+ DAVE'S : RARE : COINS

VI.VI Mirroring of Types - Archbishop Ceolnoth under the West Saxon kings.

Inscribed Cross coinage of king Æðelberht of Wessex [top, moneyer Æðelred] and archbishop Ceolnoð of Canterbury [Group III. Moneyer Æðelvald, ex JJ North]. My collection.

Very little is known of the life of archbishop Ceolnoð of Canterbury [833-870]. The written records are sparse, his recorded acts are few and his long episcopate produced little of note for the chroniclers to comment on. By far the most illuminating source of information about him is his extensive coinage, which reflects the political attitudes and alliances of the times.

Ceolnoð was apparently dean of the see of Canterbury, prior to his elevation to the archiepiscopate. He was consecrated on July 27th 833 following the death of his predecessor Feologild, whose indenture had been extremely short at a little over two months. At a council held at Kingston, Surrey [now Kingston-Upon-Thames, London] in 838 he submitted to king Ecgberht of Wessex [802-839], effective overlord of the English kingdoms, and his son Æðelvulf [then ruler of Kent], forming a powerful and lasting alliance which secured his incumbancy and protection from the endemic Viking raids, in return for control of the free minster churches. He was the first archbishop of Canterbury for over a hundred years not to place himself under Mercian protection, Mercia having been greatly weakened by a recent coup which removed the ancient dynasty from power, and the loss of the decisive battle of Ellendun in 825. Relations between Vulfred of Canterbury [805-832, a pro-Mercian, and Feologild's predecessor, who died early in 832] and the new West Saxon powers had been somewhat lukewarm. The only other undisputed fact that we know about Ceolnoð is the recorded date of his death, February 4th 870.

His impressive coinage, although not as extensive as that of Vulfred, was at least consistent and unbroken. His ancient minting rights were respected and confirmed, and his types follow in essence those of the Wessex dynasty struck at Canterbury. He minted coins under four successive kings, Ecgberht, Æðelvulf [839-858], Æðelberht [858-866] and Æðelred I [866-871], dying a year before Ælfred the Great [871-899] came to the throne. In fact all future archbishops of Canterbury who minted a coinage in their own name would do so under the protection of the kings of Wessex [and later all England].

Control of the Southern English coinage was the prerogative of the most powerful ruler of those kingdoms south of the Humber. Prior to the final years of the 8th century ◊ffa of Mercia [757-796] had firmly stamped his authority on the mints under his control, and although he had permitted subservient monarchs, and bishops, to produce a currency for their own kingdoms, this had been strictly within his tenets. Cœnvulf [796-821] had crushed rebellions in his domains early in his reign to further safeguard Mercian rights, and these continued for a time after his death. The victory at Ellendun secured for Ecgberht of Wessex control of the major mints of Canterbury and London, and the lesser mints at Rochester and Winchester, but East Anglia now had a strong king in Æðelstan I [825-840] and a ruling house once again, putting that mint beyond his control. Æðelstan had taken care of Beornþulf of Mercia [823-825, who  survived the catastrophic defeat at Ellendun] and had killed him and in turn his successor king Ludica [825-827], while they attempted to bring East Anglia back under Mercian control.

During ◊ffas lifetime king Beorhtric of Wessex [786-802], had been his man and had married one of his daughters. This Mercian dominance continued for him until his death, as sub-king under Cœnvulf. The rightful king, Ecgberht, had been exiled by ◊ffa to the court of Charlemagne. He returned in 802, a stronger man than Beorhtric. He began almost immediately to strike an independant coinage, with which Cœnvulf did not interfere. This coinage was widespread, both portrait and non-portrait issues were produced, having a variety of obverse and reverse motifs, monograms and designs. All mints under his control were utilised, on occasion for specific coinages. Early coins at Canterbury [from c.826, once the Mercian dependant Baldred of Kent had been deposed] featured a diademed bust with, as the reverse monogram, an abbreviation of the Latin name of the city DORIB[ernia] C[ivitas]. Winchester, within his own kingdom, struck a coinage containing a monogram of the word SAXON, and another with the word SAXONIORUM in three lines. Mid-reign he minted a propoganda coinage at London, after it was taken, which named the town. 

In 838 Ecgberhts grip on power was absolute, and following the allegience to his overlord, Ceolnoð began to mint his own coins. His earliest coinage, that of Group I, follows the pattern of a tonsured facing bust [popularised by archbishop Vulfred, and used with minor differences of attire etc.. on all of Ceolnoð's coinage] with a monogram of DORO CIV on the reverse. This coinage follows the DOROB C [for a coin of this type and others of the West Saxon kings please see the Wessex photo album] type of Ecgberht at Canterbury, and Ceolnoð produced it for ten years. The next issue of Ceolnoð, begun after Ecgberhts death and minted c.843-8, has the tonsured bust with a Chi-Rho monogram on the reverse. This mirrors Æðelvulf's Chi-Rho type of Canterbury, N 608. Only these types, both with the legend CIALNOÐ ARCHIEPIS, were issued in Group I. According to North, around  the year 850 the obverse legend changed to the standard CEOLNOÐ ARCHIEPI [although his title is known to vary substantially in individual lettering on the coins] with the onset of Group II.

