View source for Sceat

{{Short description|Anglo-Saxon coin}}
{{Multiple image
| header =
| image1 = SeriesKobv.jpg
| image2 = SeriesKrev.jpg
| caption1 = '''[[Obverse and reverse|O:]]''' Diademed bust right, with cross in front
| caption2 = '''[[Obverse and reverse|R:]]''' Coiled wolf with curled tongue facing right
| width1 = 150
| width2 = 150
| footer = Silver sceat of series K, London (?), {{circa|lk=no|710-}}20.
}}
A '''sceat''' or '''sceatta''' ({{IPAc-en|ʃ|æ|t}} {{respell|SHAT}}; {{langx|ang|sceatt}} {{IPA|ang|ʃæɑt|}}, {{abbr|pl.|plural}} {{lang|ang|sceattas}}) was a small, thick [[silver]] [[coin]] minted in [[England]], [[Friesland|Frisia]], and [[Jutland]] during the [[Anglo-Saxon England|Anglo-Saxon]] period that normally weighed 0.8–1.3 grams (about {{frac|30}}&nbsp;[[troy ounce]]). It is now (as of 2024) more commonly known in England as an 'early penny'.{{sfn |Kershaw|2024|p=49}}

==History==
[[File:Thames sceatta 710 722430.jpg|thumb|Series U sceat]]
{{See also|History of the English penny (c. 600 – 1066)}}
Its name derives from [[Old English]] ''{{lang|ang|sceatt}}'', meaning "wealth", "money", and "coin", which has been applied to these coins since the 17th century based on interpretations of the legal codes of [[Mercia]] and of [[Kingdom of Kent|Kent]] under its [[kings of Kent|king]] [[Æthelberht of Kent|Æthelberht]].{{sfn|Bosworth & al}}  It is likely, however, that the coins were more often known to contemporaries as "[[Penny#Etymology|pennies]]" ({{langx|ang|peningas}}), much like [[penny (English coin)|their successor silver coins]]. They are very diverse, organised into over a hundred numbered types derived from the British Museum Catalogue of the 1890s and by broader alphabetical classifications laid out by British numismatist Stuart Rigold in the 1970s.{{sfnp|Rigold|1977}}

The huge volume of finds made in the last thirty years using [[metal detector]]s has radically altered understanding of this coinage and, while it is now clear that these coins were in everyday use across eastern and southern England in the early 8th century, it is also apparent that the current organisation is in considerable need of adjustment.

==Legends==
{{Coin image box 1 double
| header =
| image =Image:Aldfrith sceat 685 76001849.jpg
| caption1 = '''[[Obverse and reverse|O:]]''' +{{sc|aldfridvs}} around central annulet.
| caption2 = '''[[Obverse and reverse|R:]]''' Left-facing quadruped.
| width = 300
| position = right
| margin =4
| footer = Silver sceat of [[Aldfrith of Northumbria]], 685-704.
}}
Sceattas rarely carry legends of any kind, though a small number do name the mint of [[London]] and others carry short [[runic inscription|runic legends]] such as 'Aethiliraed' and 'Efe', which probably refer to [[moneyer]]s rather than kings.

==Imagery==
Although sceattas present many problems of organisation, attribution, and dating, they also carry a variety of designs bespeaking extensive [[Celtic art|Celtic]], [[Roman art|classical]], and [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] influences. These designs include human figures, animals, birds, crosses, plants, and monsters, all of which have been elucidated by Anna Gannon.{{sfnp|Gannon|2003}} Tony Abramson has published an illustrated guide for nonexperts.{{sfnp|Abramson|2006}} One series (U), has been linked to [[kings of Mercia|King]] [[Æthelbald of Mercia|Aethelbald]] of [[Mercia]] (716-57) on the basis of its iconography, though this attribution is tenuous and recent research suggests it is very unlikely.{{Citation needed|date=March 2023}} It has also been suggested on the basis of the iconography of certain sceattas that they were issued by ecclesiastical authorities, such as bishops or abbots. Minting may not have been a strictly urban or secular prerogative, and coins were used for many payments and purposes beyond pure commercial buying and selling.

==Minting==
{{Multiple image
| header =
| image1 = SeriesXobv.jpg
| image2 = SeriesXrev.jpg
| caption1 = '''[[Obverse and reverse|O:]]''' Facing bust with beard and cross on either side.
| caption2 = '''[[Obverse and reverse|R:]]''' Right-facing curled 'dragon'.
| width1 = 150
| width2 = 150
| footer = Silver sceat of series X, [[Ribe]], [[Denmark]], {{circa|lk=no|710-}}20.
}}
Associating sceattas with particular mints or kingdoms is very difficult and must be based primarily upon study of find-spots. Most have been found using [[metal detector]]s since the 1970s. In this way, it has been possible to attribute some types with considerable confidence, such as series H with [[Kingdom of Wessex|Wessex]] (and in particular [[Southampton]]) and series S with [[Kingdom of Essex|Essex]].{{citation needed|date=September 2022}} In Denmark, series X has been plausibly associated with the early trading center at [[Ribe]].<ref>{{cite book|chapter=Series X and Coin Circulation in Ribe |pages=53–68 |first=Claus |last=Feveile |editor1-first=Tony |editor1-last=Abramson |title=Two Decades of Discovery |series=Studies in Early Medieval Coinage: Two Decades of Discovery |volume=1 |publisher=Boydell Press |year=2008 |isbn=9781843833710}}</ref>

