+ DAVE'S : RARE : COINS

III.III A bit of fun...........Did you know ?

The phrase "to pay through the nose" [refering to exhorbitant pricing] comes from the Viking practice of slitting the noses of anyone who would not or could not afford to pay their tribute !!

By the reign of king Eadgar [959-975] the penny was so overvalued that 65lb of money = 50lb of silver, bullion weight. The penny was far too light but was still circulating as legal tender.

There are 16 entries in the Domesday Book refering to moneyers.

In the 10th/11th century there were an estimated 5 million pennies circulating in England. Aethelred II [978-1016] payed over 40 million pennies in Danegeld. THIS IS EQUIVALENT TO AROUND ONE HUNDRED MILLION POUNDS TODAY. WITH PERHAPS THE PURCHASING POWER OF CLOSE TO ONE BILLION POUNDS STERLING.

The Norman mint of Dunwich is now under the North Sea.

There have been more Anglo-Saxon pennies found in Scandinavia than England. This is due to coin hoards of Danegeld.

Archbishop St. Dunstan once refused to celebrate mass until three dishonest moneyers had been deprived of their right hands.

Until 1180 it was expressly forbidden for Winchester moneyers to work in the same building. This was thought to prevent dishonesty.

In 1124 king Henry I judged his 150 moneyers, mutilating 94 of them for debasing the coinage. They each lost their right hand and one testicle.

In late Saxon times the penalty for coining "outside the walls" [ie. not in a lawful town or city] was death.

In 973 king Eadgar reformed the coinage and introduced a royal portrait as standard on the obverse of coins.

King Aethelstan [924-939] was the first monarch to mint coins with a crowned portrait. Until this reign kings were diademed or bare-headed on English coins. 

William the Conqueror was so impressed with the standard of the English coinage [by far the best in Europe] that he allowed it to remain in place. The same family of late Saxon royal jewellers produced the coin dies of William I also.

King Cnut was the first Danish monarch to mint coins. He did so in England first, then exported English moneyers to Denmark to establish a mint there.

The most expensive Anglo-Saxon coin ever sold is the Coenwulf gold Mancus, discovered in 2001. It was bought by the British Museum in 2005 for £357, 832.  www.scvhistory.com/scvhistory/signal/coins/worden-coinage0106a.htm

The only Anglo-Saxon queen permitted to mint coins in her own name was Cynethryth, wife of king Offa of Mercia [757-796].

The broad flan, thin penny [as opposed to the sceat] was probably introduced by the transitory king of Kent, Heaberht [c.774]. 

Anglo-Saxon coins were produced onto squares of silver...then trimmed round.

A pair of coin dies in the late Saxon/Norman period consisted of one obverse die and two reverse dies, as these broke easier.

An Anglo-Saxon gold Mancus was worth thirty silver pennies. The silver penny represented one days pay for a skilled craftsman. It was a huge sum of money to the ordinary peasant.

Under the laws of Cnut witnesses had to be present for any transaction involving more than four pennies.

In the tenth century a horse could be valued at up to [the enormous sum of] 120 pennies. You could buy an ox for a mancus, a cow at twenty pence, a pig at ten pence, a sheep at a shilling [here being four pennies] and a goat for two pence.

There were more mints operational in England after the Norman conquest [over seventy] than there are active in the whole world today. Over one hundred countries entrust the modern Royal Mint to coin their money.

Domesday Book names twenty eight mint towns.

The largest hoard of pennies of Norman England was found at Beauworth, Hampshire in 1833. The hoard contained at lease eight thousand coins. Sixty five mints are represented. Prior to the discovery of this hoard the PAXS type of William I was his rarest type. It is now his most common by far.

Spink's Coins Of England and the U.K. is one of the most frequently stolen library books in the country.

• Posted by dragonbloodaxe on 28/10/2006.
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III.II MY APPRECIATION..............

  I WOULD LIKE TO TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO THANK EVERYONE WHO HAS SUPPORTED MY WEBSITE SINCE ITS CONCEPTION ALMOST A YEAR AGO.

• Posted by dragonbloodaxe on 25/10/2006.
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III.I Known Anglo-Saxon and Norman mint towns.

These are places of issue for various coins from the early Saxon period [c.600 AD] to the end of king Stephen's coinage in 1159.

CERTAIN ATTRIBUTIONS.

These are mint towns that can be attributed with a high degree of certainty.

AXBRIDGE, AYLESBURY.

BARNSTAPLE, BATH, BEDFORD, BEDWYN, BERKELY, BRAMBER, BRIDPORT, BRISTOL, BRUTON, BUCKINGHAM, BURY ST. EADMUNDS.

CADBURY, CAISTOR, CALNE, CAMBRIDGE, CANTERBURY, CARDIFF, CARLISLE, CHESTER, CHICHESTER, CHRISTCHURCH, CISSBURY, CORBRIDGE, CREWKERNE, CRICHLADE.

