Obverse:

HAROLD REX A[NGL]. Crowned bust l. without sceptre.

Reverse:

[PVL]FPI ON COLEC. P[AX] between two lines, across field.

Flan heavily creased and a few light marks otherwise fine and very rare. There is only 1 examples of this moneyer/type for Colchester listed on the EMC/SCBI, which is struck from the same obverse die; SCBI 9 Ashmolean - number 1094. Hugh Pagan noted just 5 known examples and with this coin and 3 other examples from the Braintree hoard (same dies as no. 135), brings the total to 9 examples.

Ex 'The Braintree' Hoard. Recorded on the PAS as ESS-1CFF0B (number 138).

Published in:

Williams, G. & Wise, P (2024) 'The Braintree Hoard of Edward The Confessor, Harold II and Byzantine Coins' British Numismatic Journal, Volume 94, pg. 79, 86 - no 138 (This coin).

The hoard was discovered by 2 detectorists in the Braintree area of Essex during the summer of 2019. It consisted of 145 coins of Edward the Confessor and Harold II, with the interesting addition of two stray Byzantine coins. The coins were found scattered over an area of approximately 30m2 of cultivated field, all within the top 4-5 inches of the plough soil.

There were a number of mints represented, including Colchester, Ipswich, Cambridge, Norwich, York, Sudbury and London. With the absence of coins of William I, it had a likely deposition date during the troubled times of 1066.