+ DAVE'S : RARE : COINS

IV.I A visit to Canterbury.

Recently I was lucky enough to be able to take a short break in Canterbury, one of our most historical cities. The history of Canterbury is known from pre-Roman times [the name Canterbury comes from the Iron Age Cantii tribe] through Roman occupation, Anglo-Saxon settlement, Viking attacks, Norman conquest and much more, up to the present day. The Cathedral is of course world famous and is the mother church of the Anglican faith. There are many other historical buildings in evidence around the city. The conversion of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in England began here in 597, with St. Augustines mission to king Æðelberht of Kent, and the ruins of the abbey he founded are tranquil and serene. Evidence of older Christian buildings than the Cathedral [598] and the Abbey [597] is found in St. Martins church, a quiet and unimposing building, documented back to c.580 but mentioned by Bede as being built during the Roman era. I took pictures of some of these historical buildings relevant to my era of interest, up to c.1200.

Photos [Please click on each to enlarge] :

The Twin West Towers. Canterbury Cathedral.
The Central Tower, "Bell Harry". Canterbury Cathedral.
St. Anselms Norman Chapel. Canterbury Cathedral.
Lavish Romanesque stonework on the upper level of the Norman Tower. Canterbury Cathedral.
St. Augustines Abbey Ruins, with the Cathedral in the background.
The Chapel of St. Pancras. Dating from the early 7thc. Part of St. Augustines Abbey Ruins.
Abbot Vulfric's Rotunda. Late Anglo-Saxon foundations. St. Augustines Abbey.
St. Martin's Church. The chancel [the Roman church] looking east.
Square-headed Roman and round-headed Saxon doorways together in the chancel of St. Martins Church.
Bastion on the Roman/Medieval city walls, with the Cathedral Tower in the background.

Canterbury was the most prolific mint throughout most of the Anglo-Saxon period, continuing into the Norman and medieval eras. Archbishops of Canterbury coined pennies in their own right from the mid Eighth century to the early decades of the Tenth century, beginning with Offa's Archbishop, Jænberht [766-792] and concluding with Plegmund [890-923] under Aelfred and Eadward the Elder [see post III.VII for an example of a Plegmund penny struck at Canterbury].

Posted by dragonbloodaxe on 25/03/2007.
login or register to post comments

IV. The February meeting of The British Numismatic Society.

27 / 02 / 07.

Well I finally managed to find time [in my very busy schedule of caring for my gran and trying to be a good husband and dad to my wife and four kids !!] to actually attend in person a meeting of the British Numismatic Society [BNS]. I had wanted to attend for some time, and had made arrangements on several occasions in the past, but it was not to be.... until last month.

I had been corresponding for several months, by post, with a very nice gentleman called Tony Holmes, who has recently retired as Society librarian. He and I discussed various aspects of numismatics and the activities of the society. Tony was most helpful with small details like what to wear. He even sent me a hand-drawn map of the streets around Woburn Square, on which the Warburg Institute stands. This is where most of the BNS meetings are held, usually on the last Tuesday of each month. Tony had asked me to meet him early, before the meeting so that he could show me around the library, housed in the basement of the aforementioned building.

So I set off from my home town of Melton Mowbray and caught a midday train to London, via Peterborough. After an uneventful journey I arrived at Kings Cross station, and this marked my first visit to London as well as my first BNS meet. After quite some time spent strolling around the streets of London in pouring rain trying to follow Tony's map [which was accurate I hasten to add] I gave up, had a hot sausage roll to eat and jumped in the nearest cab. Five minutes and a labrynth of side streets later I was standing outside the Warburg. I showed my membership card to the lady at reception and was duly admitted.

