Coinage in Anglo-Saxon England facts for kids
Coins in Anglo-Saxon England are all about the money used in England during the Anglo-Saxon period. This was a time long ago, from about the 5th to the 11th century. People used coins for buying things, but sometimes also for decoration.
Archaeologists have found tons of these old coins. They often discover them in hidden stashes called hoards, or just as single finds. These coins are super important because they tell us a lot about how people lived, traded, and were governed back then. Thanks to metal detecting, even more individual coins are being found today, helping experts learn even more.
History of Anglo-Saxon Coins
Early Times: 5th to 7th Centuries
Around the early 400s AD, the Roman Empire stopped ruling Britain. This meant that making coins pretty much stopped too. People then started to trade things without using money.
Later in the 400s, groups of people called Anglo-Saxons came to Britain from Europe. They brought their own language, religion, and way of life. At first, some gold coins from Europe arrived in England, especially in Kent. But these were mostly used as fancy decorations, not as money. It wasn't until the early 600s that people started using them for buying and selling.
The very first Anglo-Saxon coins were made by Eadbald of Kent, a king, around AD 625. These were small gold coins. People at the time called them scillingas (shillings). Today, coin experts call them thrymsas. These early gold shillings looked a lot like coins made in Francia (which is roughly where France is now). They often had words from Roman or Frankish coins. But some also had names like King Eadbald, or the names of the coin makers (called moneyers), or even the names of places like London and Canterbury where they were made.
As the 600s went on, the gold coins became lighter in color. Eventually, around 675, they were replaced by small, thick silver coins. These were called sceattas. Sceattas were made in England and also in parts of Europe near the North Sea. They were made from about 680 to 750. These coins had many different pictures and designs on them.
Around 675, the gold shilling was replaced by the silver penning, or penny. This silver penny became the main type of money in England. It stayed that way until the mid-1300s! Early silver pennies usually had cool geometric shapes or pictures. Sometimes, they had the name of the moneyer on them. Coins from the kingdoms of Northumbria and East Anglia sometimes even had the names of their kings.
Later Times: 8th to 11th Centuries
The silver penny continued to be used into the 700s. But over time, the coins started to have less and less pure silver in them. This made them worth less. This problem continued until Eadberht of Northumbria, a king, took control of how his silver coins were made around AD 740. Other English kings soon followed his lead.
In the late 700s, a new kind of silver penny appeared in Anglo-Saxon England. These coins were thinner. They usually had the names of both the king and the moneyer who made them. This new penny style was first started by King Offa of Mercia around 760.
From the 800s onwards, kings and their governments gained more power over coin making. This meant that the designs on coins became more standard. In the 860s, the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Mercia and Wessex even teamed up. They created coins with a common design that could be used in both their lands.
During the later Anglo-Saxon period, very few gold coins were made. Only nine are known today! One was a gold penny of Ecgberht, King of Wessex, found by someone with a metal detector in 2020. King Offa also made a gold coin that looked like an Islamic gold coin called a gold dinar. He probably used it for a yearly gift to the Pope. Other kings like Coenwulf of Mercia, Edward the Elder, Ethelred II, and Edward the Confessor also made some gold coins. An important church leader, Archbishop Wigmund of York, also made some copper coins called stycas and a gold coin called a solidus in his own name.
