Item 2009/1 - Letter from Stewart Lyon to Simon Keynes

2 items, paper

Photocopy of letter from Stewart Lyon to Simon Keynes, in typescript, single page, dated from Ardraeth on 11 September 2009, with one attachment. In the letter, SL informs SK that he has received from Martin Allen photos of a "fascinating penny ... found very recently near Chichester ... of Eadred with floral reverse based on one of Edward the Elder's special types. He describes the coin as "broken in three pieces" but notes that it is the first such recorded penny, nevertheless adding that "a round halfpenny by a moneyer Hildulf, probably of this type, is known (BMS 685)". He says that "The moneyer of the new floral coin, Eadweard, is known for two pence of Edmund", and he puts forward evidence for identifying the mint as Shrewsbury. The previously unrecorded coin is unusual in that it gives the king's title as REX SAXONUM instead of REX ANGLOR~. He therefore asks why moneyers working in a town such as Shrewsbury "would changed Eadred's title from (or to) Rex Anglorum to (or from) Rex Saxonum. The letter refers to enclosure of an enlarged photo. The attachment consists in a green post-it note that was affixed to the photocopied letter; the note is in manuscript, dated 11 September [2009], addressed to Ian [Stewart], asks for his views on the letter's contents and refers to an enclosed photo, though no photo remains associated with the letter.