The receptionist kindly directed me to the library. But first I decided to explore the Classical and Folklore library across from the numismatic library. So half an hour spent in there meant less time in the library I had come to visit. But finally I walked into the library that is shared by members of the British and Royal Numismatic Societies. Tony was there to greet me, and very kindly walked me through the layout of the different sections [on horrible rolling shelving], and as a priveledged newcomer afforded me the rare honour of a look inside the locked ancient numismatic book section. This was an eye-opener, containing books from as far back as the XVIth century. All in Latin of course......and the stylised coin drawings not always as accurate as they could be !! The illustrated coin cabinets of the different eras held my attention, and were far more sumptuous than my own, which is a specialist cabinet but simply practical. Tony then disappeared to conclude a coin transaction and so I browsed until the meeting began.

At the appointed time I followed a couple of the members in the library upstairs to the lecture room and sat down. The formalities were of course dealt with first, new members, news etc... I knew in advance that the subject of tonights meeting was The Coinage of the Iceni - new information from a die study of the complete coinage. By a very learned specialist called John Talbot. Now this is not really my cup of tea, (not being my specialist era of c.780-1159 [or from the inception of the penny to the end of king Stephens coinage]) but listening to his ideas and methodology I began to plan where certain aspects might be applied to early medieval coinage. At the end of the day it was a little deep for me but interesting in the areas that I understood. At least I didnt fall asleep unlike around half of the older folk in the room !!!

Once John had finished his talk, the lights came up and I was able to look around properly. I spotted one or two famous numismatists like Philip de Jersey and Stewart Lyon, and there must have been others. I also met [the aptly named!!] Charles Farthing, the former membership secretary, and talked with him briefly. I think I will introduce myself around a bit at the next meet I am able to attend. I then spotted the meeting Chairman Mark Blackburn walking in my direction, and decided to introduce myself to him. Dr. Mark Blackburn is a well known numismatist and author, keeper of coins and medals at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, and since 2004 President of the BNS. He is an acknowledged expert in medieval coinage.

Mark said he was pleased to welcome new members, and when I told him my name, he recognised me from my correspondence with Mike Bonser, another respected numismatist. I had been discussing my website with Mike and he had contacted Mark to try to arrange a visit for us both to the Coin Room of the Fitzwilliam. In doing so Mike had mentioned my website, and I was gobsmacked to learn that Mark had already seen it... not only that but he was most interested in one of my extremely rare fragments. Both of these experts had praised my website [I was very pleased to hear this in person from Mark] and offered constructive criticisms. Changes have since been made [please see previous post III.IX] and these have been positively recieved. Mark had spotted my Æðelbert "Floriated Cross" fragment and was most interested to hear that it had been found with the only other specimen to come to light in the last ten years or so, a whole coin sold by Andy Gillis. Mark had seen my coin on ebay and then lost track of it, but wondered for some time whether it was a single find or not. I have since sent Mark clear scans of the coin for inclusion on his EMC database, which I use frequently and support 100%.

Dr. Blackburn then introduced me to Rory Naismith, a council member and student at the Fitzwilliam, who had also viewed my site and discovered my unique ◊ffa fragment penny of the moneyer BABBA [The ◊ffa without a North designation, in the "Kings of Mercia" gallery]. He wanted to add this coin to his Corpus of the coinage of king Offa at the Fitzwilliam. I gladly gave permission and have since recieved a copy of the relevant page of the Corpus, featuring my coin and an acknowledgement of its place withinin my cabinet [D. Darrington Collection]. The three of us chatted until Rory had to leave to catch his train. Mark then invited me to sit down with him and discuss my specialist eras, coins and collections, methodology, research, websites and the BNS. I thoroughly enjoyed this twenty minutes or so, to be able to chat face to face with someone I have admired and respected for some time. But alas I soon had to leave to catch my own train.....or be stuck in London overnight !! Mark shook my hand and hoped to see and talk to me again. I have since spoken to him by email and hope to do so again in person soon. I also promised to register all of my coins with the EMC, something I started to do last year and should have kept up but did not. Incidentally Mark also said of my collection that he recognised many of the coins previous to their inclusion in my cabinet, and it was good to know where they are now.

