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Auction: 21000 - The Tony Abramson Collection of Dark Age Coinage - Part I (conducted behind closed doors)
Lot: 1

Frisia (c. 620), AV Bracteate, facing head with large moustache, rev. alternating linear and beaded circles with outer chevron circle, 1.82g, 30mm. (SCBI 69, -; cf. Gannon, Fig. 2.49bii), extremely fine

provenance
Spink, 21 July 2015
~ Found near Grantham (Lincolnshire) ~


Bracteates are thin sheets of metal foil pressed over a relief mould to receive an image - in essence like the wrapping on a chocolate coin. As in the case of this particularly fine example, it has been subsequently fitted with a suspension loop and used as a single-sided pendant.

The central image depicts a facing head with large pellet eyes, a prominent forehead and outlandish moustache. Hair is suggested by a halo of pellets, above which is found a protective canopy formed by a snake. This central motif, as typically found, is surrounded by concentric frames variously decorated to provide an eye-catching and glittering setting. The present example shows an alternating pattern of beaded and linear circles, with a final peripharl ring of chevrons.
From prehistory, the depiction of a facing head is closely associated with deities, firstly in the Pagan tradition, and subsequently with Christ. Because of these auspicious connections to the pre-eminent religions of Dark Age Europe, facing heads are often found on early medieval coinage circulating in the North Sea area. Although Bracteates are predominantly Scandinavian in origin, several examples have been recovered from secure Anglo-Saxon contexts within England, highly indicative of manufacture in the British isles too.

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Estimate
£5,000 to £5,500

Starting price
£5000