DERBY, DORCHESTER, DOVER, DROITWICH, DUNWICH, DURHAM.

[The mint of Dunwich, along with the town, six churches and three chapels, now lies beneath the North Sea. Image here www.etribes.com/node/94704?size=_original]

EXETER.

FROME.

GLOUCESTER, GUILDFORD.

HASTINGS, HEDON, HEREFORD, HERTFORD, HORNCASTLE, HORNDON, HUNTINGDON, HYTHE.

ILLCHESTER, IPSWICH.

LANGPORT, LAUNCESTON, LEICESTER, LEWES, LINCOLN, LONDON, LYDFORD, LYMPNE.

MALDON, MALMSBURY, MARLBOROUGH, MELTON MOWBRAY, MILBOURNE PORT.

NEATISHEAD, NEWARK, NEWCASTLE, NORTHAMPTON, NORWICH, NOTTINGHAM.

OXFORD.

PEMBROKE, PERSHORE, PETHERTON, PEVESNEY.

READING, ROCHESTER, ROMNEY, RYE.

SALISBURY, SANDWICH, SHAFTSBURY, SHREWSBURY, SOUTHAMPTON, SOUTHWARK, STAFFORD, STAMFORD, STEYNING, SUDBURY, SWANSEA.

TAMWORTH, TAUNTON, THETFORD, TORKSEY, TOTNES, TUTBURY.

WALLINGFORD, WAREHAM, WARMINSTER, WARWICK, WATCHET, WILTON [WILTSHIRE], WILTON [NORFOLK], WINCHCOME, WINCHESTER, WORCESTER.

YORK.

UNCERTAIN ATTRIBUTIONS.

These are possible mint towns. Some are of course partial legends of known and unknown mints. / between two mints signifies that these probably represent the same mint. Some legends will be those of illiterate moneyers, or purposely obscure. A few may be temporary or illegal mints.

AESTHE, ANTOI, ATE.

BA, BDAON, BI, BIURD, BRIDIAN, BRENE, BRIC, BRYGIN, BURI.

CIPEN, COLEB, CRST, CVER.

DARENT, DELCA, DENN, DERNT/DERNE, DEV/DEVAI, DEVITUN, DRI/DYR.

EAEWIC, EANBYRI, ERL.

FANI, FCEDND.

GOTHABYRIG, GREN, GROMBES.

HA.

LAEWUDE, LANDC, LIHA, LVVIC.

MAINT, ME, MI, MONI, MORT.

NA, NIENEN, NIEWEN, NIWAN, NUH.

OCO.

ROV, RVCI, RYTHCO.

SCII, SMRIE, SPES, STES.

THI, TO, TOM, TROB.

UN.

VEIRE, VERI.

WE, WEINGI, WIHT, WIS.

"_ _ _LUTHEY"

Sources : Anglo-Saxon Coins. Timothy D. Cook website. Wikipedia. History of the English Penny. Various authors including myself website. Canterbury Archaeological Trust, Reconstruction Images website. English Hammered Coinage, Volume One. J.J. North. Book.

• Posted by dragonbloodaxe on 22/10/2006.
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III. Moneyers, mints, abuse and the Law.

From the very introduction of the penny in the mid eighth century, the kings official known as the moneyer was always responsible for its production according to the law. He alone was answerable if the weight was incorrect or the silver debased.....and his name was struck on the reverse of each coin, sometimes with  the mint of issue, so that it could be traced back to him. Privvy marks were also added on most coins so that individual batches of coins could be identified with some certainty.

Moneyers in Anglo-Saxon and Norman times were at the very top of their social class, they were burgessess representing their town or city and held the royal warrant of the king himself. Often trained jewellers, they had an intricate knowledge of the workings and special skills of the mint and could therefore afford to remain administrators and hire blacksmiths to actually make the coins on their behalf. Their names are often found as witnesses on royal charters. They were successful experienced exchangers, with high standards....and very prosperous.

The mint was [and still is] the place that the coins were made. They were generally [in later times by law] within busy towns, cities and ports. It had to be "within the walls" to be sanctioned. Those without the walls were illegal mints beyond the law. This practice was punishable by death. Each mint had access to its own supply of raw silver for the pennies, and was based around a smithy. The dies used in the hammering process were usually made at regional centres like London, York and Canterbury. Each reverse die was engraved with the moneyers name and often the name of the mint, along with the design [the class or type] chosen for the latest issue of coinage. The dies were then sent out to the provincial mints for the coining process. Types were changed periodically [every two or three years on average in later times] and this created a profit for the king, as the populace had to exchange its old coin for the new type at the mint of issue. In the 10th/11th century there were an estimated five million pennies in circulation in England.

