A N G L O - S A X O N H O A R D S A N D C O I N S F O U N D I N T H E N O R T H OF I R E L A N D

By W . A. SEABY

Derrykeighan, Co. Antrim, 18431

ONE hundred and fifteen years ago James Carruthers of Glencregagh, Co. Down, recorded in detail some part of the Anglo-Saxon hoard found at Derrykeighan (Derrykeerhan), near Dervock, by a man digging a grave in the old churchyard, March 1843.2 Although the coins quickly became scattered, about two-fifths of the total came into the possession of three collectors: Carruthers himself, Edward Benn of Glenravil, Co. Antrim, and James Bell of Prospect, Ballymoney, Co. Antrim. Other Anglo-Saxon coins now in Belfast Museum may well have originated from this source and are indicated as such in the Appendix.

According to the revised account given by Carruthers, the hoard consisted of at least 260 coins.3 There are, however, discrepancies between the 48 specimens which Carruthers says he possessed on 1 May 1843, the list of 74 which he details (pp. 112-14) and the further list of 67 which he later claimed to have had (pp. 213-14); yet only some 54 pieces can possibly be identified with this hoard amongst the 99 Saxon coins from his collection, sold in 1857.4

If we take into consideration the differences arising from the two tran-scriptions as well as the inevitable misinterpretation of certain Anglo-Saxon letters by author, editor, and compositor alike, we can yet recognize types and approximate inscriptions of some 65 coins 'belonging' to Carruthers in the two main lists; a further 9 or 10 appearing once only may be inferred as having passed through his hands. Nineteen of the 20 specimens formerly in the possession of Benn are now in the Belfast collection,5 one of which, however, is certainly Eadwig and not Eadred. In the Bell portion were 23 coins in-cluding one of Elangerht ('Regnald') / Bernart6 and an Eadred ( O X V R B I S ) /

Wynnelm.7 This part of the hoard, at least, seems to have come into the possession of John Lindsay, possibly also some of Carruthers' coins.8

Although Thompson9 has summarized the hoard, a detailed study of the 1 I am indebted to Mr. R. H. M. Dolley for information which led to the discovery that part of

this hoard is housed in the Belfast Museum. 2 Num. Chron., 1st ser. vi (1844), pp. 112-14. 3 Ibid., pp. 213-16. 4 Auction Sale at Sotheby's, 26/27 Jan. 1857. Mr. Dolley kindly supplied me with a transcrip-

tion of this list. 5 E d g a r / E S V I ( I V E ? ) cannot now be traced at Belfast. The Edward Benn collection was ac-

quired by the Belfast Nat. Hist, and Phil. Society in 1880; it came to the Belfast Museum in 1910, but no inventory of his coins seems to exist.

6 R. H. M. Dolley, 'The Post-Brunanburh Viking Coinage of York', Nordisk Numismatisk Arsskrift 1957-8, pp. 30-31, 61, fig. 33.

7 G. C. Brooke, English Coins (1932), pl. xv. 6. 8 See Lindsay, Remarkable Greek, Roman and Anglo-Saxon Coins, etc., in the Cabinet of the

Author, Cork (1860), pp. 6-7 and pl. ii, nos. 8, 14. 15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22. I would acknowledge Mr. C. E. Blunt's assistance for this information.

9 J. D. A. Thompson, Inventory of British Coin Hoards A.D. 600-1500 (1956), pp. 45-46, no. 119. Also see Dolley, op. cit., pp. 30-31, no. 31.

C O I N S F O U N D I N T H E N O R T H O F I R E L A N D 249

various lists shows that there is room for differences of opinion as to moneyers and types; and in view of the number of coins now at Belfast, either known or thought to have come from this deposit, a further summary is given here, the doubtful coins, some thirty in all, being dealt with in the Appendix.

