Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
Sceat Series BI
| Issuer | Early Anglo-Saxon |
|---|---|
| Year | 680-710 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Hammered |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Diademed bust facing right, rendered in the debased late antique style characteristic of early Anglo-Saxon coinage, enclosed within a beaded inner circle formed by a serpentine or snake motif. The portrait displays a stylised diadem and boldly raised facial features typical of Series BI sceattas. The field is plain and uninscribed. The outer border consists of a raised beaded or pellet ring. The overall treatment reflects the hand-struck, irregular flan quality inherent to hammered coinage of this period. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | [uninscribed] |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Series BI belongs to the so-called "primary" phase of sceatta production, issued before the debasement that progressively degraded silver content through the eighth century. Metcalf's numbering across references 100–116 reflects genuine die-link groupings rather than arbitrary classification — the series shows enough internal consistency to suggest centralized or at least coordinated production, most likely in the southeast of England, possibly Kent.
At 1.16g, this piece sits at the lower end of the expected primary phase weight range, which ran roughly 1.1–1.3g before the standard began to collapse after c. 710.