710-760 AD. Obv: diademed and draped profile bust right with MONITA SCORVM legend within beaded border. Rev: porcupine figure (degraded bust) within zig-zag and beaded border. 1.13 grams.

Good extremely fine, slightly off-centre strike. Very rare type; the absence of a cross at the end of the obverse legend for this type apparently not previously recorded.

PROVENANCE:
Found Tiptree, Essex, 2010; recorded with the Early Medieval Corpus, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.

LITERATURE:
S. 824; N. -; See EMC 2012.0236 (this coin); see Metcalf, Thrymsas and Sceattas, volume 3, pages 435-436 for discussion of the type and figures.

FOOTNOTES:
It is suggested by Marian Archibald that the obverse legend is an abbreviation for MONITA S(an)C(t)ORVM and that this type has affinities with Series Q and T; the bust has obvious similarities to those seen on late Roman types with most findspots recorded from eastern England; this example lacks the cross usually seen at the end of the legend so would appear top be a previously unrecorded variant and the composition by XRF analysis is 97% silver, 1% gold, 1% copper, 1.5% iron.