Date: c. 1016-1020

Hiberno-Norse. Phase I, Class E silver penny, c.995-1020, imitating the Quatrefoil type of Cnut, in the name of Sihtric (Silkenbeard) Anlafsson, with a Dublin mint signature.

• Also known as:
  • Sihtric, Sitric and Sitrick in Irish texts
  • Sigtryg and Sigtryggr in Scandinavian texts

Of around twenty known Irish Quatrefoil copies (ten are recorded in SCBI), four are in the name of Sihtric. The usual moneyer striking in the name of Sihtric was Stegen.

• Diameter: 19 mm
• Weight: 1.03 g
• Peck behind bust, legends weak in places
• Good very fine (gVF)

References:

• O’S. 25;  DF.21;  S.6121
• Extremely rare.

Obverse:

• Crowned bust facing left in quatrefoil
• Blundered legend:  +zihtrcre+dyfli
  • Translates as: Sihtric, King of Dublin

Reverse:

• Voided long cross with triple-crescent ends and pellet at center, over quatrefoil
• Blundered legend: + feineimodyf
  
  • Translates as: Faeremin, moneyer of Dublin
    • Listed by Spinks as the only known example by the moneyer ‘Feine’
    • More likely to be a blundered version of Faeremin

Country:

• Ireland

Category:

• Hiberno-Norse
  • Phase 1
    • Class E (Quatrefoil)
• Hammered

 Further Reading:

• O’Brien Coin Guide: Anglo-Saxon Coins & Their Links to Ireland
• O’Brien Coin Guide: Who Introduced Anglo-Saxon Coins to Ireland and why ?
• O’Brien Coin Guide: Introduction to the Hiberno-Norse Coinages of the Late 10th & Early 11th C