H4421 -
The Kingdom of Mercia, Cynethryth, wife of
Offa
(757-796), Silver Penny,
0.98g., Canterbury mint, moneyer Eoba,
struck c.780-784, diademed and draped bust right, EOBA in front,
rev., +CYNEðRYð REGINA around letter M in central circle, (Blunt 120;
Chick 147; N.339; S.909), toned, very fine, small edge nick at 5 o'clock
and slightly creased across face otherwise a full round coin, good metal,
sound fabric,
extremely rare and of the highest historical importance. $22,995
NOW $18,995
SOLD
Provenance:
Found near Worthing, West Sussex, England (TQ
1330).
EMC #2009.0100.
BNJ Coin Register 2010.
This issue is the only Anglo-Saxon coinage struck in the
name of a Queen, a status also unparalleled in contemporary Western
Europe. It is therefore the first coinage struck in the name of a female
ruler from the British Isles and the only one where the consort of a
living ruler appears in her own right. We know from the historical
record that Cynethryth was a powerful figure with some considerable
political gravitas of her own, signing charters jointly with her
husband and even named jointly with her husband in a privilege of Pope
Hadrian I. Alcuin of York, advisor to Charlemagne, referred to her as
dispensatrix domus regiae ('controller of the royal household').
Inspiration for the issue would have undoubtedly come from Roman
Imperial practice and was perhaps also done in emulation of the
contemporary named issues of the Byzantine empress Irene.
