Kings of Northumbria – Aelfwald I 779-788AD Silver Sceat Extremely Rare

Kings of Northumbria – Aelfwald I 779-788AD Silver Sceat

12mm, 1.02g, S851, extremely rare

This coin was part of the famous Tony Abramson collection (ticket in his hand) and is recorded with the Early Medieval Coinage database held at the Fitzwilliam museum, Cambridge.

It was found by a metal detectorist in East Yorkshire, circa 2010

Ælfwald (c. 779-788) – one of King Eadberht’s grandsons by descent, little is known of Ælfwald’s reign except how it ended – with the murder of both himself and his two sons. Buried at the Abbey of Hexham, he was the subject of a local saint-cult. His coins are some of the last to depict the Northumbrian ‘fantastic beast’ before it disappeared from the numismatic record as a motif.

Kingdom of Northumbria

The end of the 7th Century sees the establishment of an advanced monetary system in Northumbria with Kings and Archbishops being named on silver sceats, also the introduction of a bronze coin called the Styca. The silver coins of this series vary in rarity and price, some kings who ruled for very short periods are extremely rare, other, more successful rulers produced far more coins.