VI.IV Offa to Coenwulf - A coinage transition ....
Initial coinage. London mint. Moneyer Wilhun. My collection.
Initial coinage. East Anglian Portrait issue. Moneyer Lul. My collection.
For coins of ◊ffa of Mercia, of the same types and moneyers please see below.
In AD796 king ◊ffa of Mercia, the undisputed 'Bretvalda' or ruler of most of England*, died whilst preparing another invasion of Wales, leaving his son Ecgfrith [crowned joint-king in 787] to rule in his stead. Ecgfrith however was not made of the same stuff as his father and after a brief five-month reign he was murdered, probably by assassination. The throne then passed to the next man worthy enough to possess it. Only two things were required of this man - one that he be of noble birth descended from the ancient royal families of the original groups of settlers which had by this time melded into the kingdom of Mercia, and two that he was powerful enough to campaign for the highest honour in the country by any and all means available including violence. Thus the throne passed undisputed to Cœnvulf [who may or may not have had a hand in Ecgfriths murder], a direct descendant of the vaunted king Penda of Mercia, the unremitting pagan overlord who had ruled Mercia with an iron fist in the Seventh Century. Cœnvulf was a warrior king in the tradition of Penda and ◊ffa, and held the Mercian throne, among others, for twenty five years. He died at Basingwerk while campaigning against the Welsh in 821. He is cheifly remembered, rather harshly as is ◊ffa, as somewhat of a tyrant, weilding power over all the kingdoms south of the Humber. Although he was evidently a resilient and competant monarch. Forthcoming articles on this site will tell his story ... and that of his later coinage.
The 'Heavy Coinage' of ◊ffa.
In 792 king ◊ffa, ostensibly to undermine the currency of Charlemagne with whom he was involved in a trade war, abandoned his long-established and respected coinage of 'Light' silver pennies and introduced a larger heavier penny into circulation. In perhaps the first attempt to instigate a 'common currency penny' throught Southern England these new non-portrait coins, after brief initial trials with other formats, eventually had a standard obverse legend in which the kings name and title appeared in three lines, with different reverse motifs for different moneyers and mints. They were struck at all three known mints of the reign [as indeed was the light coinage] of Canterbury, London and an unknown location, possibly Ipswich, in East Anglia. Foreign coinage, which was illegal throughout England but circulated anyway, as it was smaller and lighter could not now be passed legitimately within the English kingdoms, giving ◊ffa complete control of the currency and the economy.
A closer look at the obverse and reverse of the Heavy Penny.
The name of the king had appeared on the obverse of the coinage since the introduction of the broad-flan penny in the 750's, whether portrait or non-portrait types**. There was no standard design throughout the entire 'Light Coinage' period and moneyers became very creative in their [friendly] rivallry. With the onset of the Heavy Coinage this aesthetic genius was placed under strict controls never again to be so widespread, and in fact in the future would mainly involve sporadic regional issues throughout the mid-Saxon period. Conservative variations on some of the better known reverse designs of the Light Coinage were chosen to appear on the Heavy dies of ◊ffa. These included crosses of different kinds, 'bone' shapes and floral patterns.
The obverse of the Heavy coins always included the standard Mercian symbol of the uncial Μ, prominently displayed above the kings name and title, and usually at least two trefoils of pellets. The uncial M was a mainstay of the Light Coinage and was probably a control legend, while the trefoil, either alone or in groups, was a common feature and perhaps also represented Mercian control, as it also appears in the earlier Sceatta series of coinage. Both of these symbols are also present on much of the coinage struck by monarchs under ◊ffa's rule. A good example being the coins of Ecgberht II of Kent. These extremely rare coins have a very stylised M, but it appears in the same place on his coins as on the Heavy coins of ◊ffa. It is also to be found on the coins of Eadberht Praen of Kent, signifying that although he may have seized the throne unlawfully [he had been forcibly tonsured in exile to prevent his accession] following ◊ffa's death, his coinage♦ was struck with the permission of the reigning Mercian king, be it ◊ffa, Ecgfrith or Cœnvulf¤. By contrast the East Anglian monarch Eadvald, who also took power upon ◊ffa's death, struck his coinage devoid of Mercian symbolism and completely independant of that country.
Heavy Coinage of ◊ffa of Mercia. London mint. Moneyer Wilhun. EMC/SCBI.
Heavy Coinage of ◊ffa of Mercia. East Anglian mint. Moneyer Lul. EMC/SCBI.
Why did Ecgfrith not strike a coinage ?
