Kings of Wessex Aethelwulf AD 839-858 Silver Penny Canterbury

Kings of Wessex Aethelwulf AD 839-858 Silver Penny

Inscribed Cross type. Canterbury mint; Wærmund, moneyer. Struck circa 854-858. + ΛEÐELVVLF REX, draped bust right / + VERMV ND MO N E T Λ arranged on limbs of, and around, beaded cross. Naismith C148c = SCBI 20 (Mack), 718 (this coin); North 618; SCBC 1051. Toned. Near EF.

S1051, 21mm, 1.21g

This coin comes with a previous collectors label and extensive provenance. Ex Classical Numismatic Group inventory 712659 (Spring 1999); L. Stack Collection (Sotheby’s, 22 April 1999), lot 399; Spink Numismatic Circular XCI.2 (March 1983), no. 1040; R.P. Mack Collection, purchased from Spink, 1955; Duke of Argyll Collection.

Æthelwulf (839-858) – The son of Ecgberht, Æthelwulf’s tenure of rule technically began earlier in the 830’s – when his father appointed him the sub-king of Sussex, Essex and Kent. The advantages of this division of power were not lost on Æthelwulf, enabling better administration over the rapidly expanding Kingdom of Wessex against a backdrop of widespread Scandinavian raiding. On taking the throne, he thus appointed his first son Æthelstan to be the sub-king of the areas he himself had previously governed. Æthelwulf is perhaps best known for his successful statesmanship, allying Wessex and Mercia through the marriage of his daughter Æthelswith to King Burgred, as well as travelling to Rome on a lengthy diplomatic mission. On his return to Britain, his second son Æthelbald (who had been appointed to rule in his absence) refused to give up the throne – the rule of Wessex being subsequently divided between them.