Unique coin minted in Carlisle in 12th century sells for £32,000

It was initially given an estimate of £15,000-20,000 and was bought by a collector bidding via the internet at Noonans auction house in Mayfair.

Jim Brown, coin specialist at Noonans said: “We are very pleased with today’s result – there was a lot of interest in the coin from both private collectors and institutions who recognised its importance and rarity.”

The coin dates from a highly significant time in Carlisle’s rich and varied history.

The death of Henry I in France on 1 December 1135 altered his kingdom forever and initiated the Anarchy, a period of unrest played out around the disputed succession to throne between Henry’s daughter Matilda and her cousin Stephen of Blois.

Although the barons of the land had agreed to recognise Matilda, Stephen, on hearing of Henry’s death, was quicker to return to England to stake his claim and was crowned in Westminster Abbey on December 22.

Within a matter of days, David I of Scotland began an invasion of the north of England, ostensibly in support of Matilda who was his niece but more likely seeing an unexpected and unrivalled opportunity to regain territory in the disputed borderlands between the kingdoms.

Carlisle fell to the Scots before the end of January 1136 and possession was ratified by the first Treaty of Durham a few months later.

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David was quick to continue the fortification of the castle begun by Henry a decade earlier.

Carlisle was one of David’s favourite residences and he spent a great deal of time there. He died in his bedchamber in the tower of the castle in late May 1153.

The discovery of silver deposits near Carlisle in the 1120s led to the swift establishment of a mint where coins were struck.

Coin specialist, Jim Brown said that the coin represents a find of ‘considerable historical and numismatic importance.