World Silver - 995-1020 Hiberno-Norse Irish Penny, S-6107 NGC AU55

Fascinating relic of Irish-Norse Viking history. Please review the photos provided by AUCM of this historic piece. NGC has graded one of the S-6107 as AU55 with none finer.

The first period of Hiberno-Norse coinage imitated the then current Anglo-Saxon coins. Struck in Dublin, they closely replicated the style of the silver pennies of Aethelred II of England and his successor Cnut. Since the English coin designs changed occasionally, the dating and sequence of their Hiberno-Norse counterparts can be identified very accurately.

• The Irish pennies in this period start with the Crux type of Aethelred
• They follow the English style pennies through to the quatrefoil style of Cnut from about 1016-22
• These coins are occasionally blundered and at times feature Anglo-Norse legends
• These ‘blunders’ can occur on one or both sides

Skuldelev II, a Viking warship constructed in the Norse-Gaelic community of Dublin, circa 1042. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

These early Hiberno-Norse coins were produced under the auspices of Sihtric III (a.k.a. Sihtric Silkenbeard), the King of Dublin. Sihtric was the son of Olaf Cuarán, Norse King of Dublin, Northumbria & York (who ruled circa 989-1036). Sihtric’s mother, Gormflaith, was an Irish princess and daughter of the king of Leinster in the southeastern section of the island.

• The Irish coins are made of good silver and are typically signed in Sihtric’s name and by a Dublin Moneyer. This is not an attempt at forgery but instead it is a practical approach to mint coins with designs that would be widely accepted throughout the Viking world—however particularly for use in trading with the Vikings of the North of England and the Anglo-Saxons themselves.