Description
Aethelred II (978-1016), Penny, Crux type (c.991-997), Lympne mint, moneyer Leofric, bare headed bust left, in front trefoil tipped sceptre, legend surrounds +ÆĐELRÆD REX ΛNGLORX, ORX ligatured. Rev, short cross voided with CRVX letters in angles, reading +LEOFRIC M-O LIMNA, 1.58g (S.1148; N.770; BMC III; SCBI 30 [American], 420). Dark tone, few peck marks each side, moneyer mint signature legible with a proficient portrait. Only a handful appearing at auction in the past two decades, our example being one of the stronger ones, free from surface cracks, nicks or crimping. Good very fine and a very rare mint with a distinguished provenance in Taffs.
Ex. H. W. Taffs, Glendining, 21st November 1956, lot 79.
Ex. Spink Coin Auction, 25th September 2018, lot 1581.
The Kentish Mint of Lympne three miles to the west of the town of Hythe, in operation from the reign of Aethelstan until Canute, with the Danes arriving in 893. A die link exists with Canterbury for Aethelred II. Widely acknowledged as one of the rarer mint towns and as such essential for the discerning mint town collector, especially appealing for anyone with a predilection for Kentish geographical regions. In more cases than others Lympne can be seen in Aethelred II’s Crux and Long cross types, also on Canute’s Pointed Helmet type; to a far lesser extent in Edward the Martyr’s Sole type Penny and in the First and Second hand types of Aethelred II. Taffs is considered a solid mid-century provenance, even at the time with stricter standards in place and arguably access to consistently strong and scarcer material than today, the coin is recorded as hailing from a ‘very rare mint’ in the cataloguing entry.