Abuses of the coinage were always rife, but hit epidemic proportions around the reign of Henry I. Despite the harshest laws coins were clipped, shaved and shaken in bags [to produce silver dust]. Some of the worst abuses centered on the moneyers themselves. Underweight coins were produced and debased silver was commonly substituted, with the excess skimmed off the top and into the moneyers pocket. This was in fact treason of a kind. The common punishment for this offence was amputation of the right hand. Henry I [1100-1135], in responce to the public outcry concerning the state of his coinage [people were bending and breaking the pennies to see if they were genuine or plated forgeries], called an assize of moneyers at Christmas 1124 in Winchester. All 150 moneyers were called to account. All but three honest men were found guilty. 94 were mutilated according to law, each losing their right hand and one testicle. The rest paid huge fines to escape this punishment, although many were banished. The abuses of course did not stop. In an attempt to curb the excesses Henry introduced the first [short-lived] issue of round halfpence and farthings [literally forthings, named for the practice of halving and quartering coins at the mint to provide small change] They did not catch on and it was not until the reign of Henry III [1216-1272] that this was attempted again. These coins [about a dozen or so are known] are excessively rare today.

Monarchs have always been closely associated with their coinage, and have issued strict laws governing every area of its production and useage. The loss of the moneyers right hand [it would then be nailed above the money-smithy] for infringement was common to most Saxon and Norman kings. We have evidence of it in writing [from as early as the time of the Visigoths] in the law codes of Aethelstan, Eadgar and Aethelred II [later in reign increased to death]. St. Dunstan in the reign of king Eadgar once refused to celebrate Mass until three guilty moneyers had been dealt with according to law and lost their hands. Most kings accepted payment from the guilty to avoid the terrible punishments. We know that Aethelred II accepted WER [a payment for how much a mans life was worth according to his status] from guilty criminals, including foreigners who introduced chipped or false money into the country. Henry I accepted these payments but later passed a law stating that a man could not redeem himself with money but should lose his eyes and members. Henry, concerned more than most monarchs for the national coinage, also ordered [bizarrely], in about 1108 that all new coins from the mints of issue should have an official edge snick. This was to counter those who would only accept perfect coins and not those [even though official] that had been defaced in some way. This order was made law and by law everyone had to accept all genuine coins. Earlier, in 1101, Henry I gave the archbishop of York jurastiction over his own moneyers [of the York moneyers, most would work for the king and one or two for the archbishops profit, this in common with other ecclesiastical mints] with the power to enforce the  statutes against false coiners.

Sources :  Norman coins of Britain. Ken Elks website. British History Online. York as Centre of Administration and The Tower Mint websites. Fitzwilliam Museum. Coins and Medals. Normans website. Economists View. History of Thought website. Geocities. Farthegn moneyers website. Grunal Moneta. Coinage in Tenth Century England. Blunt, Stewart, Lyon. Spink. Coins of England.

• Posted by dragonbloodaxe on 17/10/2006.
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II.IX Treachery, rivalry and regicide. The cult of a boy king.

Eadward, called "The Martyr"  was born c.962 in Wessex. He was the eldest son of the late king Eadgar and his first wife Æðelfleda.

He was by all accounts a man of learning, of excellent conduct, wholly orthodox [in difficult and reforming times] and a good Christian. He was virtuous and very generous to the poor.

Following Eadgar's death two rival factions vied to place their claimant on the throne of England. Against Eadward was his younger brother [by Eadgar's second wife, queen Æðelthryð] Aethelred [later king Æðelred II "The Unready" 978-1016]. Eadward's claim was supported by archbishop [St.] Dunstan, ealderman Aethelwine of East Anglia and ealdorman Byrhtnoð [who was later heroically defeated by Anlaf the Dane at Maldon in 991] of Wessex. Similarly upholders of Æðelred's claim included bishop [St.] Æðelvald [of Winchester], queen Æðelthryð [naturally] and ealdorman Ælfhere of Mercia.

This state of affairs was most likely concerned with family alliances and allegiances rather than worthiness to inherit the throne. The brothers were figureheads of course, in 975 Æðelred was nine years old and Eadward not much older.

Ultimately Edward's [legitimate] claim proved the stronger...and was confirmed by the Witan. Eadward succeeded as Eadward II and he was crowned in 975.

A great famine raged during the peroid of succession, and violent attacks were commited against monasteries, [several were in fact destroyed and the monks forced to flee] stirred up by disgruntled nobles including Ælfhere of Mercia and others. Much land granted to the monastic community under king Eadgar was forcibly retaken during this period. The anti-monastic movement here is perhaps better understood as the reclamation of properties lost, rather than a direct attack on church and monastics ideals.

