King Coenwulf lived from 796-821 and was the most powerful single ruler in Britain at the time. © British Museum
The British Museum has bought a rare Anglo-Saxon gold coin for more than £350,000, making it the most expensive British coin ever purchased.
It depicts King Coenwulf of Mercia, who ruled much of modern England in the early ninth century. The coin is one of only eight known gold coins from the mid to late Saxon period.
“The Coenwulf gold coin is incredibly significant as a new source of information on Anglo-Saxon kingship in the early ninth century,” said Gareth Williams, Anglo-Saxon coin curator at the British Museum. “We are delighted to have acquired this piece for the national collection.”
A metal detectorist found the coin near Bedford in 2001 and the government put a temporary export ban on in an effort to save it for the nation. The British Museum was able to purchase it for a total of £357,832 with the help of donations including £225,000 from The National Heritage Memorial Fund.
The reverse of the coin reads "De Vico Lvndoniae" - from the trading place of London. © British Museum
The coin is in far better condition than other known examples and as well as depicting Coenwulf has the inscription De Vico Lvndoniae (from the trading place of London) on the reverse. It is thought to be the earliest example of a gold coin in the name of an English ruler intended as part of a circulating currency.
Weighing approximately 4.25 grams the coin probably represented the sum of a ‘mancus’, which was worth 30 silver pennies.
Coenwulf lived from 796-821 and his kingdom stretched from the Thames in the south to the Humber in the north and from the Welsh border to conquests in East Anglia and Kent. He was the most powerful single ruler in Britain at the time.
The coin will be displayed at the British Museum’s Money Gallery from February 9 2006.
