Item 2002/1 - [Coenwulf, King of Mercia (796-821), gold penny or mancus]

1 item, paper

Typescript, four pages (recto only), untitled, undated and unattributed, describing an exceptionally important Anglo-Saxon gold coin found by a metal detectorist near Biggleswade next to a footpath alongside the river Ivel in Bedfordshire in 2001. The incipit is "1 £120,000-150,000", presumably represents the anticipated the market value of the coin, and then "Coenwulf, King of Mercia (796-821) gold penny or mancus of 30 pence, London", with a more detailed description of the epigraphy, iconography, condition, etc. The text gives the provenance, as noted above, and its publication before setting the coin in the context of other known Anglo-Saxon pennies and the wider historical background. There is also a brief bibliography. Although undated, it may dated to soon after 6 July 2002, when Gareth Williams, Asst Keeper of Coins and Medals, British Museum, read a paper that discussed the coin at a meeting of the British Numismatic Society.