Eadward reigned for less than four years. On the evening of March 18th 978, Eadward was hunting near Wareham in Dorset, and decided to visit his brother Æðelred, being brought up at at Corfe Castle [a fortified manor, the home of queen Aelfthryth]. Separated from his retinue, he arrived at the house alone. Before dismounting he was offered a cup of mead, and whilst drinking this certain zealous thegns of Æðelred murdered him by stabbing him in the back. He was then dragged along the ground by a stirrup as the frightened animal bolted. Æðelred himself was not implicated in the plot due to his age. Ælfthryð herself was certainly implicated according to some accounts, and more than likely plotted the killing. [She later lived out her days as a nun in apparently sincere repentance].

Eadward was initially buried at Wareham, without royal honours, at the east end of the Holy Mother of God church. The following year ealdorman Ælfhere discovered the body and on 20th February 981 it was borne with great ceremony to Shaftsbury, where the nuns of the abbey recieved it after a seven day journey, and buried it with full royal honours on the north side of the altar.

Miracles began to be associated with The Martyr almost immediately after his death. King Æðelred II was overjoyed with the legends and stories about his brother, and ordered the bishops to elevate the relics within the abbey. This was accomplished on 20th June 1001. The relics were placed within a resplendant casket and an ornate shrine raised, at which pilgrims reported many more miraculous occurances. Eadward The Martyr [as he was later known, to distinguish him from Eadward I "The Elder" 899-924] was formally canonised in 1001, and he is called a saint in a charter of that year. St Ælphage, [himself later martyred, by the Danes] presiding at the All English Council, glorified St. Eadward in 1008. The celebration of his three feast days was enforced in the law codes of Æðelred II and king Cnut. Eadward's cult was popular until the dissolution of the monasteries, at which time his relics were hidden to keep them safe.

The relics were re-discovered during archaeological excavations at the ruins of Shaftsbury Abbey by John Wilson-Claridge in 1931. The identity of the bones was confirmed by Dr. T.E.A. Stowell, an Osteologist. Examinations performed on the relics in 1970 confirmed the young man had been stabbed in the back and dragged along the ground by a stirrup. In 1982 Wilson-Claridge donated the relics to the Russian Orthodox Church outside Russia. They were subsequently interred within the church at Brushwood Cemetary in Woking, Surrey. The cemetary church is now named after him, the church of Eadward The Martyr.

Coinage...........

The coinage of Eadward The martyr consisted of silver pennies only. A single type was minted, similar to that of Eadgar's reform coinage. The obverse has a diademed bust [now standard after the recent reforms] of Eadward left with the legend EADþEARD REX ANGLORX. The obverse has the name of the moneyer and mint [also now standard] around a small cross pattee. Between 30 and 40 mints were striking during this reign.

My coin [shown here] is a very rare cut half penny of Eadward The martyr. Obverse EADþEARD REX ANGLORX. Reverse ÆÐELVALD NO LVNDINI. Aethelwald at London. Half and quarter pennies [cut at the mint of issue] were first produced during the late Saxon era, and are much rarer than later medieval cut coins. Those of the obscure monarchs are rarer still. I only know of four cut half pennies of Eadward the Martyr.

Sources : Anglo-Saxons.net website. Wikipedia website. Anglo-Saxon Timeline website. English Hammered Coinage, Volume One. J.J. North. Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Anne Savage. Coins of England 2004. Spink.

• Posted by dragonbloodaxe on 06/10/2006.
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II.VIII Unidentified Stephen penny Identified !!

On 01/09/06, through the contact section of this site, I recieved some photographs and a request to identify the moneyer and mint of the king Stephen penny depicted. I have researched the coin and identified both the mint and moneyer. Unfortunately the email address of the sender was not valid, leaving no means of contact other than posting my findings here.

The coin is a penny of king Stephen, Cross Moline [Watford] type, minted c.1136-c.1145. The obverse has the legend STIEFNE R, bust right with sceptre. The coin was minted in SOUTHWARK [SV on the coin, the S is rotated on its side]. The moneyer is WULFRED [struck on the coin as VLFREDI] I can find reference to only one other recorded example of this moneyer for king Stephen [also of the Southwark mint].

I think finally something has to be said about the condition of this coin. I would perhaps grade it as Good Very Fine [but as struck] and it was probably discovered as part of a hoard, rather than a single detector find. As for value, maybe a couple of thousand pounds minimum. It is arguably the best Stephen penny I have ever seen.

Coin identification is a hobby of mine. I am always willing to do this for anyone at any time. Please feel free to get in touch with me [either through this site, or through my Ebay forum "Early Medieval Hammered Coinage"] for this purpose or any other. Coins need not be from my specialised eras for me to ID them.

Sources : English Hammered Coinage, Volume One. J.J. North.

Photos supplied were of very poor quality and are not reproduced here.

• Posted by dragonbloodaxe on 04/09/2006.
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II.VII Meridith.

Rarer and more beautiful than the Coenwulf gold mancus. A new arrival in our family, my daughter Meridith. Born 15/08/06. 9lb 80z. Mum and baby doing fine - dad still shaking.........but VERY proud.