All in all it was a most interesting experience, which I hope to repeat at the earliest opportunity. Having your collection and collecting methods compared to those of the late Christopher Blunt, perhaps the most influential numismatist of the last hundred years, and a leading expert on Anglo-Saxon coinage, is praise indeed. And I am humbled by it.

a) The Floriate Cross fragment. b) The unique ◊ffa.

I would like to thank the British Numismatic Society, Mark Blackburn, Tony Holmes and all the people I met at the meeting and have met through the Club.

Posted by dragonbloodaxe on 23/03/2007.
login or register to post comments

III.IX Some recent site changes.

I have not posted a blog for well over a month now as I have recently bought a new scanner for my computer in order to submit better and clearer coin pics. To this end I have changed the gallery pics and the site photos to much clearer scans. My trademark plywood photo background is no more !! I have created several new galleries and deleted old ones that are no longer relevant. Early and Late Saxon penny galleries have now been replaced by regional Saxon galleries, for example ~Kings of Mercia~ This gallery contains all the pennies from my cabinet that were minted under the native Mercian kings from ◊ffa to Ceolvulf II. There are also galleries for pennies of East Anglia, Wessex and All England. I have taken the Norman coinage out of the mixed gallery, which it had outgrown some time ago, and given it a deserved gallery of its own. The mixed gallery does still exist. It contains the coinage that I have only a few examples of, namely Sceats, Stycas, Viking coinage and Episcopal issues coined by the church.

After recieving constructive criticism from coinage experts in my field, I have tried to rectify their main concerns. Previously I had only pictured one side of each coin that I posted in the galleries and on the blog page. I have now replaced all of the former photos with clear scans featuring both sides of each coin, both in the galleries and on the blog page. Another problem highlighted was that it was not immediately apparant how to access the text for each pic in the galleries. I have therefore posted simple instructions on how to do this within each gallery synopsis. Click on the desired pic and select the ZOOM function. The text for the chosen pic will be displayed beneath it.

There have recently been some problems on my site with disappearing and blurred blog photos. These faults were down to the site provider, and were common to this and other sites. Customer services were extremely helpful as always but could not prevent all of the faults recurring. To combat this I have removed the vast majority of blog pictures and photos, keeping only a minimal amount to break up the monotonous sea of bland posts !! I have had to change the site pages somewhat also as a result of these issues. As can be imagined, taking into account all of this, I have had my work cut out over the last few weeks..... Please note that I have removed my FOR SALE page, and will no longer sell directly through my site. As an alternative please view my BUY, SELL, TRADE or INTEREST page for an indication of how to do each of these things in regard to myself and the coins of my cabinet.

Special thanks to : Dr. Mark Blackburn and Mike Bonser. For viewing my site and providing the constructive criticism.

Posted by dragonbloodaxe on 10/03/2007.
login or register to post comments

III.VIII The Line of Wessex.

This post will show all of the monarchs of Wessex and [from the reign of Æðelstan] England from 786 to 1016. During this era silver pennies [and occasionally smaller denominations] were coined by most of these rulers in their own names, making them [almost always] readily identifiable. Only unattributable sceat coinage was minted in Wessex prior to the reign of Beorhtric, and this period [although not the minting of silver pennies] ends with the rule of the Danish line of Cnut and his sons, beginning in late 1016. Two of these monarchs, Æðelbald and Eadmund Ironside, probably did mint pennies, but these are unknown [or unrecognised at least] to numismatics at the present time and so it is said that they have "no known coinage".

The coinage of these kings is shown through scans of coins from my cabinet. These are below the synopsis for each king.

BEORHTRIC 786-802. Dependant on Offa of Mercia, married one of his daughters. Minted his extremely rare coinage with permission of Offa late in reign. Usurper. NO EXAMPLES IN MY CABINET.

ECGBERHT 802-839. Forced into exile by Offa. Returned to England and crowned king of Wessex 802. Defeated the almighty Mercians at the battle of Ellendune in 825. Northumbria accepted his overlordship in 829, and he was named Bretwalda, or ruler of Britain. Extensive coinage, all of it very rare. Father of Æðelvulf.

