Series U, type 23c -

Anglo-Saxon England, Secondary Series (710-760), Sceat, Series U, type 23c, female figure forward, standing in crescent boat which almost encircles figure, long hair curled to each side, deep eyes, holding long cross pommée either side, feet splayed, tiny bird or animal, sharp beaked to left, wide-jawed to right, linear border, rev. disjointed linear long-necked bird right in foliage, pecking berries or 'attacking a snake', wing raised, segmented body, feet splayed, 1.11g, 0° (SL 45- 60 plate coin; Abramson, 2012b, plate; SCBI 69, 795 this coin; cf. William L. Subjack, Vecchi 11, 5 June 1998, lot 86; T&S pp. 568-9, 452; Gannon 66, 87, 89, 91, no. 86 and 88, 93, 117-19, 138, no. 217, 141, 185, and Figs. 3.10a; 3.14, 3.18a, 4.13, 4.49a; MEC 8 Series Ub; North 83; Spink 816 plate coin),

Images and selected text reproduced by kind permission of Spink and Son Ltd, London, auction 21000, The Tony Abramson Collection of Dark Age Coinage - Part I, March 18th 2021, lot #204. Provenance: Beowulf, CNG 75, 23 May 2007, lot 1397 M Vosper, March 1998.

An outstanding specimen of this iconic variety. The standard bearer in the crescent boat implies peregrination or a missionary on an evangelical quest. The tiny creatures either side of the head suggest this is the work of a skilled engraver.