• Posted by dragonbloodaxe on 16/08/2006.
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II.VI A basic glossary of associated terminology.

I have provided here, for convenience, a very limited introduction to the use of terms associated with early medieval hammered coinage. The backbone of this post is taken from the Coin yearbook 2005. I have added and removed explanations as necessary.

Annulet small circle often used as an ornament, or spacing device in coin inscriptions. 

Ar Abbreviation for Latin Argentum [silver] used for coins struck in this metal.

Attribution Identification of a coin by characteristics such as issuing authority, reign, mint, and by a standard reference.

Base Non-precious metal.

Beading Ornamental border found on the raised rim of a coin.

Blank Piece of cut or punched metal prepared for striking to produce coins.

Blundered Inscription Legend in which the lettering is jumbled or meaningless, indicating the illiteracy of the Vikings for example in copying English coinage.

Clipped Coins Precious metal coins from which small amounts have been removed by clipping the edges.

Cut coins Coins cut into smaller pieces to provide correspondingly smaller denominations. Often assisted by a cross on the reverse.

Debasement The reduction in the precious metal content of the coinage, usually by governments for economic reasons.

Device Heraldic term for the pattern or emblem on coins.

Die Hardened piec e of metal bearing a mirror image of the device to be struck on one side of a coin.

Ecclesistical Coins Coins struck by a religious authority such as an archbishop or abbot.

Effigy An image or representation of a person, usually a king, on the obverse or important side of a coin.

Engraving The art of cutting lines or grooves in a die. Engraving images into the face of the dies used in striking coins.

Epigraphy The study of inscriptions, involving the classification and interpretation of coin legends.

Facing Bust Term for the portrait, usually on the obverse of a coin, which faces front instead of to the side.

Field Flat part of the surface of a coin between the legend, the effigy and other raised parts of the design.

Flan The piece of metal struck between dies to produce a coin. Also called a blank or planchett.

Hammered Term denoting coins produced by the traditional method of striking flans by hand between dies.

Hoard Accumulation of coins concealed in times of economic or political upheaval. Often discovered centuries later.

Hybrid Another term for a mule.

Legend The inscription on a coin.

Ligature Term denoting the linking of two letters in a legend. For example AE on coins of king Aelfred etc...

Mint The place in which coins are produced.

Moneyer The individual charged with striking coins at the official mint. Also known as a coiner.

Mule Coin whose obverse is not matched with its official or regular reverse.

Nicked Coin Coin bearing a tiny nick or cut in its edge. Silver coins were tested by this method [especially] in the reign of Henry I. Eventually people refused to accept them. The problem was solved when the state decreed that all coins must have a nick in them.

Numismatics The study of coins and related fields. From the Latin numisma and the Greek nomisma [money].

Obverse The front of the coin. The side of a coin usually bearing the name and/or effigy of the king or ruler.

Pile In hammered coinage, the obverse die. The opposite of the trussel.

Privy Mark A mark, pattern of marks or symbol incorporated into the design of a coin to identify the mint, coiner or particular die used. 

Profile A side view of the human face or bust, widely used as a coin effigy.

Retrograde Term describing the inscriptions running from right to left, or with the letters in a mirror image. Thought by some to be the work of ignorant engravers.

Reverse The back of the coin. The side without the name or image of the monarch etc...

Saltire Heraldic term for a cross in the shape of an 'X'. St. Andrew's cross.

Silver A precious metal, formerely widely used to produce coinage.

Styca Name given to the debased silver sceats of Northumbria in the 8th-9th century.

Trussel In hammered coinage, the reverse die. The opposite of the pile.

Type Principal motif on a coin, enabling numismatists to identify the issue.

• Posted by dragonbloodaxe on 11/08/2006.
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II.IVb Invasion, Conquest and the Church. [My "wants list" part two !!].

In part one of this post I detailed the Anglo-Saxon pennies of the four kingdoms that issued them. There were in fact five more or less independent kingdoms extant at that time. The fifth was Northumbria. No pennies were issued in this country [*] until it came under the control of the Vikings, after the 860's. But coinage was issued by the native kings, and Archbishops of York, in the form of old fashioned sceats and later base metal stycas. Much of the Northumbrian coinage is Normal or Common, and thus I have listed only the rarer issues [of those with no zoomorphic animal forms] from each class.

Northumbria and the Archbishops of York.

(None from AR sceattas [a]) AR sceattas [b]. These are joint issues by kings and Archbishops of York. Eadberht with Archbishop Ecgberht 737-758, Æðelvald Moll with Archbishop Ecgberht 759-765, Alchred with Archbishop Ecgberht 765-766, Æðelred I with Archbishop Eanbald I 779-780.

Phase 1a stycas. Æðelred I (second reign) 789-796 ['Shrine' and rare variants only], Eardvulf (first reign) 796-806, Ælfwald II 806-808. Archbishop Eanbald II 796-835 total tenure. (Issue in base silver).