ÆÐELVULF 839-855. His reign was characterised by Viking invasions. He was a highly religious man, who gave generously to Rome and the English church. A wealthy and wise ruler, he pronounced that the oldest living child of the line would succeed to the throne. Extensive coinage, much of it rare. Father of the following four rulers of Wessex including Ælfred the Great.

ÆÐELBALD 858-860. Plotted against Æthelwulf whilst the latter was away in Rome. Took the throne in 858. Died in 860. Brother of Æthelberht. NO KNOWN COINAGE.

ÆÐELBERHT 860-866. Very little known about reign. Succeeded at age 30 or so. Had to battle the Vikings in his Capital city of Winchester. Very rare coinage. Brother of Æthelred I.

ÆÐELRED I 866-871. An affable and devoutly religious man, Fought the battle of Ashdownin against the Vikings in 870. Very rare coinage. Brother of Ælfred. NO EXAMPLES IN MY CABINET.

ÆLFRED [THE GREAT] 871-899. Defeated the Danes decisively at the battle of Eddington. Partitioned England to form the Danelaw. He constructed a large fleet of ships, was a scholar, promoted education and codified the laws. Extensive coinage, much of it rare. Father of Eadweard the Elder.

EADWEARD THE ELDER 899-924. A military leader, he reconquered all of the Danelaw south of the Humber river. Extensive coinage, some of it rare. Father of Æðelstan and Eadmund.

ÆÐELSTAN 924-939. A great warrior, he defeated a combined force of Scots, Welsh and Vikings at the battle of Brunanburh in 938. He was the first king to be crowned on the Kings Stone at Kingston-Upon-Thames. Rare coinage. Brother of Eadmund. NO EXAMPLES IN MY CABINET.

EADMUND 939-946. Fought with his brother at Brunanburh. Murdered by an outlaw at his own feast. Coinage of silver pennies. Brother of Eadred.

EADRED 946-955. Contested Northumbria with the Viking Eric Bloodaxe. He devoted his life to God, and had a lingering physical malady which meant he was constantly oppressed by sickness and had a very weak digestion. Much silver coinage. Uncle of Eadwig and Eadgar.

EADWIG [also EDWY] 955-959. Became king at 16, he made an enemy of archbishop [St.] Dunstan. He was generous to religious foundations and died at age 20. Silver coinage. Brother of Eadgar. NO EXAMPLES IN MY CABINET.

EADGAR 959-975. Could be considered the first ruler of a united England. His wisest act was probably recalling St. Dunstan from exile. Reformed the coinage to include a portrait of the monarch in 972. Extensive coinage. Father of Eadward the Martyr and Æðelred II.

EADWARD THE MARTYR 975-978. Succeeded to the throne at age 12. Murdered at 16 by his brothers men at Corfe Castle. Rare coinage. Brother of Aethelred II.

ÆÐELRED II 978-1016. Became king at age 10. His reign was plagued by poor advice from personal favourites. Spent vast fortunes attempting to buy off the Vikings with Danegeld. Died 1016 after abandoning and re-assuming the throne in favour of Swein Forkbeard. Huge volume of coinage, most of it common. Father of Edmund Ironside. NO EXAMPLES IN MY CABINET. [difficult to obtain rarer examples]

EADMUND IRONSIDE 1016 only. A short vigorous reign with a series of brilliant military defeats against the Vikings. Beaten by Cnuts forces, a peace agreement was made. He died suddenly in November leaving Cnut to become undisputed king of England. Son of Æðelred II. NO KNOWN COINAGE.

Posted by dragonbloodaxe on 22/01/2007.
login or register to post comments

III.VII A Mercian at the Wessex court.

