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The Silver Coins of England
Edward Hawkins, 1841
Sole Monarchs of England - Aethelraed II
Table of Contents
AEthelraed II., 978 to 1016.
Upon the murder of Eadweard, his half brother, the weak and imbecile AEthelraed, succeeded at the
age of ten years. He reigned 38 years, but with very doubtful authority during the last three. He
passed many laws for the better regulation and preservation of the current coins; and his money
presents some novelties of type and appearance. The types of his coins are,
- The king's head, helmeted and with a radiated crown. Rev. cross voided, terminating in three
crescents, over a square with pellets at the corners. (203). Rud. xxii. 1. MB 9. Weight 22 gr.
r.
- The king's head filleted, to the left, with a sceptre; in one instance, without. Rev. cross voided,
within the inner circle. CRVX in the angles. (204). Rud. xxii. 4. MB. 24. Weight 20 to 27 gr.
- The king's head filleted. Rev. small cross (205). Rud. xxii. 5-8. D. 33, 34. MB. 11. Weight 22 gr.
- The king's head, with sceptre. Rev. hand, from Heaven between A and ω. (206). Rud. xxii.
13. MB. 19.
- Similar without sceptre. Rud. xxii. 9-12, 14. D. 35, 36. MB. 38.
- Head, with sceptre. Rev. A and ω omitted. Rud. f. 15. D. 37. HUNTER. CUFF. 2. Weight
of 4, 5, 6, 22 to 26 gr.
- The king's head without any diadem, the hair expressed by lines, diverging as from a common
centre, and each terminating in a pellet. Rev. an open cross, extending to the edge of the coin, and
terminating in three crescents; sometimes, as in the York mint, a small cross, or annulet, &c., is in the
field. (207). Rud. xxii. 2, 3. xxviii. 1. xxx. 24. MB. 43. Weight 20 to 27 gr. Of this type and style of
workmanship are the coins which bear the name of Dublin, much resembling coins ascribed to early
Irish kings, and from their peculiarity instantly recognizable by collectors. According to a charter, of
whose authenticity, though it has been disputed, Sir Francis Palgrave seems satisfied, Eadgar had
possessed himself of the greater part of Ireland, and especially Dublin. It is not therefore surprizing
that his son should have struck money there, or that the money so struck should have an Irish
appearance. It is true that the names of some English towns appear upon coins of this fabric, and that
some of this class are looked upon with a very suspicious eye by some collectors. These have been
the subject of close investigation by Mr. Lindsay, who is fully competent to the clear elucidation of the
question, and he seems to be of opinion that these coins were not struck by the prices whose name
they bear, but by Irish prices in imitation of English coins. To this opinion it may not unreasonably be
objected that the coins in question are not like any English coins, but close imitations of early Irish
coins, having little of English about them except the name of the kings; and it is difficult to divine the
motive for making a coin having the general appearance of an Irish coin, and putting upon it the name
of a king, which, if he had not authority in Ireland, would not give it any value, and which the greater
part of the persons through whose hands it would pass would be unable to discover or to read. If
these princes had authority enough in Ireland to give value to any money circulated in their name,
there is no difficulty in supposing that the coins were issued with their sanction, and then it is
reasonable to suppose that it would bear a type familiar to the Irish people. AEthelraed is styled, upon
his coins, Rex Anglorum, and the names of his mint as well as of his moneyers are recorded upon
them. About 250 variations of moneyers' names occur. His coins vary much in weight, some being no
more than 20 gr., others reaching to 27.
Eadgar and Eadweard II |
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