Kings of Mercia Offa 757-796AD Silver Penny Light Coinage Portrait type, Ethelwald

Kings of Mercia Offa 757-796AD Silver Penny Light Coinage Portrait type, Ethelwald

17mm, 1.20g

An impressive coin, especially so in hand. Better than usual for this series which is often struck in lower quality silver.

Provenance will be provided, this coin is recorded with the Early Medieval Coinage database held by the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.

Offa (757-796): The first King of Mercia to strike coins, Offa is perhaps one of the most famous Anglo-Saxon kings – and certainly the longest-ruling (c. 39 years). Although he probably was not the original builder of ‘Offa’s Dyke’ and his attempts to ingratiate himself with the Frankish King Charlemagne ultimately failed – by the time of his death he had built Mercia into Anglo-Saxon England’s powerhouse kingdom. J J North’s ‘English Hammered Coinage vol. I’ encompasses Offa’s coinage within c. 80 different types, which perhaps illustrates best the complexity of his various issues struck during his reign.