Nothing is known of the early life of St. Plegmund of Canterbury [reigned 890-923]. That he was was a Mercian by birth is a matter of record. He lived at Plemstall in Cheshire, on an island known to locals as Plegmundeshamm, as a hermit monk attached to the Benedictine abbey at Chester. This before attracting the attention of king Ælfred of Wessex by virtue of his learning, and recieving his invitation to the court at Wessex [sometime before 887], along with three others renowned for their learning [bishop Wærferð of Worcester, and scholars Æðelstan and Wærwulf]. He was invited with the express intention of the furtherance of learning in accordance with the youthful Ælfreds wishes for his realm. He remained friendly with Ælfred, who called him "Plegmund, my archbishop" until Ælfred died in 899.

At Ælfreds recommendation, Plegmund was created archbishop of Canterbury by pope Stephen V in 890. In 891 [after Stephens death] Plegmund left for Rome, where he was consecrated and recieved the pallium from pope Formosus [enthroned 891, antipope]. Ælfred, having learned latin, had translated pope Gregory the Greats book On Pastoral Care [Liber Regulae Pastoralis] into Old English [Anglo-Saxon] and presented a copy to every bishop throughout the kingdom. Plegmunds own copy is preserved in the British Library. Plegmund was a signatory to a grant of land to Christ Church, Canterbury in 895 [he granted some of his own land to the church in the same year], and at a council at Chelsea in 898 king Ælfred bestowed land on him, at Queenhithe in London.

Before his death in 896, pope Formosus* sent a letter to the archbishop at Canterbury in which the English bishops were severely criticised for not continuing the work begun by Plegmund in attempting to convert the heathen Danish settlers in Mercia. He also warned that education should be encouraged so that the number of learned men in future would be adequate for the training of English bishops. This letter is extant but thought to be interpolated with later material, although the core of the text is genuine and certainly from this period.

On 8th June 900 Plegmund crowned Ælfreds son as Eadweard I [the Elder] at Kingston upon Thames. He continued to serve this king until his own death, a year before Eadweards, in 924. In 908 Plegmund consecrated the new minster at Winchester, founded by Eadweard the Elder. A number of charters with Plegmund as signatory [between 900 and 920] survive from Eadweards reign.

Plegmund reorganised the church in Wessex, increasing the number of bishoprics from two to five [Winchester, Sherborne, Wells, Crediton and Ramsbury]. Many bishoprics had become vacant due to Viking attacks and raiding, and as a result Eadweard was reluctant to fill the positions. Plegmund threatened the king with excommunication.....also threatening to place an interdict [a period where Christian religious services were prohibited, and the sacrements withheld] on the entire country. He got his way and actually consecrated SEVEN bishops in a single day in 909, five for Wessex and two for Mercia.

Archbishop Plegmund of Canterbury died on 2nd August 923. He was buried in the Cathedral, and canonised sometime later. A holy well associated with Plegmund can be seen to this day at Plemstall Lane, near to the church of St. Peter in Plemstall.

Ecclesiastical Coinage.

In common with the former archbishops of Canterbury going back to Jeanberht in the reign of Offa [759-796], Plegmund was granted the right of moneyers at the Canterbury mint in order to profit from the striking of coinage in his own name. He was in fact the last archbishop of Canterbury to coin in his own name, although the practice of ecclesiastics minting coins was not ended until the reign of Henry VIII. Other religious authorities permitted to mint coins were the archbishop of York and at least one bishop of London.

The types of coins struck by Plegmund closely follow the types of Ælfred and Eadweard. The principle type [of Class I] is the Two-Line type. This has a small cross pattee on the obverse with the archbishops title around the outer circle. PLEGMUND ARCHIEP or EPISC. The moneyers name is in two lines on the reverse divided by three cross patees. The letter O on this type is diamond-shaped ◊. These Class I coins were minted at the start of the incumbancy and continued for around five years. Many Danish imitations of this type exist, as of others.

The other two types of Class I are similar in regard to tiles and layout except N 254, which has D◊R◊ on the obverse in place of the cross [please see photo, from my cabinet], and N 255, which has XPF in place of the obverse cross.

A rare Class I D◊R◊ obverse coin of Plegmund of Canterbury. N 254.

