Kings of England Edward the Martyr Silver Penny 975-978AD Aelfwald, Stamford

Kings of England Edward the Martyr Silver Penny 975-978AD. Moneyer Aelfwald, Stamford mint.

20mm, 1.11g, S1142

A wonderful portrait of this scarce monarch, good metal and pleasing tone. Minor edge chip at 4 o’clock.

Provenance – The Kent Collection. This coin comes with a hand written collector’s ticket.

Edward ‘The Martyr’ (975-978): Taking the throne as a child of only twelve after the early death of his father, Edward was the eldest son of Eadgar. However, he lacked popular support as his mother had not been Ælfthryth – who had been officially anointed as Queen alongside Eadgar at his coronation in 973. To the Anglo-Saxon nobility, this gave him a lesser status. Already weak and easily manipulated as a child monarch, Edward was seemingly undermined by his own nobles and relatives – regional instability becoming rife and governmental business grinding to a halt. In 978, he was brutally murdered at Corfe, Dorset -with some suggesting that the force behind this was his own step mother Ælfthryth, keen to help propel her own son Æthelred onto the throne. Buried quickly with little ceremony – he was only after some years accorded a proper, royal reburial. When exhumed, the corpse was reportedly found to be in perfect condition. This was declared a miracle, and as such Edward acquired the epithet ‘The Martyr’ due to both this occurrence and his untimely, murderous death at the hands of his own people.