Kings of East Anglia Aethelstan I Silver Penny

Kings of East Anglia Aethelstan I Silver Penny

Alpha / Cross with pellets

S950, 20mm, 1.31g

Good metal for issue.

Æthelstan (c. 827-840’s) – Æthelstan’s rebellion against Mercia seems to have begun in approximately 821, though he would not become ‘King’ in his own right till c. 827. As with most of East Anglian history during this period, there is a great deal of information that has been lost. What we do know is that the Mercians were defeated by the Kingdom of Wessex in 825, and afterwards King Beornwulf of Mercia was killed fighting the East Anglians – who regained their independence despite subsequently owing fealty to Wessex. Æthelstan left little trace in documentary sources, but his coins survive in some numbers – a complex series of portrait and non-portrait types were struck by him, most likely products of the mint at Gippeswic (modern day Ipswich).