Class II coinage is similar to Class I but has a normal letter O. These date from after 910. A final rare type has a rose formed by a cross pommee with a voided centre over a cross moline. The obverse has annulets with a cross on the reverse.

Sources : Answers.com website. Britannia Biographies websites. Catholic Online website. St. Plegmunds Well website. Books : English Hammered Coinage, Volume One. J.J. North. Coinage in Tenth-Century England. Blunt, Stewart, Lyon.

*The acts and ordinations of pope Formosus were annulled in 897, and the sentence confirmed by Sergius III in 904 when he became pope. Plegmund had been ordained by Formosus so this left him in a perilous position, as it did those ordained in turn by Plegmund. As a result of this he travelled to Rome in 908 [ostensibly to carry king Eadweards alms] in order to have his consecration validated, which it was by the new pope. Whilst in Rome he purchased some relics of St. Blaise, which he brought back to Canterbury.

Posted by dragonbloodaxe on 19/01/2007.
login or register to post comments

III.VI William II. A king without fear.

Early life and Family.

William II was born in Normandy c.1056-60. The third and favourite son of William I, the Conqueror, and his wife Matilda of Flanders [they made a very odd looking couple as he was six feet tall and heavily built, and she was only four feet and slender !!]. William was surnamed "Rufus" [red] on account of his choleric complexion.

Of his brothers, his eldest was Robert Curthose, later Duke Robert II of Normandy. He rebelled many times against his father, whilst William always stayed loyal. [Robert later rebelled several times against kings William II and Henry I, and was soundly beaten. In his last battle, Tinchebrae 1106, his forces were decimated by Henry I, and he was captured alive after the battle. He was imprisoned in Devises castle for twenty years befre being moved to Cardiff, where he died in 1134, in his early 80's. His tomb is in Gloucester Cathedral].

His older brother Richard was killed in a hunting accident, aged 14.

His younger brother Henry, who also rebelled against his father and brother whilst annointed sovereigns, later became king Henry I of England, and the most resilient of the Norman monarchs as he held the throne for 35 years. He may or may not have been responsible for the death of king William II.

Little is known about Williams early life. He was tutored by archbishop Lanfranc of Canterbury, and was in fact destined to become a great lord rather than a king. That changed with the death of Richard, and the constant rebellions of his brothers. On his deathbed the Conqueror gave Normandy to Robert, to Henry he gave a large amount of money and estates, but his favourite son William inherited the greatest prize : England.

King.

Rufus was crowned king of England at Westminster Abbey on 26th September 1087. He ruled harshly, with an iron hand, which distanced him from the people somewhat, especially in the matter of taxation, although he was a flambouyant character.

Almost immediately he had to deal with rebellions instigated by his uncle archbishop Odo of Bayeaux, Robert Curthose and Robert de Mowbray, the earl of Northumberland. All of these were crushed by largely English armies, who upon the surrender of the earls soldiers shouted for the traitors to be hanged. Quite something when it is understood that the Normans scorned the Saxon culture and had ended their way of life but thirty years earlier.

He won, sometimes great, military victories at various times against rebel lords and subjects, the French, Welsh and Scots. He compelled Malcolm III MacDuncan to pay him homage, and was said to be loved by his soldiers.

He was also an extremely capable politician, as his father had been before him. He managed to defeat all of his known enemies, political and military.

We have a description of William Rufus thanks to William of Malmsbury. He was muscular and thickset, with a protruding belly. A dandy dressed in the height of fashion, however outrageous. He wore his blond hair long and parted in the centre leaving his forehead bare. His face was red and choleric. [note blond hair. "Rufus" is usually taken to refer to him having red hair].

Elsewhere we learn of fashionable pointed shoes worn at his court, and William himself speaking with a stutter. We know he was never married [something almost unheard of for a medieval king] and had no legitimate children.

Hated by the Church.

