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Sceat Porcupine, stepped cross - Series E, type 53
| Issuer | Frisia |
|---|---|
| Year | 695-715 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Hammered |
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| Obverse description | Stylised porcupine motif rendered in the degenerate Frisian manner, facing right, composed of multiple parallel lines and pellets representing the creature's distinctive quills across the upper field. A large curved arc divides the design, with additional pellets and linear elements filling the lower field. A small annulet or crescent device appears at the base of the design. The entire composition is executed in a highly abstract, non-naturalistic style characteristic of Series E sceattas, with no legend or inscription present. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Series E sceattas were struck in enormous volume across Frisian trading ports — particularly Dorestad, which by the early eighth century had become the dominant commercial hub of the North Sea economy. The "porcupine" types circulated so heavily through these markets that they turn up archaeologically from England to the Rhine delta in quantities that dwarf most contemporary issues. Type 53 with the stepped cross is one of the more precisely die-linked subtypes within the sprawling Series E family, a classification effort largely advanced by Tony Abramson and Stuart Rigold's foundational work on sceatta typology.
These were produced without royal authority in any conventional sense — no named ruler, no mint signature.