British Coins, Wessex, Alfred the Great (AD 871-99), penny, two-emperors type, c. AD 875-876, London, Beagstan, X AELFRED REX ANGLO X, diad. bust r., rev. BEAGZ TANMON ETA, two facing seated figures, holding orb between them, angel above with wings spread behind seated figures, wt. 1.15gms. (N.632; S.1059), crack, edge chips, bent, otherwise fine, an iconic and historic coin, extremely rare, only known for a very few examples with none available to collectors for over a century. A find of national importance
Found at Shudy Camps, Cambridgeshire, 29 September 2019. Recorded with the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, EMC 2019.0279 and the Portable Antiquities Scheme, PAS SF-06FF49.
The Two Emperors type penny is known for both Alfred the Great, king of Wessex (AD 871-99) and for Ceolwulf II, king of Mercia c. AD 875-9. They continued the joint coinage of Mercia and Wessex begun in 866 under Æthelred I (AD 865-71) and Burgred (AD 852-74) when the Wessex adopted the Lunettes style coinage established by Burgred in Mercia at the start of his reign. This ‘monetary union’, with each king issuing coins in their own name but with the same reverse design, also involved the sharing of die cutting and mint facilities at London. Beagstan is a well-known moneyer for the late issue lunettes (MacKay phase III, c. AD 868/70-74) coinage of Burgred from London and his presence on this coin striking for Alfred is demonstrative of this sharing with Wessex of Mercian coinage production facilities at London. He is also known for the Cross and Lozenge type
In the 850s the two principle Southumbrian kingdoms of Wessex and Mercia formed an alliance sealed with marriage of Burgred and Æthelswith, a daughter of Æthelwulf of Wessex. This alliance deepened in response to the arrival the Danish Great Army in 865/6, with ‘monetary union’ in 866 and a joint military campaign in 868. It continued through to the late 870s when Ceolwulf II, the last Mercian king, who took over for Burgred, c.875, disappears from the record. The Two Emperors type is an expression of the alliance between the two kingdoms with the reverse adopting a design found on later fourth century gold solidi. It is possible that examples of such coins would have been known to the London die cutters and that the design was adopted as it had the right symbolism through which to express the joint Mercian-West Saxon alliance.
The Two Emperors type is thought to be the first coinage issued in the relationship between Alfred and Ceolwulf II and is dated to c.875-6. The obverse styling of Alfred, as on this coin, in some cases uses the title REX ANGLO X, i.e. King of the English. In using this expression Alfred appears to lay claim to be king of all the English choosing to ignore the Mercian king. It may be the coins on which this form appears belong to the period after the departure of Burgred in 874-5 when the position of the Mercian king was uncertain. It suggests that at this point Alfred deliberately made a claim to extend his authority over all the English, something which he went on to achieve later after the demise of Ceolwulf II in c.879. It was though something he could not sustain in the mid-870s as Ceolwulf II seems to have gained sufficient strength to be assert his authority within the alliance of the two kingdoms. The fact that the joint Wessex/Mercian Cross and Lozenge coinage, now thought to be later, c.876-878/9, than the Two Emperors type, sees Alfred revert to the plain title of REX, leaving out the ethnic of ANGLO or SAX, is now though to indicate that there was more to Ceolwulf II than the ‘foolish King‘s thegn’ of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. The coinage suggests he was effective enough to change the relationship between the two kings giving Mercia more say and maintaining the alliance begun under Burgred.
Until 2015 only two examples of the Two Emperors type penny (one of Alfred and one of Ceolwulf II), were known with both in the British Museum. The example of Alfred was acquired from the Montagu collection sale in 1896 and is the last example to have appeared at auction. That of Ceolwulf II derives from the Cuerdale hoard of 1840 and is part of the Assheton loan which comprises coins from the Cuerdale hoard retained by the landowner. In 2015 two significant hoards have substantially added new examples of the Two Emperors type. The Watlington (Oxon) hoard added a further 13 specimens, many in exceptional condition, with 10 of Alfred and 3 of Ceolwulf II. Remarkably at around the same time a second hoard was found in Herefordshire which also contained examples of the Two Emperors type, with at least five examples known, 2 of which are of Alfred. The coins from Watlington are now held in a public collection whilst those from the Herefordshire find were subject to legal proceeding involving the finders in 2019/20