Kings of Kent
Ethilberht I. from 568 to 615.
One coin is known of this king; it is a sceatta, of silver, and resembles in type some of the common
coins of that name, see (42) and Rud. Sceattae i. 5-16. The obverse consists only of the name and title
of the king, ETHILID REX, in two lines; the reverse, if compared with the sceattae above referred to,
with Rud. I. 18 and 25 or (41) and (43), may be supposed to represent a bird, or the Wolf and Roman
twins. It is extremely rare; the British and Hunterian Museums have each a specimen. Weight nearly
19 gr. (50) Rud. iii. It is supposed to have been struck before the establishment of Christianity in
England, being without the symbol of the cross. It was therefore probably struck before the end of
the sixth century, when Ethilberht's conversion is said to have been effected by the preaching of
Augustine. It should be observed that the reading of this coin is not altogether unequivocal; that the
places where the specimens were found are not recorded, and that the coin may consequently belong
to some other person and place. Sceattae however are named in the laws of Ethilberht, which still
remain.
In this place were formerly introduced a series of coins attributed to Ecgberht, king of Kent from 665 to
673: (102) to (108) Rud. iii. these will now be found amongst the coins of Northumbria, to which district
the author has ventured to transfer them. If he be correct in this removal the above sceatta is the
only one known belonging to the kingdom of Kent; and there is an interval between the years 673 and
725, to which we cannot assign any Kentish coin.
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Kent - Ethilberht II
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