The Vikings Anlaf Guthfrithsson Silver Penny 939-941AD Raven type

The Vikings Anlaf Guthfrithsson Silver Penny 939-941AD Raven type

21mm, 1.17g, S1019

An extremely rare oppertunity to acquire a Viking penny, not least the iconic ‘Raven’ type.

Provenance – The Kent Collection. This coin comes with a hand written collector’s ticket. Recorded with the Early Medieval Coinage Database held at the Fitzwilliam museum, Cambridge.

Anlaf Guthfrithsson (c. 939-941) – a member of the Norse dynasty ruling over Dublin, Anlaf Guthfrithsson took the throne in 934 after the death of his father – who had briefly controlled Northumbria in 927 before being driven out. Perhaps keen to do better, Anlaf attempted an invasion of Northumbria in 937 with the aid of King Constantine III of Scotland – though he was decisively defeated at the Battle of Brunanburgh by King Æthelstan – the same man who had defeated his father a decade before. Retreating to Ireland to lick his wounds, Anlaf would return to England in 939 after Æthelstan’s death, taking advantage of the subsequent instability to impose his control over Northumbria. Negotiating his position with Æthelstan’s successor, Eadmund, Anlaf would soon come to occupy the original ‘Five Boroughs’ of the Danelaw – but died in 941 after a short reign.