THE COMPOSITION OF THE ENGLISH CURRENCY FROM EDGAR TO EDWARD I, c.973–1279

The only coin usually struck by the Anglo-Saxon moneyers after the reform of Edgar was the silver penny, but there are notable exceptions to this rule in the reigns of Æthelred II (978–1016) and Edward the Confessor (1042–66), in the form of two gold pence and a unique round halfpenny. A gold penny of Æthelred II’s Helmet type (c.1003–9) from the Lewes mint was found at Hellingley, Sussex (now East Sussex), in 1808 (Fig. 11.1, top), and a gold penny from Warwick dies of Edward the Confessor’s Expanding Cross type, light issue (c.1050–1) was found during the demolition of St Clement’s Church, Worcester in about 1824 (Fig. 11.1, bottom). These coins can be identified with the mancus of 30d. mentioned in many Anglo-Saxon wills and charters, which may well have been minted in other reigns and at many other times between the reform of Edgar and the Norman Conquest. The use of such coins may have been restricted to prestigious payments such as church offerings and the major bequests and land purchases documented in the written sources.