Athelstan (925-39). B.M.C. type VI. Shrewsbury: / E B E L S T A N R E X T O B

C E N B E R H T I Y 1 0 S C R 0 B (Cenberht) (1). B.M.C. type XII. No mint-name: H E R R I G M O N T A (Heric)1 (1). Eadmund (939-46). B.M.C. type I ? D R M O D M O (Thermod or Durmod) (1). Eadred (946-55). B.M.C. type I . Oxford: ( O X V R B I S on obv.). Wynnelm2 (1). No mint-name: E Y D H A N D N (Eadmund)3 (1); C ® R O D (Eoroth?) (1); Heriger (1); Hunred (4); Wulfgar(es) (1); Wulfstan (1). B.M.C. type V. Norwich: Manna (1). No mint-name: E N H N S M O N E T S (probably Manna)4 (1). Eadwig (955-9). B.M.C. type I . No mint-name: Dunn(es) (1); F R E X I G E S M O Y

(Frethic or Frethig) (1); E R I N H O H E (Crin or Grim) (1). Heriger (3). B.M.C. type II. Chester: Wilsig (1). Southampton?: L O I H A X H A M O (Boia)5 (1). Eadgar (959-75). B.M.C. type I (or II). No mint-name: Adelaver (7); ^Elfsig (2); jEsculf (2); ^Ethelsie (1); Albutic (6); A D L V I N E M O (Adelwine or Aldewine) (1); B E R E N A R D M O (Bernard) (1); Britfer (2, one with some letters inverted); Capelin (1); Cnapa (2, variously spelt); Durand (2); Eanulf (4 or 5, one apparently double-struck); Ethelwine (3, one, which may be corruption of name, given as C O E L A N C O ) ; Farthein (7, one given as E A R - B E N N H O ) ; Frethig(es) (1); Heriger (5); Unbein or Hunbein (2); Igenc(l); Ingolf(l); I N B E L R I E S M O N (Ingelrics?) (1); Isembert (4, one partly retrograde); Ive (7); E S V I (Ive ?) (1); H A C Y S (Macus?) (1); Manna (6); W A N S H O or W A N T M O (Manna or Manticen?) (1); Martin (1); W O R E N R H O (Morcar or Morgna?) (1); Thurmod (1); V D I F E R - B M O 6

and V D I F E R D M O (Wiferth) (2). B.M.C. type II. Chester: Boia or Boiga (1); Ethelm (1); Frothric (1); Thurmod (1). B.M.C. type III. Oxford: Leofsig (1); Southampton?: Oswald (1); York: Herolf7 (1); no mint-name: Durand(es) (1); Fastolf (1); Fastolf (1, retrograde both sides) (1); Fastolf(es)8 (1); Fastolf Boiga (1); Heriger (1); Herolf (1); B.M.C. type IV. E O F E R A R P (Eoferard or Everard) (1). 'Regnald' (two-line), reads: E L l - . - A - N C E R H T with + in field / B E R N A R T in two lines9 (1).

Here then is a re-summary10 of the known 117 coins given by Carruthers in his two accounts; it includes all but the blundered piece mentioned by Dolley. It is quite probable that the York penny of Eric Bloodaxe/Ingelgar (two line), which may be dated c. 948, came from Derrykeighan (no. 9).

Carrowen Hoard, Burt, Co. Donegal, 1864 This hoard has recently been reassessed by Dolley.11 He demonstrates

beyond all reasonable doubt that what were thought to have been two hoards were in fact one, found during construction of the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Light Railway. Of the 11 coins mentioned, all can be attributed to

1 Lindsay, op. cit., pl. ii, no. 8. 2 Ibid., no. 15. 3 Ibid., no. 17. 4 Ibid., no. 14. 5 Ibid., no. 18. 6 Ibid., no. 21. ' Ibid., no. 20. 8 Ibid., no. 22. 9 For illustration of this type see Dolley, op. cit., p. 61, fig. 33.