William II had a most unusual, and notorious, disregard for the institution of the church. He was the opposite of his father, a god-fearing man whose court was austere. His did not alter his opinion throughout his reign despite threats from the English church and the Papacy. He consistently kept several abbacies and bishoprics vacant in order to profit from their revenues. Lanfranc had died in 1089, but it was not until 1093 that William bowed to pressure and appointed the saintly Anselm of Bec as archbishop of Canterbury. He proved a bad choice and the two often quarrelled. Anselm finally left for Rome to seek guidance from the pope in 1097. William simply seized his estates.

The churches revenge came by way of the chroniclers [all churchmen of course]. They called him sodomite and accused him of filling his court with mincing long-haired effeminate pretty boys. He was said to have advanced favourites according to their looks and performance between the sheets rather than governmental abilities. In short he was stigmatised in the most brutal terms as woman-like and cowardly. [To escape this image one of the first acts of Henry I once he became king was to deprive his courtiers of their long hair].

Williams liberal dealings with the church, in an age when most people including monarchs, feared it, led to his later rather unjustified reputation. He probably was a homosexual, but then so was Richard I for example [an absentee warmonger with a sham marriage, he is lauded as a national hero today], a king loved by the chroniclers for leading the Third Crusade, despite getting himself captured on his return and languishing in prison until an enormous ransom was paid by the English to fund his release and return. In fact he only spent six months of a ten year reign in England !! Richard the hero - William the monster ?

Yet England was a more powerful force in Europe on the day William died than on the day he was crowned. William II 1087-1100. R.I.P.

Death and Burial.

William was around forty years old when he died, on August 2nd 1100. Hit by an arrow whilst hunting in the new forest. Ironically the manner of his death is the most well known, and debated part of his life. The contemporary chroniclers mention nothing of assassination or murder, but refer only to an accident. Others believe that he was killed on the orders of his younger brother Henry, also in the hunting party. The supposed spot at which he died is now marked by the Rufus Stone

Buried in Winchester Cathedral under the tower, it collapsed the following year. Today his bones are mixed with those of saints and kings in the mortuary chests above the choir. This as a result of the original chests being broken open by Cromwells Parlimentarian troops during the Civil War, the bones then being used to smash the cathedral windows. They were gathered together again at the restoration, although there was of course no way to tell the bones apart, hence the mixed up contents of the chests today.

Coinage.

William II. Cross Voided. N 853. [rev]

Coin dies for William II were produced by Otto the goldsmith, as they had been for his father and back into late Anglo-Saxon times, although the quality and strikes have worsened noticably by this reign. During his thirteen years on the throne, five types of silver penny were produced, although at a lesser number of mints than his father employed. All of his coins are rare and very expensive. The thick block lettering is generally very difficult to decipher.

These photos show coins of William II from my cabinet. Both coins are of the Cross Voided type. The top image is of a rare halfpenny, which clearly shows the bust of William II with star either side, and the bottom one is of a very rare farthing, cut at the mint of issue. These were minted c.1092-1095.

Sources : Wikipedia - William II of England website. English Monarchs - The house of Normandy website. BBC History website. Portable Antiquities Scheme website. School History - William Rufus website. Find a grave memorial - William Rufus website. Books : English Hammered Coinage, Volume One. J.J. North. Types, mints and mintmasters of the rare Coinage of the Normans and the House of Blois. Oliver Ratcliff [1897]. The Normans. Jack Lindsay. The life and times of William I. Maurice Ashley.

Posted by dragonbloodaxe on 13/01/2007.
login or register to post comments

III.V Merry Christmas !!!

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all visitors to my site a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR........from DAVE.

Posted by dragonbloodaxe on 25/12/2006.
login or register to post comments

III.IV In the shadow of a great man.

King Æðelberht [858-865] of the House of Wessex, is mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as the brother of kings Æðelbald [856-860*] and Æðelred I [865/866-871] of the West Saxons, upon their respective accessions. But his most famous brother is king Ælfred [The Great, 871-899] of Wessex. Today the great man is a household name. Who, outside of specialist circles, has heard of Æðelberht ?

