Rare 1,250 year-old coin fetches £336 at auction

The Anglo-Saxon coin, known as a sceat, was struck between the years 710AD and 760AD and, although it was buried in the ground for more than 1,000 years, it is described as being in “extremely fine/very fine” condition according to London auctioneers Spink.
The firm has not revealed exactly where the coin was found and it has not named the finder, but it confirmed that the coin was found “by a detectorist near Newbury” in 2013.
It says the coin is extremely rare because the bust – the image of the head on the coin – is facing left, when on other sceats of this type the bust usually faces right.
Coins specialist at Spink Jon Mann said: “This is the first piece of this type with a bust facing left, although left-facing busts are known for other types.”
Mr Mann added: “This is an extremely rare piece in ‘as found’ condition, which will be of great interest to collectors of early Anglo-Saxon coinage.”
A sceat is a small, thick silver coin which was in everyday use across eastern and southern England in the early eighth century. The name ‘sceat’ derives from the Old English ‘sceatt’ meaning ‘wealth, money, coin’.
Before the auction on Monday, the Newbury sceat,which features an image of a wolf-headed serpent, had been expected to sell for between £300 and £500.
It was bought by a mystery bidder.
Fortunately the detectorist who found the coin did not clean it, which could have reduced its value according to Jon Mann. “Harsh cleaning of coins does reduce a coin’s value.The abrasiveness and extent of the cleaning will determine how much the value is affected.”