael V]) of which only five examples are known. The Byzantine coin was issued by the emperor Michael IV from the mint of Thessalonica following, and in honor of, his successful campaign against the Bulgarians, who had revolted. The Norwegian Harald Hardrada took part in the campaign, as leader of the Verangian Guard, and likely received some of these gold coins and brought them home when he returned to Scandanavia in 1045. Upon his return, we know that he gave half his treasure to Magnus (the Good), who ruled over Denmark prior to Estridsen. Regardless of the exact method of transfer, one of these gold coins certainly served as a model for the silver penningen engraved by Estridsen's moneyer Wulfet at the mint of Lund, around the beginning of his Estridsen's reign. This pennig's types inspired further issues whose obverse type copied either the obverse or reverse of the original coin, and a reverse type adopting the ubiquitous Anglo-Saxon long cross type. The present coin, copying the reverse type, must have been issued shortly after the prototype, as the moneyer is the same Wulfet, and the type and legends have not degraded. For a detailed analysis of these remarkable coins, see M.F. Hendy, "Michael IV and Harald Hardrada," NC 1970, pp. 187-97. Hendy notes that these issues may have been produced during the alliance between Estridsen and Hardrada, when the former was disputing the throne of Denmark with Magnus. See also J.S. Jensen, ed., Tusindtallets Danske Mønter fra Den kongelige Mønt – og Medaillesamling (Danish coins from the 11th century in The Royal Collection of Coins and Medals), Nationalmuseet (Copenhagen, 1995), pp. 80-1.