Kings of Mercia Cynethryth, wife of Offa AD 757-796 Silver Penny *Extremely Rare*

Kings of Mercia Cynethryth, wife of Offa AD 757-796 Silver Penny *Extremely Rare*

Portrait type.

Diademed bust right ‘EOBA’ (Moneyers name) before / ‘+CYNETHRYTH REGINA’ around ‘M’ (Mercia).

S909, 16mm, 1.11g

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A full coin with reasonable portrait and legends, usual base silver for Mercian coin of this period.

This coin comes with a previous hand written label and rough find area provenance.

Cynethryth, the wife of King Offa of Mercia, was the first and only Anglo-Saxon queen to have her name and image placed on coins. While it has been suggested that these coins were inspired by the appearance of the empress Irene on Byzantine issues, the profile portrait harks back to coinage of Roman augustae. Many details of Cynethryth’s life, such as the date of her marriage, are unknown. She appears to have been active in political affairs until Offa’s death. After her husband’s passing, she became abbess of the monastery of Cookham, where she remained until her death sometime after 798. Cynethryth appears in the hagiography of St. Aethelbert, where she is portrayed as a jealous villain who incites Offa to kill the saint.