Harthacnut. 1035-1042 AD
Harthacnut was Cnut's legitimate son with Emma, while Harold I (of England) was the illegitimate son of Ælgifu of Northhampton. Harold was elected regent due to the absence of the legitimate heir to the English throne, King Harthacnut of Denmark. In 1037, while Harthacnut was still occupied with matters in Denmark, Harold took the throne. Following a brief joint reign, Harold I died and Harthacnut regained the throne briefly. He died in 1042 while drinking at a wedding feast. When Harthacnut died, there was no one able to rule all of the 'Anglo-Danish' empire so Edward the Confessor came to power in England. This marked the fall of the Viking domination of England from foreign thrones, although a couple subsequent attempts to reinvade failed in the later 11th Century.

731598.CNGCoins.com Sold For $975

DENMARK. Harthacnut. 1035-1042 AD. AR Penny (0.97 gm). Lund mint. HARDACNVT RX, coiled serpent with pellets entwined in its body / DORCETL ON LVN, curvilinnear cross or shield quartered w/ pellets. Hauberg 1. Toned EF. Rare. $975. CNR XXVII, June 2002, lot 97.

This coin features a serpent or dragon. The most likely portent of this emblem is that of the Jorgandmunder, midgard's (the world's) serpent. The midgard serpent was a giant mythological creature of great evil power who lurked in the sea. It was said that in the age of Ragnarok, the Germanic Apocalypse, this serpent would devour Thor. Odin gained this knowledge when he gained a foreknowledge of the destruction of all the gods. Thor, wisely trying to escape this fate, went fishing with a giant and tried to catch the Jorgandmunder, nearly suceeding. Unfortunately, the gods not slain by the world-serpent would be devoured by the Fenris-wolf in the time of Ragnarok. This event however, was perhaps less detrimental to the old gods than the adoption of Christianity by Harald Bluetooth, which did its best in the first three hundred years to erase any memory of the gods. The fact that Denmark was technically Christian does not preclude a legendary beast from appearing on a coin of Harthacnut, and the serpents or dragons continued to be a favored motif on shipheads and also Norwegian stave churches. In Danish Coins from the 11th Century, Jensen suggests that all coins of this issue were actually struck before 1030 AD, while Cnut was still living. This is backed by the fact that the issue exists with legends for Cnut, Harthacnut, and also some illegible inscriptions. Erslev initially propounded this theory in 1875. Further reinforcement comes from a noticeable change in Danish coinage at about 1030, where the original Anglo-Saxon designs were discontinued and national symbols were more consistently favored. A document which appears to date to about 1026 states that the Danish nobles rebelled against Cnut for his English-dominated government and caused Harthacnut to be instated as co-regent with his father. The standardization of money attests to a greater centralization of power at this time.

735958. Sold For $1250

DENMARK. Harthacnut. 1035-1042. AR Penny (18mm, 1.05 gm). Imitating Aethelred II. Lund mint; Toci, moneyer. Struck circa 1040-1042. +NARDECNVT, helmeted and radiate bust left, holding shield / +TQ QCI: QNL VDI, voided long cross, pellet in center, arms ending in three crescents; curved globules in second and fourth quarters. C.J. Becker, "The Coincage of Harthacnut and Magnus the Good at Lund, c. 1040-c. 1046," Studies in Northern Coinages of the Eleventh Century, dies H28/226; cf. Hauberg 23/28 (obv./rev.). Toned, good VF. Rare.

Sven Estridesen. 1047-1075.

731708. CNGCoins.com Sold For $5000

DENMARK. Sven Estridesen. 1047-1075. AR Penny (0.97 gm). Lund mint. Imitating Aethelred. Agnus Dei, nimbate, standing right on basis; stylized Manus Dei above, -S-/I beneath / +IICIFI+ITDIIL', Eagle standing facing, head right, wings spread. Hauberg 17; L. E. Bruuns Mønt- og Medaillesamling (Copenhagen 1928) 1715; cf. Malmer obv. 551-559 / rev. 1651-1660 (earlire Aethelred imitations). Good VF, attractively toned. Extremely Rare. $5,000. CNR XXVII, June 2002, lot 98; Ex William J. Conte Collection of Viking Coins (Baldwin's Auction 13, 28 May 1997), lot 1450; Holger Hede (1898-1984) Collection, part III (Bruun Rasmussen and B. Ahlström Mynthandel, 1 October 1994), lot 51; Hauberg Collection (Holmberg/Holger Hede 17 June 1929), lot 911; Bruun Collection Doubletsamling af mønter og medailler (Holger Hede 12 October 1925), lot 217.

This piece is of an accomplished native Scandinavian style, which de-Anglifies the original loan type that this coin is based upon. That prototype is Aethelred II of England's Agnus Dei Penny of Circa 1009 AD (North 776; Seaby 1156). The English type was unpopular, but the imitations caught hold in Scandinavia and were minted by several rulers. The first occurrence is during the reign of Cnut, and Harthacnut has three Agnus Dei types, one similar to the above and the others with cross or Byzantine reverses. Magnus the Good nearly abandoned the type, but kept a lamb obverse with a more Scandinavian flair. Sven Estridsen renewed the full obverse / reverse combination, with the addition of the "hand of God" issuing from a cloud on the obverse. This attribute is a crude stylization which is only fully identifiable on the C. J. Becker specimen (Høiland, 13 October 1998), lot 94, and the Hauberg line illustration in the plate reference listed above (these may well be the same coin). The lamb is also cognizant of Sven’s horse and rider type of Lund mint (Hauberg pl. IX, 19), which is believed to loosely imitate an ancient Celtic or Macedonian coin which a Viking aquired in trade. The "eagle" that appears on the reverse is actually the Dove of the Holy Spirit, or so it was originally intended. What this bird represented in the minds of the die cutter is open to speculation, as the rendering appears as the typical eagle or raven motifs which were favored from deep within the Viking Age and Gothic period as emblems for brooches, shields, helmets, and standards. This issue of Sven Estridsen is the last occurrence of the Agnus Dei theme until the lamb and the dove each appear separately on issues of Valdemar the Great at the close of the 12th Century. The issues of Estridsen are among the rarest, being represented by perhaps as few as four or five examples, which furnished all the great collections of Viking coins.

Harald III Hein. 1075-1080

789307. Sold For $4500

DENMARK. Harald III Hein. 1075-1080. AR Pfennig (16mm, 1.13 g, 6h). Lund mint; Thurgot, moneyer. HARA LD RE (As inverted), nimbate figure standing facing, holding crozier / +DVRGOT • I LVND •, jewel cross. Hauberg 1. Good VF, darkly toned. Very rare.

Ex G.W. de Wit Collection; Peus 309 (2 May 1984), lot 302. The jewel cross reverse was introduced in the posthumous English issues of Knud II den Store (Cnut the Great), circa 1035. It proved a popular type in Denmark, and was used for various issues of all succeeding kings through Knud IV den Hellige (Cnut the Saint; 1080-1086).