(None from phase Ib) Phase II stycas. Archbishop Eanbald II, Archbishop Vulfhere 849/50-900.

[*] King Eanred of Northumbria is believed to have struck a penny coinage. The single known 'Eanred' penny has a bust right obverse with cross, part moline and part crosslet reverse. It is extremely rare and little understood. It may not have been coined by this monarch at all. His styca coins, N 860, n862 and N 864 are all quite common.

Beginning in the reign of ◊ffa [until that of Edward the Elder], each Archbishop of Canterbury minted coins in his own name, with or without the name of the ruling Overlord. Although within its boundries, this coinage often had very little to do with the country of Kent or its kings. All of the various types of this series are rare in some way and all would warrant inclusion in my cabinet. I have included all of the ecclesiastically minted Anglo-Saxon pennies in my wants list, the Joint Issues, the archbishops of Canterbury and (certain Archbishops of) York, and [in part one] the only bishop of London to hold a warrant to mint coins.

The Archbishops of Canterbury.

Jænberht 765-792, Æðelheard (elected 792, consecrated 793, died 805), Vulfred 805-832, Ceolnoth 833-870, Æðelred 870-889, Plegmund 890-914.

The Viking settlers in England established patterns of rule based on those of their Anglo-Saxon neighbours. In an attempt not to appear barbaric, coinage was initiated and maintained throughout the Danelaw and other Viking terratories, again based on, and often imitative of, that of adjoining kingdoms. The different regions each produced a rich and varied output, although degredation sometimes sets in and the resulting coinage is often blundered and of a shoddy workmanship.

Danish East Anglia. Æðelstan II [Guthrum] 878-890, Oswald [unknown except for his coins], Æðelred I [Imitations] c.870, St. Eadmund memorial Coinage [rarer variants and halfpennies only], St. Martin of Lincoln, Ælfred [Imitations, including halfpennies].

The Danelaw. Ælfred [Imitations, different to those of east Anglia], Ælfred/Plegmund [Imitation], Eadward the Elder [Imitation], Plegmund [Imitation] c.900, Earl Sihtric.

Viking coinage of York [?]. Guðfrið, Siefred, Cnut, Cnut and /or Siefred, blundered issues, halfpennies.

York, early tenth century Issues. St. Peter Coinage [Early Issues], Regnald [blundered types].

English coins of the Hiberno-Norse Vikings. Sihtric 921-927, St. Peter Coinage [Later Issues]. (Later period, after the battle of Brunanburh, mostly struck at York). Anlaf Guthfrithsson 939-941, Olaf Sihtricsson [first reign] 941-944, Regnald Guthfrithsson 943-944, Sihtric Sihtricsson c. 942, Anonymous [small cross ELTANGERHT], Eric Bloodaxe [first reign] 948, Olaf Sihtricsson [second reign] 948-952, Eric Bloodaxe [second reign] 952-954. 

The production of coinage hardly changed at all following the Norman Conquest. The Anglo-Saxon penny was minted to a very high standard. The controls and periodic type changes of the previous reigns were permitted to continue and the high output was maintained by over seventy mints operating during the Conquerors reign. An attempt was made to instigate an issue of round halfpence during the reign of Henry I. Due to the large and diverse coinage in the reigns of the Norman monarchs, I have limited myself to the rarer types only.

William I. 1066-1087. Profile Left type, Canopy type, Two Sceptres type, Sword type, Profile Right type.

William II. 1087-1100. [All types of this reign are included, as all are classified as at least Rare]. Profile type, Cross in Quatrefoil type, Cross Voided type, Cross Patee and Fleury type, Cross Fleury and Piles type.

Henry I. 1100-1135. Annulets type, Cross Fleury Profile left type, PAX type, Annulets and Piles type, Voided Cross with Fleurs type, Pointing Bust and Stars type, Quatrefoil with Piles type, Cross with Annulets Large Bust type, Cross in Quatrefoil type, Double Insciption type, Cross with Annulets Small Bust type, Star in Lozenge type. + Both types of halfpenny. (types 10, 14 and 15 are missing from this reign as they are not really that rare).

Stephen. 1135-1154. Rarer substantial issues.  Watford type 1279, all coins struck from erased or defaced dies, all Eastern and South-Eastern variants, all Southern and Midland variants, all North-East and Scottish Border variants, all of the Ornamented Series [Lozenge Sceptre], all of the uncertain issues, Henry Earl of Northumberland, Stephen and Queen Matilda, Robert Earl of Leicester, Eustace, Robert, Bishop Henry, Matilda, Henry of Neubourg, Duke Henry, Robert Earl of Gloucester, William Earl of Gloucester, Brian Fitzcount, Patrick Earl of Salisbury. (For the Baronial Issues of this reign, putting a title to a name is often educated guesswork).

