Anglo Saxon hoard sells for £90,000 at Dix Noonan Webb

The provisional estimate for the hoard was £30,000-£50,000.

The coins came from several different mints and among the highest prices was an extremely rare small cross mule from the reign of Æthelred II (978-1016), from a London mint which sold to a European Collector for £13,640* against an estimate of £800-1,000 [Lot 61].

The hoard included two rare mints - Melton Mowbray and a previously unrecorded mint in Louth, which is in Lincolnshire. The coin from Melton Mowbray fetched £8,400 – it had been expected to fetch £3,00-4,000 [Lot 36], while the coins from Louth, which had both been estimated to fetch £4,00-5,000 sold for £10,540 to an English Collector and £6,820 to an International Dealer respectively [Lots 33 and 34].

Louth had been a “Burh” or fortified settlement in the 10th century with a church containing the remains of St Herefrith. It is thought that the hoard appears to have been buried by a pilgrim who was making penitence worried about the impending apocalypse of the Millennium.

The find

Speaking of his find, Don said:

'It was my first visit to this farmers land in Suffolk. After walking up an incline in the field, my Deus detector gave off a strong signal and within a short space of time I had recovered 93 coins. The Finds Liaison Officer was called in and they investigated the site which turned out to be a long-forgotten Saxon church which had been dismantled by the Normans in the 11th century. Excavating around they uncovered the remains of human bones and I found another six coins!'

For more details on auction house Dix Noonan Webb visit the website.

*Prices include 24% buyers premium

(report and images courtesy of Dix Noonan Webb)