History Coins
Offa - King of Mercia
Offa, King of Mercia seized the throne in 757 AD after a civil war, and established supremacy over many lesser Kings. He consolidated his position by marrying his daughters to the Kings of Wessex and Northumbria, and was the first ruler to be called 'King of the English'. By the end of his reign, Offa was master of all England south of the Humber. He had a frontier barrier (Offa's Dyke) built along the boundary between the Mercian and Welsh kingdoms.
Offa of Mercia, Silver Penny, Light Coinage, Eadberht, East Anglia,
AD 757-796, EXTREMELY RARE
Obverse: TOFFAT+REX (lozenge-shaped O) around a crude bust, right, breaking a beaded inner circle
Reverse: EA DR ER HT (retrograde) in the angles of a lozenge cross crossbars, curved line in each quarter outside the inscription with curved bars between the curved crosslets, in centre a small cross
Size: 18mm, 1.19g
Grade: VF slightly off centre, of East Anglian style and extremely rare.
Ref: D Chick, The Coinage of Offa, Type 163 Var; cf EMC 2021.0216
Prov: Ex Lockdales, previously Silbury Coins
£6,000 (P&P FREE to all locations) #4
Cynethryth, Wife of Offa of Mercia, Silver Penny, Ludoman, London,
AD 757-796, Fragmented but EXTREMELY RARE
Obverse: +CFNEDRF [D RE] GINA (CYNETH.THRYTH.REGINA), uncial M, bar above, evenly spaced pellets in fields, surrounded by small pellet inner circle
Note: Although fragmented, it is execessively rare and of significant academic interest as it confirms a second moneyer for the coinage of Cynethryth.
Reverse: +P UD OM [ON] (LVDOMON), cross potent with lobed ends (quatrefoil in each lobe), a pellet and arc in each angle, unicial d
Size: 19mm, 1.06g
Grade: VF, chipped, cracked and fragmented
Ref: EMC: 2020.0099; S 910; D Chick (cf. 210 for moneyer)
Prov: Found near Stokesay, Shropshire, 4 March 2020
£1,800 (P&P FREE to all locations) #3
Offa of Mercia, Silver Penny, Heavy Coinage, Eama, London, AD 792-796
Obverse: M with three pellets on either side, +OFFA to centre (lozenge-shaped O), REX in three lines divided by two beaded bars
Reverse: E A M A in two lines, and in the four angles of a beaded long cross crosslet
Size: 17mm, 1.06g
Grade: VF, chipped edges
Ref: D Chick, The Coinage of Offa, Type 207
£900 (P&P FREE to all locations) #2
Offa of Mercia, Silver Penny, Heavy Coinage, Ealhmund, London,
AD 792-796
Obverse: M with three pellets on either side, +OFFA to centre (lozenge-shaped O), REX in three lines divided by two beaded bars
Reverse: Small Celtic cross in centre with central pellet, unusually no pellets in each corner, legend around EALHMVNd
Size: 18mm, 1.02g (average full weight 1.3g)
Grade: VF, large fragment
Ref: D Chick, The Coinage of Offa, Compare with Type 205d; S 908
£650 (P&P FREE to all locations) #1
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