The numismatic chronicle and journal of the Royal Numismatic Society

NOTICES OF RECENT NUMISMATIC PUBLICATIONS.
Anglo-Saxon Coins in the Royal Swedish Cabinet of Medals at
Stockholm, all found in Sweden. Arranged and described by
Bror Emil Hildebrand. (New augmented Edition, with 14
Plates. Stockholm, 1881. Pp. viii. and 502.)
It will be with great satisfaction that all English numisma-
tists will hail the appearance of this second and enlarged
edition of Hildebrand' s important work. After an interval of
thirty-five years it was to be expected that the collection of
Anglo-Saxon coins at Stockholm would be somewhat increased ;
but the actual increment surpasses any reasonable expectation
and may almost be characterized as startling, being very nearly
150 per cent. Already in 1846 when these coins found in
the case that
Swedish soil numbered 4,232, it was constantly
the English student had to refer to the Swedish Catalogue for
details of the English coinage of the tenth and eleventh cen-
turies, but this enlarged list, comprising as it does some 10,458
coins, will be absolutely indispensable to all those who wish to
be familiar with the coins of that period. The restriction in
time of the coins found in the Swedish hoards is very remarkable.
Of Eadweard I., ^Ethelstan, and Sihtric of Northumberland,
the coins are not unknown, but the examples of the
three reigns taken altogether may be reckoned upon a single
hand. Eadgar's coins are about 60, and Eadweard II. 's under
80 ; but of JEthelred II. there are nearly 4,400, of Cnut nearly
3,900, of Harold I. 1,050, of Harthacnut over 200, and of
Edward the Confessor about 800. These are the different
varieties described ; of actual coins, Prof. Hildebrand reckons
that more than 22,000 have been found in Sweden. The
preponderance of the coins belonging to the time of Cnut, or a
little before or after that time, seems to show that a large pro-
portion of this treasure may have arisen from trade rather than
from plunder, as at that time the relations between this country
and Scandinavia were of the closest, and one king occupied
the throne of both Denmark and England. The fact of nearly
half the coins having been found in the Island of Gotland, the
emporium of northern trade, also, as Prof. Hildebrand observes,
points to this conclusion. Of the ravages of the Danes in
England in the eighth and ninth centuries few or no numismatic
records appear to be found in Scandinavia.
But to return to the book before us. The arrangement