Ecgfrith ascended the throne amid a period of turmoil and confusion caused by the power vacuum following the death of his father. As was usual in these times, and in later Medieval times, a coinage did not cease upon a kings death but continued as normal until the new king stamped his own authority onto it. A period of many months or even several years was normal before a new king struck his own coins‡. Ecgfrith was so preoccupied with securing his throne and continuing his fathers aggressive policies, that whose name was on the circulating coinage would have been immaterial to him at that time. Changes would have come later. For this reason I doubt that Ecgfirth had a chance to strike his own coins. And in fact none are known.
The coming of Cœnvulf.
Still in the year 796 Cœnvulf ascended the Mercian throne, and decided at a very early stage to impose his own authority on the currency. It is widely believed that at this time the mints of Canterbury and East Anglia were in the hands of usurpers, and that Cœnvulf could not use them until the native kings had been removed in 798. But I have outlined my theory that Eadberht Praen struck coins with permission, and if that was so then his effective overlord would have had the run of the Canterbury mint and struck his own coins concurrently. Nothing is known of the death of Eadvald of East Anglia, but it is likely that he was removed by Cœnvulf and exiled or killed. The mints of London and Canterbury then could have struck Cœnwulf's coins as soon as new dies were available, in 796/797. Followed closely by East Anglia in the following year. Towards the end of his reign Cœnvulf also opened, or re-opened, a mint at Rochester.
The initial coin types of Cœnvulf.
The earliest Group One issues≈ of Cœnvulf followed already established types. At the premier mint of London his coins were of the Three Line type of ◊ffa, with the minor differences of stylised pelleted lines. The prominent M was retained in position, with the trefoils either side, and the moneyers name appeared in two lines on the reverse. Both of the known moneyers who struck this type worked in the Heavy Coinage of king ◊ffa. Another type had a similar obverse with a large voided cross moline on the reverse, clearly a fore-runner of the Tribrach coinage∏ of Group One struck a year or so later. At Canterbury the new coins set the standard for non-portrait coins from this time onwards. The obverse featured a large uncial M within a central circle, with the kings name and title around. The reverse of these coins had a bone-shaped object with the moneyers name above and below. This type was also struck by one of ◊ffa's moneyers, and is known of ◊ffa and Cuthred of Kent√. The East Anglian coinage began c. 798 with a portrait issue, featuring a large quatrefoil as the reverse motif with one letter of the moneyers name on each leaf. The moneyer for this issue was LUL, who had coined for ◊ffa and other kings also. Many cruder varieties of this type exist and these may have been an emergency issue produced at a different East Anglian mint.
Cœnvulf transitional reverse between initial coinage and the Tribrach Moline type. Unique coin. Previously unknown reverse. EMC/SCBI.
Sources : Anglo Saxon England. Frank Stenton. English Hammered Coinage, Volume One. JJ North. EMC/SCBI database. Wikipedia.
Notes :
* The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle glosses over this achievement, as indeed it does that of Cœnvulf, and does not include him in its list of kings who held this title. This is not really surprising as the Chronicle was a West Saxon history begun under Ælfred, and its scribes would not have risked the kings anger with entries referring to the accomplishments of its old enemy Mercia.
** There are a couple of very early exceptions to this standard, where the names of moneyers [eg. EOBA] appear on the obverse of portrait coins of ◊ffa and his queen Cynethryth. In these cases the name and title of the monarch are boldly displayed around or within the reverse motif.
♦ Closely resembling and in fact based on the Heavy coinage of ◊ffa, it may have begun before his death and with his permission.
¤ Who in fact captured, blinded and mutilated him in 798, with the backing of the church. Ostensibly for apostacy, it seems that an independant Kentish kingdom, which of course housed the important sees of Canterbury and Rochester, posed a serious threat to Mercian prominence.
‡ Æðelred II of Northumbria had his ten-year reign briefly usurped in 844 by one Rædvulf, who managed to hold onto the throne for about nine months. But coins of Rædvulf are fairly common, signifying an almost immediate change of dies. Conversly the last type of king Stephen [the 'Awbridge' coinage], begun in the year of his death, continued for a period of four years before Henry II finally struck his own coins.
≈ All coins of Group One are non-portrait issues, following the reforms of ◊ffa's new Heavy Coinage. Portrait coins were not struck at London and Canterbury until c.805.
∏ The extensive Tribrach coinage will feature in a forthcoming article on this site.
√ Cuthred of Kent was Cœnvulf's brother and was installed by him as sub-king of Kent in 798. One unique coin of the Bone Type exists for Cuthred.
- Posted by dragonbloodaxe on 13/04/2008.
- dragonbloodaxe's site
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