Anglo-Saxon coin saved for nation

[Guest guest]

So Coins can be saved for the Nation of Great Britain, surely ancient

Indian artifacts can be returned to India as well.

 

 

Anglo-Saxon coin saved for nation

By Jeremy Lovell

Wed Feb 8, 6:04 AM ET

 

 

http://us.news3.yimg.com/us.i2.yimg.com/p/rids/20060208/i/ra2639215917

..jpg?

An undated photo showing a gold coin from the 9th century AD

depicting Coenwulf, King of Mercia. The Coenwulf coin, found by an

amateur treasure hunter in 2001, was saved for the nation on

Wednesday after the British Museum paid a record 357,852 pounds to

the American owner. It is the highest amount ever paid for a British

coin. REUTERS/British Museum/Handout

 

 

LONDON (Reuters) - A unique Anglo-Saxon gold coin, found by an

amateur treasure hunter in 2001, was saved for the nation on

Wednesday after the British Museum paid a record 357,852 pounds to

the American owner.

 

It is the highest amount ever paid for a British coin.

 

The acquisition of the 1,200-year-old coin, minted in the reign of

Coenwulf who ruled Mercia from 796 to 821, turns a neat profit for

American collector Allan Davisson who bought it at auction in October

2004 for a then record 230,000 pounds.

 

"The Coenwulf gold coin is the most important single coin find for

quite some time," said the museum's Anglo-Saxon coin curator Gareth

Williams. "It is a significant contribution to British monetary

history."

 

He said the sudden surge in the price of the coin was due to the fact

that Davisson had refused to sell it to the museum at the auction

price and instead produced a notarised offer at the higher price from

a private American collector.

 

As the museum is obliged by law to offer the going market rate it had

no choice but to pay the new asking price.

 

"There is a flaw in the system that needs to be closed in the

future," Williams said.

 

The coin, the size of a modern one pence coin, is one of only eight

known gold coins from the mid to late Saxon period -- seven of which

are now owned by the museum -- and is considered to be the best

example.

 

It is also thought to be probably the earliest example of a gold coin

bearing the name of an English ruler as part of circulating currency.

 

But its rarity does not stop there.

 

Coenwulf, whose kingdom eventually stretched from the south coast to

the Humber in the north and from East Anglia to the Welsh border, was

the most powerful English ruler at that time.

 

One side the coin, in near mint condition despite its age, carries a

stylised Roman bust of Coenwulf and his name.

 

The other is inscribed "de vico lvndoniae" which translates as "from

the trading place of London" -- a form of wording that is deemed to

indicate a rivalry with Coenwulf's powerful continental contemporary

Charlemagne.

 

The Frankish ruler had his coinage inscribed "vico dorestatis".

 

The museum also says the fact that London is described as a "vicus"

rather than a "civitas" suggests that the city is treated as a

trading centre -- giving it international status -- rather than

having any royal status.

 

The discovery of the coin, found by a metal detector next to a public

footpath beside the River Ivel in Bedfordshire about 50 miles north

of London, was the first Anglo-Saxon gold penny to be found in nearly

a century.

 

The coin is believed to have been a "mancus" -- a word that

interchangeably represents a nominal weight of 4.25 grammes or the

value of 30 silver pennies.