That concludes my "wants list" !! I have attempted to list the rarer types of each monarch and class faithfully, but if mistakes do appear then they are my own - I am only human !! I have stuck to the types that I collect personally. Pennies, from their inception to the end of the reign of Stephen, sceats if named with king and/or archbishop, stycas only if very rare, and all round halfpence. Sceats with animals, zoomorphic or other designs and/or no legend are not included, nor are common types from the eras indicated, ie. most stycas. Some of the coins of the later Anglo-Saxon kings of all England are rare issues, Harthacnut, Edward the Martyr, Harold II etc....and there are rare types among the more common monarchs of course.

I own examples of the types above in bold italics.

Sources : Spink. Coins of England. English Hammered Coinage, Volume One. J.J. North. Viking Coins of the Danelaw. Michael Dolley. Anglo-Saxon Pennies. Michael Dolley. Coins of the Anarchy 1135-54. George C. Boon. English Coins in the British Museum, Volume One. Charles Keary. The Book of Kells.

• Posted by dragonbloodaxe on 08/08/2006.
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II.V The life and coinage of a martyred king.

Eadmund of East Anglia was born in 841AD, according to some sources in Nurembourg, of the Old Continental Saxons. He was supposedly not of the East Anglian royal line, or possibly a distant relative. The written sources are ambiguous and open to interpretation on these and other points. He became or was elected king of Norfolk at Lydgate on Christmas day 855, aged fourteen. He was consecrated and crowned king of Norfolk, and later Suffolk, by bishop Hunbert of the East Angles at Burum (now Bures St. Mary), a royal villa on the Stour and capital of Suffolk. He is supposed to have built a fortified tower at Hunstanton for 'country solitude' and retired there for a whole year in order to learn the Psalter by heart. He could apparently recite it perfectly in ceremonies of worship thereafter. Of the next eleven years of Eadmund's life absolutely nothing is known. We do know that he was extremely pious and a competant military general.

The Viking Great Army (under the command of uncertain kings but certainly including earls Ubba and Ingvar the Boneless) had devastated Northumbria in 867 and by means of ambush put to death the rival kings Osbert, of the legitimate line, and Ælle. The Army wintered at York 867-8, and then marched on into Mercia, wintering at Nottingham 868-9. Here they were beseiged by king Burgred of Mercia with the assistance of king Æðelred I and Prince Ælfred (later king Ælfred the Great) of Wessex, but without descisive result. From the Midlands the Vikings pushed on virtually unopposed into East Anglia, taking up residence at Thetford in Norfolk.

From 866 Eadmund had managed to keep up an uneasy, often broken, peace with the invaders. Negotiations collapsed in 869 and the Vikings attacked the Angles. The Angles held firm and the invaders were initially repulsed. They soon returned in even greater numbers and razed Thetford to the ground. This outraged the Angles and led to the battle of Hoxne, twenty miles east of Thetford, in November 869. The battle was bloody but the Vikings took the field. Eadmund himself, a resourceful man, survived and escaped.

The Viking leadership issued a proclamation, through a messenger, to the effect that Eadmund could continue to rule as a puppet monarch under the command of the Viking king of Anglia, but must 'share' his treasury. Eadmund refused the advice of his bishops to surrender or flee, and refused to comply with the invaders demands on the grounds that he would not share joint rule with a pagan king, but may be willing to reconsider on behalf of his subjects if the invaders accepted baptism. He was later captured alive and unarmed.

The Vikings had Eadmund brought before them into the feast hall, where his constant calling on the name of Christ drove them into a violent rage. They firstly beat him with cudgels and/or animal bones. This failed to break his spirit, so they took him outside and tied him to a stout tree, where they cruelly whipped him with long scourges. Javelins (light throwing spears ?) were then thrown at him, with care taken not to hit any vital organs. When this also failed dozens of arrows were fired into his body, until he 'resembled a thistle'. He was finally beheaded. As a last insult the vikings are said to have thrown his head into briar bushes, where it was later miraculously guarded by a wolf.

Some sources maintain that Eadmund was martyred at the insistence of Ingvar and Ubba, who were led to believe that he was in some way responsible for the death of their father, Ragnar Lothbrok, in England. In another version Ragnar boasted that the achievements of Eadmund were well known and far outweighed those of his own sons. The brothers then came to England with the express purpose of killing Eadmund and plundering his kingdom. Yet another author states that Ragnar was executed in a wolf or snake pit by order of king Aelle of Northumbria.

He was buried at first near to the site of his martyrdom, perhaps at Hoxne. But his relics were later transferred to Beadoriceworth (later Bury St. Edmunds) some time before 945. He was canonised at an unknown date. The shrine of St. Eadmund soon became one of the most famous and visited in all England. Over sixty churches throughout England were eventually dedicated to him. As patron saint of the English (before the Normans replaced him with St. George) he was invoked against the plague, and his reputation as a saint soon spread all over Europe. His feast day was celebrated on November 20th. Within a few decades the East Anglian Vikings had been converted and even issued a memorial coinage dedicated to St. Eadmund.