The term brother should not be taken literally in this sense. He was at most half brother to the sons of king Æðelvulf [839-858]. King Æfreds will calls Æðelberht his "kinsman" [and implies that his succession as king was irregular]. The same document refers to the other two sons of Æðelvulf as Ælfreds "brothers". This leads to several possibilities. Æðelberht may have been an illegitimate son of Æðelvulf by a concubine. He may have been the son of Æðelvulf by a previous marriage. He may have been a child of queen Osburga [wife of Æðelwulf] by a previous marriage. But it is more likely that he was related by blood somewhat more remotely, perhaps a nephew of the king treated as a son at court. Kinsman should therefore be taken to mean "adopted brother".

Æðelberht held a position of authority and power during the lifetime of king Æðelvulf. This was probably due to him being older than the legitimate sons of the king, and perhaps also to his being groomed to counter the ever-growing Viking threat. A charter of Æðelvulf, dated 853, has Æðelberht REX as witness. It has been deduced from this that he was created sub-king in Kent and its subsiduaries around the time that Æðelvulf left on a pilgrimage to Rome, c.853.

This under-kingship was revoked at some stage, as Æðelvulf took these territories to rule over himself upon his return to England. This was part of his arrangement to divide the kingdom between himself and his eldest legitimate son Æðelbald. A probable explanation for this is that Æðelberht disgraced himself by plotting against the king whilst he was away in Rome. Æðelbald was elevated to the under-kingship of Kent in 855....in an attempt to strengthen his position for eventual succession to the whole kingdom. But by now Æðelberht had powerful support.

Æðelberht retained and consolidated his own power, as the chronicle states that following Æðelvulfs death, his TWO sons inherited the kingdom. Æðelbald took Wessex and Æðelberht Kent, Essex, Sussex and Surrey. An agreement must have been reached between the two kings, with each not quite powerful enough to oust the other. Upon the death of Æðelbald in 860, Æðelberht became ruler of the kingdom of Wessex also, presumably displacing the less powerful true heirs who were still minors at this time [Ælfred himself was only eleven years of age].

Æðelberht granted charters, some of which are still extant, and was the first king of Wessex not to delegate a sub-king to Kent. His charters for the first time show a full compliment of West Saxon and kentish witnesses.

Danish attacks increased during Æðelberhts reign. The largest army yet faced [The Great Army] landed in East Anglia in Autumn 865. They unsuccessfully stormed Winchester and ravaged eastern kent.

The reign of king Æðelberht of Wessex lasted a little over seven years. He died and was buried alongside his adoptive father, and adoptive brother at Sherbourne Abbey in Dorset. The Chronicle relates that he was succeeded by Æðelred I in 865/6, and describes his reign as one of good harmony and great internal peace

Two types of penny were issued during Æðelberhts short reign. Both have the classic bird-like bare-headed bust right, with the legend ÆÐELBEREHΤ REX. H and T are ligate.

The first type, initiated during his fathers reign, was the Inscribed Cross coinage. This was minted [for Æðelberht] between c.858 and c.864. Over forty different moneyers coined this type. It differed from that of his adoptive father only in name. The moneyer on my own example [below] is ÆÐELRED. Taking into consideration the Mercian style "M" on my coin, examples by this moneyer are quite rare.

The second type is very rare. The short-lived Floriated Cross was only minted for a year or so at the end of the reign. There are less than ten coins of this type including my fragment [bottom]. The moneyer is CUNEFREÐ. A complete example [with minor edge chipping], found together with my fragment on the A64, later sold for just short of two thousand pounds.

[* There is no known official coinage of Æðelbald of Wessex, although I believe he DID indeed mint coins in his own name].

Sources : Early Medieval Coinage, Fitzwilliam website. SCBI website. England, Anglo-Saxon and Danish Kings website. Anglo-Saxons.net, Æðelberht + Charters website. Andy Gillis website. Books. Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Anne Savage. English Hammered Coinage Volume One. J.J. North.

Posted by dragonbloodaxe on 14/12/2006.
login or register to post comments

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.