10 A revision of the summary of 100 coins given by Thompson, op. cit. 11 'A Neglected Tenth-century Hoard from Donegal', Ulster Journal of Archaeology, 3rd ser.

xxii (1959), pp. 56-58.

250 ANGLO-SAXON H O A R D S A N D COINS F O U N D IN

Eadgar, 9 being of B.M.C. type I, and 2 being of type III. While at least 4 of the moneyers (Adelaver, Farthein, Unbein, and Herolf) are to be found on Edgar coins of unidentified locality in the collection of the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society (acquired by the Museum in 1910), it is perhaps more probable that coins bearing these names were from the missing 140 in the Derrykeighan hoard. One other coin which might equally well have come from either hoard is an Edgar/Grid B.M.C. I, presented by Miss Black of Strandtown in 1953 (no. 26). Two of Grid's coins are recorded from Carrowen but, surprisingly, none of this comparatively common moneyer is listed by Carruthers at Derrykeighan.

Near Armagh, 1831 The only other Anglo-Saxon hoard, recorded as such from Ulster, appears

to be that given by John Lindsay but included in Thompson's Inventory and reappraised by Dolley.1 Unfortunately, its size and general composition re-main unknown, but it is interesting to note that it was discovered in June of the same year that the Belfast Natural History Society's Museum was opened in College Square (Nov. 1831). The only two coins named in the Armagh hoard are one of y£ the l s t an /ELIAF M O N E T A , probably E L L A F or E C L A F and one of Anlaf Guthfrithsson of the Raven/Small Cross type, A T H E L W A R D

M I N E T R I E , probably for A B E L F E R D M I N E T R T , c. 940.2 In the Belfast collection, listed below, there is an example of the Anlaf/Raven penny (no. 8) which might well be that from Armagh, but none of the Museum's ^Ethel-stans is of Eclaf, who appears to have been a London moneyer. All we know of the Anlaf piece is that it was a fairly early acquisition, for it is listed with nine other Saxon coins as being in the Society's cabinet when the first numismatic inventory was made in 1870.

Miscellaneous finds of Saxon coins in the North The following notes have been taken from publications of Carruthers and

emphasize how scarce Saxon coins are in this part of Ireland. It may be some reflection on the general lack of interest in numismatics that finds of pre-twelfth-century coins do not seem to have been recorded in Ulster during the past century.

1820. Penny of Har thacnut discovered somewhere in Ireland and now in the cabinet of Ma jo r Farmer , Armagh. 3

1849. Coin of Offa, King of Mercia, found near site of a religious house in Armagh. 4

1849. Coin of Offa, King of Mercia, found near Londonderry. 6

1849. In a grave near Red Bay, Cushendall , Co. Antr im, two Anglo-Saxon coins were found. One was of Berthulf, king of Mercia (Ruding, vol. iii, pl. vii, no. 3); the

1 Coinage of Heptarchy (1842), p. 22; Thompson, op. cit., p. 4, no. 13; Num. Circular lxv (1957), no. 5, col. 194.

2 See Dolley, 'Viking Coinage of York', pp. 45, 67-75. Note that the hoard (no. 32), as sug-gested on p. 31, is based on a false premise.

3 J. Carruthers, Journ. Roy. Soc. Ant. Ireland, iii (1854-5), p. 63. 4 J. Carruthers, loc. cit., p. 62. 5 Ibid.

T H E N O R T H O F I R E L A N D 251

other was of Ceolnoth, Archbishop of Canterbury (Ruding, vol. iii, pl. xiii, no. 7).1

A much fuller report of this discovery, given by Col. Jones to the Royal Irish Academy in 1849, makes it virtually certain that the coins were not directly as-sociated with the skeletal remains and the bronze and stone axes found in and below the 'cave' at Red Bay, although the Colonel implies that they might have been. It should be noted that the axes were much corroded and, like the bones, were covered with a heavy incrustation of lime, whereas the coins were both in excellent preservation. The description of the coins reads as follows: One is a coin of Berthulf King of Mercia, as Ruding states, A.D. 839, the legend being on obverse B E R H T V L F . REX, on the reverse BRID. M O N E T A . The second is a coin of Ceolnoth, Archbishop of Canterbury in the same year. The legend on obverse is C I A L N O . ARC., and on reverse V V N E R E . M O N E T A . 2