In the reign of Æðelred II (975-1016) a French monk, Abbo of Fleury, wrote an account of the Life of St. Eadmund, at the request of the monks of Bury St. Edmunds Abbey (for a picture of the Abbey ruins at Bury, see below). Abbo based his 'Life' on a story told by Archbishop Dunstan of Canterbury. Dunstan had heard it as a young man from king Aethelstan (II, 924-939) as he related it to the bishop of Rochester. The tale had been told to Æðelstan himself by king Eadmund's armour-bearer, then a very old man. Abbo of Fleury's Life of St. Eadmund was later translated from the Latin into Old English by Ælfric of Eynsham as the Passio Sancti Eadmundi.

Coins, crosses and contrition.

Pennies were struck throughout the reign of Eadmund of East Anglia. Eight different types were produced at more or less regular intervals. The first type, N 456 (Alpha obverse) was the most common, with the next three types differing only slightly from each other. Apart from Type One the others have only one moneyer per type, with the exception of Type's Three and Four, which both have (the same) two moneyers, and one of my fragments, of which more later.

Many of these types are identical to types from the previous reign (Æðelweard of East Anglia c.845-855) and some share the same moneyer for both reigns. Although not as diverse as the coinage of Æðelstan I of East Anglia (c.825-c.845) the innovations of this reign are in the designs of the obverse crosses on some later types. For example Type Five has the cross with its upper and both transverse arms crosslet, the latter sloping upward. The design is as far as I can ascertain unique to this reign and monarch. Type Six has a cross on three legs. These designs are refreshing and pleasing to the eye.

Eleven moneyers are recorded as striking for Eadmund, most of them on his Type One. Three of them (Æðelhelm, Dudda and Twicga) minted the same or different types in the previous reign also. The Master Coiner Æðelhelm minted pennies with only minor differences during the reigns of Aethelstan I, Aethelweard and Eadmund. A total of over forty years !!!

The pictures above show two different types of the coinage of Eadmund.

The first coin [top] is an Eadmund Type Seven. These are extremely rare (North has VR). Mine is only the fourth known example (recorded as EMC 2006.0116) of this type for this monarch. The moneyer for the other three Type Seven coins is BEAGHELM, who also coined Type One. The moneyer for my fragment is BEAGSTAN (a new moneyer for the type) a Mercian moneyer active during the reign of king Burgred (852-874). This type was also produced under Aethelstan I, but not under Aethelweard, so can be dated fairly accurately.

The second coin [bottom] is a standard Type I. It has the Alpha obverse and the Cross and pellets reverse. The moneyer for this coin is SIGERED. Of the 22 EMC/SCBI recorded examples of N 456, only four are struck by this moneyer, five including my coin. The pellets and bar around the Alpha symbol are a match on all five coins of this moneyer.

As mentioned above only decades after the martyrdom of king Eadmund, the Viking settlers produced a memorial coinage in honour of St. Eadmund. The coins were numerous (in fact they were the most common English Viking coins) and struck c.895-c.910. The obverse of the coins has the Alpha of the Type One coins of his own reign, with the legend SC EADMUND REX (often blundered). The reverse has a large cross patee, another of Eadmund's devices, with the moneyers name (often blundered) followed by MONETA, or sometimes ME FEC(IT). Image here www.stedmundsbury.gov.uk/sebc/visit/images/Myedmem.jpg

The earlier coins are better and generally have pellets in the obverse field. Degeneration soon sets in and later coins have blundered legends, small flans and thick lettering. Slightly different types were produced also, with double obverses/reverses, ERIAICE lettering on reverse and also halfpennies. All are now at least Very Rare. A high number of moneyers were employed to coin the type. Some are recognisable as regular Anglian moneyers, some as Viking coiners. Several employ nicknames and many have foreign sounding names (French, Frankish, Irish etc).......In short the vast amount of moneyers of this coinage deserve a whole study to themselves !!

The settlers of the Viking Great Army had gone from being regicides to respectable christians in the space of one generation !!

Sources : Anglo-Saxon Primer - Professor Kenneth Cutler website. Patron Saints Index website. Google. Wikipedia website. St. Patricks Church, saints of November 20th website. Catholic Encyclopedia website. Richard Rawlinson centre for Anglo-Saxon studies website. The British Library website. Books Fact and Fiction in the Life of Eadmund of East Anglia. Professor Dorothy Whitelock. Anglo-Saxon chronicle. Anne Savage (Editor). The Lives of the Fathers etc...Rev. Alban Butler. 

• Posted by dragonbloodaxe on 05/08/2006.
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