Bust left wearing pointed helmet, sceptre/Voided cross within circle

Standford / Leofwold

S1158; 18mm, 0.96g

This coin comes with a previous handwritten label.

Cnut ‘The Great’ – 1016-1035: A prominent Scandinavian prince and junior member of the Danish royal house, Cnut spent much of the early 11th century as an active participant on raids directed at England. In 1013, his father Swein Forkbeard invaded England and became its king by dint of conquest – though died shortly afterwards. Cnut was forced to retreat back to Denmark, but returned to England in 1015. Defeating the English at Assandun in 1016 and forcing a settlement, Cnut eventually succeeded to the throne of all England. An outwardly pious man, he gave generously to religious houses during his reign and went on pilgrimage to Rome – despite being a murderous bigamist. During his near twenty-year long rule, he came to unite England, Denmark, Norway and part of Sweden into the powerful but short-lived ‘North Sea Empire’.

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Reform Coinage AD 973-5

Small diademed bust left, EADGAR/Small Cross

Lincoln / Grind

S1141; 20x11mm, 0.88g

A pleasing example with good portrait at a fraction of the price of a complete penny.

Eadgar (959-975): Known as ‘The Peaceful’ – Eadgar’s reign flies in stark contrast to that of his older brother. His reign was indeed stable and peaceable – reflecting to some the very pinnacle of the 10^th century English state. Overthrowing many social norms, he was not crowned until 973 – perhaps keen to make a political statement in celebrating the very peak of his power and authority. Uniquely, his third wife Ælfthryth was anointed as Queen alongside him – an unprecedented occurrence. For numismatists his reign is of acute interest – as he instigated a major reform of both weights and measures alongside with the coinage itself. From 972, coins were no longer struck regionally – instead, new types using standardised, centrally produced dies would be issued every few years and the old money called in for re-minting. The use of non-portrait designs was dropped totally, every subsequent coin struck in England bearing the image of the King on its obverse face. His premature death in 975 marked the beginning of a decline which England would take decades to emerge from.

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Triquetras series

Facing profile bust / Interlaced cross

S821; 11mm, 1.00g

This coin comes with a rough find area provenance.

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Series R2

Bust / Standard, symbols

S813; 11mm, 1.14g

A most pleasing example

This coin comes with a rough find area provenance.

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Series BI

Diademed bust right / Bird on cross

S777; 11mm, 1.12g

This coin comes with a rough find area provenance.

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+ EADVVIG REX around small cross.

Mann +++ Mone (retrograde) in 3 lines.

S1122; 21mm, 1.48g

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dark tone and signs that it was once straightened, no cracks or edge loss and good metal.

This coin comes with a previous printed label.

Eadwig (955-959): Eadwig was the elder son of Eadmund, taking the throne after achieving his majority. One of the shortest reigning of all the Late Anglo-Saxon Kings, Eadwig’s reign was plagued by factionalism and alleged scandal. Popular history tells us that he was discovered by Abbot Dunstan ‘cavorting’ with an Anglo-Saxon noblewoman and her daughter during his coronation feast, though this is almost certainly a later fabrication. It is thought that his animosity with the Church was rooted in their dissolving of his marriage on account that he and his wife were too related. This caused an apparent schism in the English court, with some supporting Eadwig’s position and others his younger brother -Eadgar. Numerous land-gifts by Eadwig during his reign have been interpreted as an attempt to bring further support to his cause. However, in 957, Eadwig was forced to acknowledge his brother’s co-rule alongside him – but conveniently died in 959 before a full-blown civil war could break out. His coins are probably the rarest of all the Later Anglo-Saxon monarchs, being very hard to find in general.

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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.

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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.

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Stylised bust right / Figure advancing left

11mm, 1.40g

An affordable piece, used and lost by the Anglo Saxons in southern Britain.

This coin comes with a rough UK find area provenance.

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Bare headed bust left/Voided long cross

Leofstan, York

S1151; 19mm, 1.64g

Comes with previous collectors printed label

Æthelred II ‘The Unready’ – 978-1013/1014-1016: The eldest son of Eadgar, Æthelred became king at the mere age of 12 following the brutal murder of his half-brother Edward. Young and easy to manipulate, he came to depend on his councillors for their prudent advice – an aspect in which they badly let him down. Though his reign is noted for its economic reforms and a high standard for the English coinage, it was marred by Scandinavian raids, periods of acute social instability and famine. Initially adopting a policy of paying the invaders to go away, Æthelred abruptly U-turned in 1002 and massacred many ethnic Danes resident in England. This policy backfired spectacularly, actually causing more Scandinavians to take up arms against him. Displaced from the throne in 1013 by Swein Forkbeard, he briefly returned to rule for a second time in 1014 after the latter’s untimely death – only to die himself shortly afterwards.

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