No dates. Coins of Anlaf, Athelstan, and Edgar have been found in and about the City of Armagh.3

APPENDIX I

A N G L O - S A X O N A N D V I K I N G C O I N S O F Y O R K I N T H E B E L F A S T M U S E U M

All are pennies except No. 1 which is a sceat. Those known to have come from Derrykeighan hoard are marked *; those thought to have come from Derrykeighan, or possibly Carrowen, marked f. No. 8 is possibly from Armagh. No. 7 was found at Drogheda, Co. Louth.4

District B.M.C. Museum

District * Source and Date No. Ruler Moneyer or Mint Type No. t acquired

1. Abp. Wigmund

Ethelhelm (York) 739/40 Purchased Agnew 1956

2. Burgred Wulfeard (Mercia) Id 395 B.N.H.P.S. (1870-1910)

3. Alfred Uulfred (Wessex) XIV 403/4 Purchased O'Connor 1958

4. Edward Elder

iEthered (S. Group) II 15, 16 t B.N.H.P.S. (1870-1910)

5. Athelstan Eadgild j> I t B.N.H.P.S. (Benn?) (1870-1910)

6. Athelstan ( R E X T O B)

Cenberht Shrewsbury VI * B.N.H.P.S. (Benn) 1880

7. »> Beahred London VIII 64 Grainger 1891 8. Anlaf Guth- Athelferd (York) 2 1093 B.N.H.P.S. (before

frithsson (Raven) rev. 1870) 9. Eric

Bloodaxe Ingelgar

(two-line)5

" 1107 rev.

t B.N.H.P.S. (Benn?) (1870-1910)

10. Edred Heriger (NE. Group) I * B.N.H.P.S. (Benn) 1880

1 J. Carruthers, op. cit. iv (1856-7), p. 49. The Berhtulf reference is given as pl. iii which must be a misprint'for pl. vii.

2 Proc. R. I. Acad, iv (1850), pp. 394-6. 3 J. Lindsay, The Coinage of Ireland (1839), Appendix no. 7, p. 136, quoting Lewis,

Topographical Dictionary, 2nd edit. (1847) i, p. 72. 4 Possibly the same as that recorded by J. Carruthers, U.J.A. i (1853), p. 164, as having been

discovered at Drogheda in 1810. 5 Reads: + - E R I O R E * + l ~ . 0 . / . \ l N C E L H - + + D S R M o \ -

252 A N G L O - S A X O N H O A R D S A N D C O I N S F O U N D I N

District B.M.C. Museum

District * Source and Date No. Ruler Moneyer or Mint Type No. t acquired

11. Edred Hunred (NE. Group) I 54 * B.N.H.P.S. (Benn) 1880

12. tt »» 11 I t B.N.H.P.S. (Benn?) (1870-1910)

13. tt Regther (NW. Group) Ic 74 rev.

t B.N.H.P.S. (before 1870)

14. Edwig /Elfsige (NE. Group) I t Grainger 1891 15.

» Heriger 11 I 27

var. * B.N.H.P.S. (Benn)

1880 16. Edgar Adelaver 11 I 58

var. t B.N.H.P.S. (Benn?)

(1870-1910) 17.

» 11 I 60 var.

* B.N.H.P.S. (Benn) 1880

18. »

11 I * B.N.H.P.S. (Benn) 1880

19. 11 » 11 I 61? t B.N.H.P.S. (Benn?)

(1870-1910) 20. 11 Albutic 11 I cf. 72 t B.N.H.P.S. (Benn?)

