Kings of Wessex Alfred The Great Silver Penny 871-899AD LONDONIA monogram

Kings of Wessex Alfred The Great Silver Penny 871-899AD LONDONIA monogram

19mm, 1.50g

Rare & Iconic.

Small area of surface delamination on reverse.

from the Dr J Tooze collection.

Under Alfred’s leadership the Anglo-Saxons turned the tide against the onslaught of Viking attacks. Alfred’s issue of fine silver pennies in London, after the city was recaptured from the Danes in 883, are an expression of the new found English confidence. The obverse adopts a portrait based on late Roman prototypes, much finer than anything produced since the days of Offa a century earlier. The monogram of London on the reverse was possibly inspired by Papal issues.