British Coins

Kings of All England, Edward the Confessor (1042-1066), Penny, Short Cross type, Bridport, Hwateman, hpateman on br, 0.98g/12h (Freeman 4; N 818; S 1175). Extremely fine and excessively rare £800-1,000

Only two specimens listed by Freeman, one in the British Museum (BMC 32), the other from the P. Carlyon-Britton collection.

Despite the somewhat ambiguous reading br, this extremely rare issue is normally given to Bridport rather than Bristol or Bridgnorth. Evidence hinges on the fact that Hwateman is an attested moneyer for Bridport during the reign of Harthacnut on a coin with the mint signature bryd. He is also a regular moneyer for the neighbouring mint of Dorchester but his coins are not known for the short cross type just at the time when his name appears on the Bridport coins