Ceolnoð's Group II coinage [c.850-852], begun eleven years into the reign of Ecgberhts son Æðelwulf, is based around an ephemeral Canterbury issue featuring on the reverse a cross patee with the legend CANM in the angles. That of Ceolnoð has a cross patee with CI VI T AS in the angles, as a continuation of the reverse legend CI or LIL MONETA DOROVERI. The obverse of Ceolnoð still has the tonsured facing bust, while the regal coins have a monogram of the legend CANT. Ceolnoð's other type in Group II was apparently short-lived and may have pre-dated or run concurrently with the Cross Patee issue, it features a quadrilateral over a cross moline on the reverse. No exact match is found in the Canterbury coins of Æðelwulf but the cross with two or more arms moline features heavily on coins of his produced at the episcopal mints of Canterbury and Rochester. With Group III coins we enter standard mainstream issues for the mirroring of types.

The initial coinage of Group III [c.850-866] has as the reverse motif a cross crosslet with pellets in the angles. Those of Ceolnoð are of good style [group III has a neater tonsured bust of the archbishop, possibly wearing his pallium], those of Æðelvulf [Phase II at Canterbury] tend to have rather a crude right facing bust with thick lettering, although a few are of good style. Not all coins of this issue of Æðelvulf have pellets in the angles of the cross crosslet. This coinage was struck until c.852, when it was replaced by a coinage that was to become standard at Canterbury throughout the remainder of Æðelvulf's reign and the majority of his son Æðelberhts. The Inscribed Cross coins, struck only by Ceolnoð and the aforementioned kings, have identical reverses with a large voided cross that contains the moneyers name and title within it and in the angles. [Comparitively] large numbers of these coins survive and they have been the subject of much study with regard to dating, moneyers, reduced silver content etc ... Towards the end of his reign [c.864] Æðelberht struck a new coinage, mirrored by Ceolnoð - the Floriate Cross issue. These naturally have a large floriated cross as the reverse motif, and had a very limited minting, perhaps as little as a year. They are extremely rare today, and less than ten survive for both Aethelberht [a fragmented example may be seen in the Wessex photo album] and the archbishop. This article features the only known complete example of the Ceolnoð Floriate Cross coinage [please see below].

          Celonoð. Group III. Floriate Cross. Moneyer Biarnred. Alex Boggis collection. Used with kind permission.

Group IV [c.866-70] coins of Ceolnoð are his final coinages, struck towards the close of his life. By this time plans had been laid for a common currency throughout southern England, and the major powers of Wessex and Mercia employed the major mints of Canterbury and London to strike it. It was issued in some numbers in order to pay off invading Viking armies. The Lunette coinage was ostensibly begun by king Æðelred I once the Floriate Cross coins had been phased out [but may have begun at the close of Æðelberht's reign] c.866. Agreement between Æðelred I and Burgred of Mercia [852-874] ensured that the new coins had similar appearances with regard to bust style and an identical reverse motif of the moneyers name in and between two lunettes. This coinage survived Æðelred I and was continued by his brother Ælfred for some time after his ascendancy in 871. From this time onward Wessex and Mercia would strike an identical common coinage at the main mint towns. The Lunette type of Ceolnoð is very rare today [as opposed to the amount of coins known for the kings who struck it, especially Burgred] and relatively few can have been struck in his name. Interestingly the only other Group IV type known for him has the same lunette reverse but with a diademed bust right as on the regal coins. This may signify that he was a prince of the Church, or a bust of the reigning monarch may have been substituted intentionally - or it may simply imply a shortage of available dies at the time, but this bust became standard for most of the reign of his successor archbishop Æðelred of Canterbury. Towards the end of Æðelred's episcopate busts on ecclesiastical coins were discontinued altogether and non-portrait types became the norm. These coins should perhaps be regarded as a sub type of the main Lunette issue.

So to sum up we have an archbishop finally secure in his see, minting coins of the same styles as those of his West Saxon overlords at the Canterbury mint. Of course many other types are known for these kings, some are small regional issues, others main types at different mints, but Ceolnoð although a powerful man, had very limited influence on anything non-ecclesiastical outside his own town, therefore the influence for his coins comes from whatever coinage the king wished to produce at the all important mint under the archbishops control. But bishops of this time who had their minting rights confirmed, London under ◊ffa and Rochester under Ecgberht being prime examples apart from Canterbury, had little say as to the actual coinage produced, save that it named them or a representation of their authority. Moneyers also had to operate within strict guidelines and some worked by turns for kings and bishops in the same issue when the mint was both ecclesiastical and regal at once.

Sources : English Hammered Coinage, Volume I. JJ North. Anglo-Saxon England. Sir Frank Stenton. Wikipedia. EMC/SCBI database. Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England.

With special thanks to Alex Boggis. Please check out his exceptional collection here :

                http://www.ancients.info/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/6383

• Posted by dragonbloodaxe on 22/04/2008.
• dragonbloodaxe's site