(1870-1910) 21. 11 11 I * B.N.H.P.S. (Benn)

1880 22. 11 Eanulf 11 I * B.N.H.P.S. (Benn)

1880 23.

" Farman 11 I 90/91 t B.N.H.P.S. (Benn?)

(1870-1910) 24. 11 Farthein 11 I cf. 92 t B.N.H.P.S. (Benn?)

(1870-1910) 25. 11 » 11 I t B.N.H.P.S. (Benn?)

(1870-1910) 26. 11 Grid 11 I cf. 95 t Miss Black 1953 27. n Haculf 11 I 98

rev. t B.N.H.P.S. (Benn?)

(1870-1910) 28. a Heriger 11 I 104

var. * B.N.H.P.S. (Benn)

1880 29. a it 11 I 105

var. t B.N.H.P.S. (Benn?)

(1870-1910) 30. a tt 11 I 106

var. * B.N.H.P.S. (Benn)

1880 31. a 11 I * B.N.H.P.S. (Benn)

1880 32. a Ive 11 I t B.N.H.P.S. (Benn?)

(1870-1910) 33. ii tt 11 I 116

var. t Grainger 1891

34. »

Macus 11 I * B.N.H.P.S. (Benn) 1880

35. a Manna1 11 I * B.N.H.P.S. (Benn) 1880

36. »

j) 11 I t B.N.H.P.S. (before 1870)

37. ii tt 11 I t B.N.H.P.S. (Benn?) (1870-1910)

38. "

tt 11 I cf. 123 rev.

t B.N.H.P.S. (Benn?) (1870-1910)

39. „ 11 I 124 t Grainger 1891 40. 11 I 126 t B.N.H.P.S. (Benn?)

(1870-1910) 1 Only one Manna coin is recorded in the Benn portion of the Derrykeighan hoard. It has

been given to no. 35 arbitrarily. 2 One Manna coin known to be in the Society's collection before 1870.

T H E N O R T H O F I R E L A N D 253

No. Ruler Moneyer District or Mint

B.M.C. *

t

Museum Source and Date

acquired No. Ruler Moneyer District or Mint Type No.

*

t

Museum Source and Date

acquired

41. Edgar Hunbein (NE. Group) I t B.N.H.P.S. (Benn?) (1870-1910)

42. Alhmund (NW. Group) I c&d t B.N.H.P.S. (Benn?) (1870-1910)

43. „ Frethic(es) »» Ic&d 141 * B.N.H.P.S. (Benn)

1880 44. Thurmod „ I c&d 162/3 * B.N.H.P.S. (Benn)

1880 45. /•Elfsige Chester II 21 t Grainger 1891

46. >J iElfstan 33 II var. 22 t B.N.H.P.S. (Benn?) var. (1870-1910)

47. SJ Ethelm )» II * B.N.H.P.S. (Benn) 1880

48. 9> Thurmod „ II 31/32 * B.N.H.P.S. (Benn) 1880

49. „ (REX) Durand(es) (NW. Group) III 168 t B.N.H.P.S. (Benn?)

„(REX var. (1870-1910)

50. „(REX J» III * B.N.H.P.S. (Benn) T O B) 1880

51. J> Herolf (NE. Group) III 190 t B.N.H.P.S. (Benn?) (1870-1910)

52. J > 35 III * B.N.H.P.S. (Benn) 1880

53. (REX/ANE*) Cynsige Chichester?1 IV t Grainger 1891 54. J» Thurmod (NW. Group) IV 204? t B.N.H.P.S. (Benn?)

