The term ‘sceatta’ in Anglo-Saxon means treasure, and may have referred originally to Roman coins still in circulation in the early Saxon period. There can be no doubt that there were such coins, since most of those coins we call sceattas were copied from them, with different levels of sophistication. Roman currency commanded respect, rather like the US dollar is valued in poorer countries today, and it was sought after as a trusted currency. Indeed, this was the case in Britain even before the Romans invaded in the first century. The sceattas were minted when the supply of Roman money ran out and coincided with the growth of the Saxon economy. Whether the Saxons themselves used the term ‘sceatta’ for this coinage is unknown, but it has stuck. In 664 Ealdwulf inherited the throne of East Anglia from his cousin Aethelwald. He was the son of the doomed King Aethilric, who was killed in battle by Penda of Mercia at Devil’s Dyke in 636 together with his brother St. Sigeberht (founder of the monastery at Beodricsworth where St. Edmund would one day be laid to rest), when Ealdwulf was still a child. In the early part of Ealdwulf’s reign silver ‘shillings’ or thrymsas began to be struck by the King of Kent; not to be outdone, the King of East Anglia rapidly followed suit, creating imitations of the Kentish money, which were in turn copies of Roman coins. However, it was not until around 705 that East Anglian moneyers began to mint currency in earnest; the coins they produced bear a crude crowned (or mitred) portrait on the obverse and, usually, the letters EPA in runes. On the obverse is a square device of dots and rings thought to be an attempt to imitate the standards on the reverses of some late Roman coins. The first phase of these coins lasted until around 735, when their silver was significantly debased. This coin probably belongs to the last twenty years of the production of this coinage, between 735 and 749, and therefore to the reign of Ealdwulf’s successor Aelfwald. Two named moneyers, Tilberht and Wigraed, were operating in Aelfwald’s reign; Wigraed possibly at Gipeswic, and Tilberht at Thetford. All East Anglian coins produced between 705 and 749 are known as Type R sceattas. One scholar has suggested that the EPA inscription on most of the coins may refer to Ely, but this seems unlikely. However, it is impossible for the inscription to refer to a single moneyer (because it lasts too long) and the letters do not match any of the kings ruling during the period, so it is likely they refer to a place, but no one has as yet brought forward a convincing solution.
My own pet theory is that the portrait on the coins is a bishop, not the king (it was common for bishops to mint coins at this time), and that EPA stands for Episcopus Anglorum, ‘Bishop of the Angles,’ as the Bishop of Dommoc would have styled himself. I should be interested to know what a Saxon numismatist would make of this suggestion.
1 Comment
March 10, 2008 at 2:27 pm
Hello,
My name is Dave and I am a numismatist specialising in the Anglo-Saxon period. My own theory for the EPA coinage is that it is almost certainly ecclesiastical. The early Saxon mitre is rounded and resembles quite closely the headgear of the West Saxon kings and also the diademed profile of the Mercian rulers. Although EPiscopus Anglorum is a firm possibility for the obverse legend, another is ArchiEPiscopus. Much coinage of the more powerful kingdoms [notably Mercia] was struck in East Anglia, as it was much cheaper to produce, so theoretically any bishop or indeed archbishop could have minted it. The reverse ’standard’ on these coins is also likely to be an ecclesiastical device or banner.
Another point you make is that 45 years is an impossibly long time for one man to mint coins, but there are moneyers known to have struck for that amount of time. Eoba, a moneyer of king Offa of Mercia [757-796] began minting coins before the establishment of the broad flan penny c.760-765, and was still working in the early Tribrach coinage of king Coenwulf around the year 800. In this time he coined for five Saxon monarchs. Another moneyer Babba, also coined for 40 years plus.
Very Best Regards,
Dave.