Eadmund Estengle cyning

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The silver penny was introduced as the basic unit of currency by Offa of Mercia at the end of the 8th century, and came to East Anglia with the Mercians, who dominated the region until the reign of Aethelstan (?821–845) as an independent East Anglian King. Aethelstan and his successor Aethelweard introduced the letter ‘A’ on the obverse of their pennies, although it is unclear whether this stood for ‘Anglorum’ or was an alpha representing Christ. When Eadmund became King in around 855, moneyers called Dudda, Eadmund and Twicga were minting pennies, although the locations of their mints are unknown. It seems likely that coins were minted at the two major urban centres of Gipeswic and Dommoc, although the location of Dommoc is now unknown. Thetford may also have been important at this time. A moneyer’s name guaranteed coinage in much the same way as the Governor of the Bank of England’s signature guarantees a banknote; they were powerful men who were commissioned by the King to mint his coinage. At this time most ordinary people used barter and coins were largely minted for two purposes; foreign trade in a port such as Gipeswic required a mobile means of exchange, and thegns required to pay taxes to the monarch would often choose to do so in coin rather than in goods. At a time when very few people were literate, this explains the existence of inscriptions on coins; they provided a ready means for the (probably monastic) clerks counting the King’s taxes to ensure the currency was genuine. This coin was minted by Beornhaeh in the second half of Eadmund’s reign, probably in the early to mid 860s, when Eadberht, Eadwald, Ethelulf, Sigered, Baeghelm and Beornferth were also operating. The obverse legend reads [EADMUN]D REX and the reverse legend [BEORN]HAEH[ MO]. The quality of the silver of the coin is good, which at this period is an indication of a strong currency and economic prosperity in the region, which confirms the statements of the chroniclers that Eadmund’s was a successful reign. All this came to an abrupt end with the invasion of
East Anglia by the Danes in 865, and again in 869 when Eadmund mounted a last attempt at resistance and was put to death by the invaders. Alfred the Great, the only English King to have successfully resisted the Danes, ordered pennies to be struck in memory of Eadmund in
Kent; even the Danes soon followed suit and issued their own crude copies of Eadmund’s pennies. In the early years of the 10th century Alfred’s son Edward the Elder wrested control of East Anglia from the Danes, but the royal house of
East Anglia was extinct and it was never to be an independent kingdom again. In the 11th century the Danish King Cnut, full of remorse for the actions of his pagan ancestors, granted unprecedented privileges to the Abbey that bore the name of King Eadmund, thus ensuring that St. Edmund’s posthumous patrimony rivalled the glory of his kingdom in life. 

Sancte Edmunde ora pro nobis

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