Anglo Viking Kingdom of York Cnut AD c.895-920 Silver Penny ex Cuerdale Hoard

Anglo Viking Kingdom of York Cnut AD c.895-920 Silver Penny

Patriarchal cross/ CVNNETTI around small cross

ex Cuerdale Hoard

S993; 20mm, 1.27g

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An exceptional penny, sharp detail and good metal,  from the Cuerdale hoard.

 

Cnut of Northumbria (c. 900-905) – far more obscure than his 11^th century namesake who reputedly tried to hold back the waves at Bosham to prove to his followers that he did not possess  divine power; this Northumbrian Cnut remains something of an enigma. Aside from a few scant mentions of his name in Medieval Norse sagas compiled four centuries after his death, there are no other literary records mentioning him. Approximately 3,000 pennies struck in his name were found in the 1840 Cuerdale hoard, alongside issues of one ‘Sieferth’ and indeed some other coins displaying both the names ‘Cnut’ and ‘Sieferth’. Sieferth is just as obscure, though some scholars conflate him with Cnut – arguing that they are the same person. Cnut’s coins are redolent with Christian imagery, one iconic type demonstrating his name laid out in the manner of crossing oneself, accompanied by the inscription ‘MIRABILIA FECIT’ (He has done wonderful things) – taken from Psalm 98.