penny

This is only the sixth coin known for Æthelred, a shadowy king of East Anglia possibly installed as a ‘puppet’ ruler by the Vikings. It is able to help reconstruct the history and economy of ninth-century East Anglia, a kingdom with few surviving historical sources. This penny was made of good-quality silver, struck by the moneyer Eadwald, a name previously unrecorded from his coinage.

East Anglia was overrun in 866 but in 869 King Edmund attempted to reassert his independence. The Vikings returned to bring the kingdom back under their control, overwintering in Thetford in 869-70. In 869 Edmund was defeated and killed. The Vikings then left the kingdom until their leader Guthrum was defeated by King Alfred of Wessex at Edington in 878. After baptism, Guthrum changed his name to Æthelstan (a sign of his submission) and returned to East Anglia to rule. He then began to issue coins in his baptismal name.

What happened in East Anglia between Edmund’s death and Guthrum’s return is shrouded in mystery. This is the reason the coinage of two individuals, Æthelred and Oswald, is so important. To date only eight coins of both figures have been found, therefore making them a crucial primary source for political events in the kingdom c.869-880. As both rulers have Anglo-Saxon rather than Viking names, they can be assumed to be native figures operating within the kingdom, subject to reasserted Viking control.

Both were presumably ‘puppet’ rulers who owed their position to Viking patronage, before being replaced when Guthrum returned. What is not clear is whether they were co-rulers or if one succeeded the other. This coin helps to show that Æthelred, although otherwise unknown to history, was for a short time at least, a ‘real’ king of East Anglia.