R 10 Wigraed Wigrd Classification

WIGRAED

WIGRD

R10 Wigræd / Wigrd Secondary Phase Sceatta

Obverse

The name on R10 Sceatta  “WIGRÆD” is considered to be the name of the moneyer. The first letter, the runic “W” looks like a pointed capital P, this character is sometimes seen written back-to-front. The runic “I” is like a capital I. The runic “G” looks like a capital X. The rune “R” looks like an R that is pointed. The next rune that looks like a capital F with downward sloping “horizontal” lines is the rune Æ. The last rune,  the “D” has two vertical lines joined with an X in the middle. On coins with a right facing head the runes are written clockwise from the top downwards. On coins with a left facing head are read anti-clockwise from the top downwards. The name WIGRÆD is sometimes spelled WIGRD. Coins ID 27 and ID 41 were withdrawn from the research, the iconography not clear enough to classify.

There are 51 coins in the research, the majority of the coins have the longer WIGRÆD spelling, 20 have the abbreviated WIGRD. Ten coins have a left facing head. There are six different styles of iconography within the standard on the reverse. As with the other R Series research booklets I have produced, these elements form the basis for classifying the different types of the R10 continuum. The corpus is divided into six main groups;

Group One consists of coins with the runes WIGRÆD on the obverse and the elongated rune “Æ” (looking like a capital F with a long tail) forming the exergual element, sometimes exergual lines and pellets are to be seen. Bust facing Right.

Group Two is comprised of coins with the spelling of WIGRÆD in runes on the obverse and a double XX forming the exergual component. Sometimes the annulets contain a pellet within. Bust facing Right.

Group Three contains coins with the spelling in runes of the abbreviated spelling of WIGRD with the exergual element of XX. Other pellets sometimes are present  Bust facing Right.

Group Four has the full spelling of WIGRÆD. The Æ has a long tail forming part of the Exergual element. Bust is facing to the left. There is only one coin in this group.

Group Five has the full spelling of WIGRÆD, however, the bust/head is facing to the left. The exergual element of the iconography consists of two “X’s”. There are four coins in this group. The position of the pellets below the head varies.

Group Six includes the coins with the abbreviated spelling WIGRD, the bust/head faces to the left. Other elements of the iconography are similar to Group Four coins. Some coins have pellets in their annulets, some do not have pellets within the crown triangles. There are five coins in this group.

When attempting to classify a coin look at the obverse first of all. There are both right and left facing busts in all of the three Runic options. After deciding which  of the  options is most similar then look at the reverse. Most coins have a right facing bust, a few have left facing busts.

Bibliography and Links

Sylloge of Coins of the British Isles 63, British Museum Anglo-Saxon Coins 1,  Anna Gannon, 2013 Pub British Museum Press, Plate 30.

European Medieval Coinage 8, Britain and Ireland 400-1066, Rory Naismith, 2017 Pub Cambridge University Press  p562.

Sceatta List including Stycas Simplified, Tony Abramson Pub Anglo-Saxon-Coinage.co.uk p67

Thrymsas and Sceattas in the Ashmolean Museum Oxford Vol 3, D M Metcalf, 1994,  Royal Numismatic Society Special Publication No. 72. pp 518-519

R Series Sceatta in the Timms Collection Primary Series Ad 700 to AD 710 Secondary Series AD 710 to AD 760. 2022 C J W Timms pp 79-81

Early Medieval Corpus Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge website

https://emc.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/advanced-search

then insert the EMC/SCBI number in the box “EMC Number/SCBI Number”.

Ashmolean Museum Heberden Coin Room

https://hcr.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coin/ 

Click on “Advanced Search” then insert the Accession number e.g. 20791 into the third white box and press the green “Search” button.

R Series Website https://www.r8sceattatypes.website/

Website contains information about all R series coins.

There is a contact page on this website.

Images of coins ID  01, 02, 03, 04, and 05 by permission of Dr T Abramson

Image of coin ID 06 by permission of Bob Green

Image of coin ID 53 by permission of Ype de Jong