(1870-1910) 55. „ Manticen (E. Anglian V 209 t ? B.N.H.P.S. (before

Group) var. 1870) 56. Edward II jElfwald Stamford I cf. 21 Purchased

(Martyr) McElderry 1956 57. ^Ethelred II Eadric Chester II d Grainger 1891 58. Ead . . . Thetford Ilia B.N.H.P.S. (before

1870) 59. n Eadsige Winchester Ilia Grainger 1891 60. >> Onga York Ilia B.N.H.P.S. (before

1870) 61. J> Byrhsige ? Ilia 1 B.N.H.P.S. (before

1870) 62. Godwin Winchester IVa 378 Purchased

O'Connor 1958 63. Cnut Wadlos Lincoln XVIa Purchased

O'Connor 1958 64. Thurim York XVIa 204 Grainger 1891 65. Edward Duninc Hastings XI 515 Grainger 1891

Confessor var. 66. i i Arngrim York Xllla 378 Purchased Agnew

1958 67. Duninc Chester XV B.N.H.P.S. (before

1870)

A P P E N D I X I I

Near Oldcastle, Co. Meath, before 1900 SINCE this paper was written Belfast Museum has been for tunate in acquiring par t of the above hoard through the kindness of Mr . Harry P. Swan of Buncrana, Co.

1 Provisionally identified as such by Mr. C. E. Blunt, although the name of the mint is broken away from the edge.

254 C O I N S F O U N D I N T H E N O R T H O F I R E L A N D

Donegal, who purchased the coins with others from the Rev. Charles Kevin of Oldcastle in 1947. According to the original account, the coins were discovered some years before 1900 by a labourer working in a gravel-pit some miles from Old-castle. He raised a small flag-stone and discovered beneath it a little heap of silver coins. The greater part seem to have been fragmentary but twelve, in a tolerably perfect state, survived.

Of these, two were subsequently lost and two others were owned by a local resident, who parted with one, the remainder being in the possession of Edward Crofton Rotherham who published nine of them.1 His list corresponds exactly with that given by Thompson.2 As it has now been ascertained that the Anlaf/Ingelgar 'flower' type, also listed, is the coin in the British Museum and illustrated by Dolley,3 eight of the twelve pieces can with certainty be accounted for. A note also states that the Edwig coin of Heriger was then in the possession of C. Hannan (probably the local resident mentioned by Mr. Rotherham). This coin has not been subsequently traced.

The following seven pennies have been, therefore, added to the Belfast cabinet:

Anlaf Guthfrithsson (939-41). B.M.C. type 2. 68. • + A - N L - S F C V N V N C U - . Raven. + A - B E L F E R D M I N E T R I . Small Cross.

Cf. B.M.C. nos. 1092-6. Reverse of Ruding, pl. ii, Anlaf 1.

Edmund (939-46). B.M.C. type I. 69. CVDI DM01 (probably for DVDIC). A reverse from the same die is on a

coin of Edred in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.4

Edred (946-55). B.M.C. type I. 70. Boiga. IV! in field on obverse. B.M.C. no. 23. 71. Demence. M in name inverted. B.M.C. no. 26 var. 72. Hunred. Cf. B.M.C. no. 53. Lockett Sale, English (pt. Ill), no. 2746. 73. Ingelgar. Cf. B.M.C. nos. 58-61. Reverse as Iona hoard no. 475 and the re-

verse of a coin of Edmund in the Fitzwilliam Museum.6

B.M.C. type IV. 74. Manne. Reads MANNE ESMOT. Locket Sale, English (pt. I), no. 597.

1 Journ. Roy. Soc. Ant. Ireland, xxx (1900), pp. 253^4. 2 Thompson, op. cit., p. 112, no. 298. The date of this hoard must be at least as late as 955 on

account of the Edwig coin. It was probably deposited before 959 or at the latest 960 as no coins of Edgar are recorded.

3 Dolley, 'Viking Coinage of York', p. 52, fig. 16. Mr. Dolley has traced the ownership of this piece back to Rotherham.

4 P. Grierson, Sylloge of Coins of the British Isles, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, pt. i (1958), pl. xviii, no. 590.

6 R. B. K. Stevenson, Num. Chron., 6th ser. xi (1951), p. 74, no. 47. 6 P. Grierson, op. cit., pl. xviii, no. 586.