Obverse:

HAROL[D R]EX ANG. Crowned bust l. with sceptre.

Reverse:

EDPIN[E] ON CANTI. PAX between two lines, across field.

Light bend otherwise good fine and rare. Just 3 examples known to Pagen and only 1 example listed on EMC/SCBI, which is from the same die pair - SCBI 21 Yorkshire - number 1105.

Ex 'Braintree' Hoard. Registered with the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) as ESS-1CFF0B (number 43).

The hoard was discovered by 2 detectorists in the Braintree area of Essex during the summer of 2019. It consisted of 145 coins of Edward the Confessor and Harold II, with the interesting addition of two stray Byzantine coins. The coins were found scattered over an area of approximately 30m2 of cultivated field, all within the top 4-5 inches of the plough soil.

There were a number of mints represented, including Colchester, Ipswich, Cambridge, Norwich, York, Sudbury and London. With the absence of coins of William I, it had a likely deposition date during the troubled times of 1066.

Published in:

Williams, G. & Wise, P (2024) 'The Braintree Hoard of Edward The Confessor, Harold II and Byzantine Coins', British Numismatic Journal, Volume 94, pg. 76, 82 - no 43 (This coin).

See also:

Pagan, Hugh E. (1990) ‘The coinage of Harold II’ in ‘Studies in Late Anglo Saxon Coinage. In memory of Bror Emil Hildebrand’, Jonsson, Kenneth Stockholm. pg. 177-205