The chronology of the sceattas is also very hard to unravel. Some of the earliest series use the same designs as the pale gold [[thrymsa]]s (similar to the continental {{langx|la|[[tremissis]]}}; notionally one-third of a pure gold [[Solidus (coin)|solidus]]) and, by analogy with coins from the better-understood [[Franks|Frankish]] material, can be dated to the 680s. It is known that sceattas were minted in the [[Frisia]]n town of [[Dorestad]] (just south of [[Utrecht]] in the Netherlands); they were a commonly circulating currency in the Frankish realm until the [[Carolingian Renaissance#Currency|monetary reform]] of [[Pepin the Short]] instituted at Ver in 755.{{sfnp|Riché|1993|p=81}}

The thirty or forty years after 680 saw the production and circulation of the "primary series" of sceattas, which were generally of good metal quality and weight {{nowrap|(c. 1–}}{{nowrap|1.3 grams).}} They were largely minted in [[Kingdom of Kent|Kent]] and the [[Thames Estuary]], though a few were produced in [[Northumbria]] bearing the name of [[kings of Northumbria|King]] [[Aldfrith]] {{nowrap|({{abbr|r|reigned}}. 685–704).}} The "secondary series", struck from {{nowrap|c. 710}} to {{nowrap|c. 750,}} saw a massive expansion of minting all over southern and eastern [[England]] to every major [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] kingdom. One or more types can be attributed with more or less confidence to [[Kingdom of Wessex|Wessex]], [[Kingdom of Mercia|Mercia]], [[Kingdom of Sussex|Sussex]], [[Kingdom of Essex|Essex]], [[Kingdom of Kent|Kent]], [[Northumbria]], and [[Kingdom of East Anglia|East Anglia]].

There was much copying and [[debasement]], and weight could fluctuate considerably {{nowrap|(c. 0.8–}}{{nowrap|1.3 grams).}} There are relatively few hoards from this period with which to construct even a relative chronology, and any new discovery could radically alter current scholarly understanding. The end of the sceattas is especially difficult to pinpoint, and it is likely that there was a period of some decades in the middle of the 8th century when very few if any coins were produced in [[England]].

[[File:Viking weight combined only reflection.jpg|thumb|Anglo-Saxon-Viking coin weight. Used for trading bullion and [[hacksilver]]. Material is lead and weighs approx 36&nbsp;g. Embedded with an Anglo-Saxon sceat (Series K type 32a) dating to 720-750 AD and minted in Kent. It is edged in dotted triangle pattern. Origin is the Danelaw region and dates AD 870-930.]]

==Gallery==
<gallery widths="170px" heights="80px" perrow="3" caption="Sceattas">

File:Sceat K32a 75001420.jpg|Series K sceat (Kent)
File:Sceat C2 East Anglia.png|Series C sceat (East Anglia)
Image:Frisia sceatta 715 701246.jpg| Series E, Kloster Barthe variety (Frisia)<ref>{{cite book |last=Metcalf |first=D. M. |date=1993 |title=Thrymsas and Sceattas in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, Volume 2 |location=London |publisher=Royal Numismatic Society |page=231 |author-link=Michael Metcalf }}</ref>
</gallery>

==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist|30em}}

===Bibliography===
* {{cite book |last1=Abramson |first1=Tony |title=Sceattas: An Illustrated Guide |date=2006 |publisher=Heritage Marketing & Publications, Limited |isbn=978-1-905223-01-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m30ZAAAACAAJ}}
* {{cite book |last=Bosworth |author2-last=Toller |display-authors=1 |ref={{harvid|Bosworth & al}} |title=An Old English Dictionary }}
* {{cite book |last=Gannon |first=Anna |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eVjeCaizsIMC |title=The Iconography of Early Anglo-Saxon Coinage: Sixth to Eighth Centuries |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |date=2003 |isbn=9780199583843 }}
*{{cite journal| last= Kershaw|first=Jane | journal=British Archaeology |title=Anglo-Saxon Coinage: the Great Silver Revival|issue=197 |date=July–August 2024 |pages=48–51 |issn=1357-4442 }}
* {{cite book |last=Riché |first=Pierre |title=The Carolingians: A Family who Forged Europe |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |year=1993 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tcjy7bCmFL0C |isbn=0-8122-1342-4 | author-link=Pierre Riché }}
* {{cite book |last=Rigold |first=Stuart |contribution=The Principal Series of English Sceattas |title=The British Numismatic Journal, ''No. 47'' |date=1977 |pages=21–30 | author-link=Stuart Rigold}}

==External links==
{{Portal|Money}}
{{Commons category|Sceat}}
*https://kernunnos.com/porc/index.html
*http://www.allmetal.karoo.net/Anglo-Saxon_coins.html
*https://web.archive.org/web/20070205055926/http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/coins/emc/
{{Coins of England}}
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[[Category:Anglo-Saxon archaeology]]
[[Category:Anglo-Saxon art]]
[[Category:Anglo-Saxon money]]
[[Category:Archaeological terminology (Germanic)]]
[[Category:Numismatics]]
[[Category:Silver coins]]