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Sceat Animal mask type
| Issuer | Early Anglo-Saxon (Kingdoms of British Isles and Frisia) |
|---|---|
| Year | 710-760 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A stylised bird depicted in profile, facing left, with wings outstretched and tail feathers rendered as radiating linear strokes forming a star-like base. The bird's body is shown in a schematic, angular manner characteristic of the Series J sceat tradition. A horizontal line or bar extends to the right from the bird's body, terminating in a cluster of pellets, likely a vestigial standard or sceptre motif. The design is enclosed within a single border of large, evenly spaced beaded pellets. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
The "animal mask" sceattas belong to Series X, one of the more widely distributed secondary sceattas, with finds concentrated in Kent and the Thames estuary but scattered as far north as Yorkshire and across into Frisian trading settlements on the Continent. Their distribution pattern tracks directly onto known emporia — Lundenwic, Ipswich, Dorestad — suggesting these were coins of commerce rather than royal tribute. Whether they were struck in Kent, Frisia, or both remains genuinely unresolved; die-linkage studies have produced no consensus.
Sp#829 specifically sits within a type notorious for irregular flans and off-center strikes, a product of the period's hand-hammered sceat production rather than any single mint's carelessness.