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Auction: 11009 - Ancient, English & Foreign Coins& Com Medals
Lot: 619

Stephen, unlisted Southern group, c.1140-45, Penny, 1.18g, uncertain mint and moneyer, defaced obverse die, traces of crowned bust right, sceptre before with no inner circle, bust erased and defaced with two large cross pommée one above and one below linked with a bar, [..]fne, rev. +[.?h]eli[..].on:[?r..]od, local dies, cross moline with a large fleur in each angle (N. -; S.-), light crack by edge on reverse, good fine, an extremely rare and unlisted defaced issue known for only one other specimen Estimate £ 1,500-2,000 provenance Found Arundel, West Sussex, 2011 Recorded with the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, EMC 2011-0097 Stephen pennies struck from defaced or erased dies are normally associated with the East Midlands and those with cross defacements predominantly with the Nottingham mint. This coin differs in some ways from this group in that the image of the king has been deliberately erased from the die and then defaced with two crosses, one above and one below the bust, linked by a bar . The find location and the existence of one other example in a private collection with this format attributed to the Chichester mint, indicates these coins belong to a previously unlisted second group of defaced pennies from the Sussex area. This group is an addition to that already well known from the East Midlands. The reason for the erasure would seems to be political as these coins date from the early 1140s during the most troubled time of the Civil War between Stephen and the Empress Matilda´s Angevin party. This conflict scarred Stephen´s rule and led to his reign be famously described by a contemporary chronicler as ´nineteen long winters.´

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