The Semi-Key to my set.

[Ætheling]

French coins aside this is what i really went to buy.

 

 

I'll be jumping with joy when this arrives. It was going to be the tough cookie of what i had left to get for my English tenth century 'two-line' type set.

 

 

King Eadmund 939-946, moneyer Osulf

 

 

 

 

 

Eadmund was the younger brother of King Æthelstan and succeeded him to the throne upon the latters death in 939. Eadmund's reign was like most other Anglo-Saxon reigns of this period concerned chiefly with Danish incursions. The Vikings were trying to unite York and Dublin to make them into a unified pagan kingdom (so far as two different islands can be unified) against the Christian south.

 

Æthelstan had utterly defeated the Vikings at the Battle of Brunanburgh in 937. This has ceased Viking ambitions and operations for the remainder of his reign. Æthelstan had always commanded a fear and respect unlike any of his contemporaries. With his death and Eadmund's succession the new king was soon faced with renewed hostilities and increasing Viking activity in the Northern regions of England. Eadmund dealt with the situation fairly well. Unfortunately his reign was cut short unexpectedly one day whilst feasting.

 

Eadmund had a strong sense of justice and whilst engaging in a dinner he spotted and recognised a rather notorious outlawed thief by the name of Liofa. The thief obviously realised he'd been sussed and attempted to make a run for it, the king ran after him and managed to wrestle him to the floor. Unfortunately in the subsequent struggle the thief unsheaved a hidden blade and stabbed the king, fatally wounding him. Liofa was quickly surrounded by the guards and seen to in a rather brutal fashion. The young king Eadmund died, his children Eadwig and Eadgar were deemed too young to be able to succeed and thus the throne passed to Eadmund's younger brother Eadred (and would pass back to Eadmund's line upon Eadred's death regardless of whether he had any children of his own or not).

 

 

I can't wait to get the coin in hand, because once i've got this i'm half way through the set! Three more to go!!

 

 

[ccg]

Neat! I like the simplicity.

[Ætheling]

They're not much on the design front i know, but they have a certain something about them.

 

What i really like them for is because they saw all the important events of that period. These are the coins that were there when England became a united kingdom (pun not intended) for the first time. It was a struggle for a united country, the first idea of nationalism. The first time anyone had though of ruling the whole of Britain, of they never did but it was something even the Romans had given up even thinking of.

 

It was also the struggle between Christianity and the Pagan Norse.

 

Ideally i'd very much like to have coins of the Pagan kingdoms with the hammer of Thor and such but they are extremely expensive, so i've had to settle for their cheaper contemporaries.

 

These coins are to England what the 1790s issues are to the US.

 

The period of the 800 and earlier back to Roman tends to be cheaper and is a bit like US colonial issues. Issued here and there, either with Britain as a Roman colony or during the Dark Ages when Britain refragmented when the Romans left which was a move that greatly upset alot of the people at the time, it was kind of like a child being separated from it mother. Rome had gone it's own way and Britain fell apart, divided back into kingdoms and fought each other for a few centuries until one kingdom came out on top.

[Ætheling]

I'll have to post pictures of my other two and stick a whole load of historical info with them.

 

I was going to wait until i'd sourced the Eadred, Eadwig and Eadgar pennies. Once i have all six i can compose a full article on them with all the pictures.

 

This collection is a rather shall we say ambitious undertaking.

[Scottishmoney]

Nice.

[AuldFartte]

Absolutely beautiful

Wonderful addition to the collection