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Another Key Anglo-Saxon Monarch!
Sylvestius
Posts: 1,584 ✭
I'll be jumping with joy when this arrives. I must especially thank Python for pointing me in the direction of this coin. It was going to be the tough cookie of what i had left to get for my English tenth century 'two-line' type set.
With this one all but purchased (only one last installment to be paid) i can wait for it to arrive lock it up in the cabinet and sleep easier know that i'm half way through my set and i've only got three more to get and they are easier to source than this particular monarch.
King Eadmund 939-946, moneyer Osulf (I wonder if he's any relation to the Asulf of my Æthelstan penny?).
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 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 Vikin 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 (the name escapes me at the moment). 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. The thief 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...
With this one all but purchased (only one last installment to be paid) i can wait for it to arrive lock it up in the cabinet and sleep easier know that i'm half way through my set and i've only got three more to get and they are easier to source than this particular monarch.
King Eadmund 939-946, moneyer Osulf (I wonder if he's any relation to the Asulf of my Æthelstan penny?).
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 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 Vikin 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 (the name escapes me at the moment). 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. The thief 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...
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Take Care
Ben
166 BHDs & 154 Die Varieties & Die States...
Bust Half Nut Club #180
Festivus Yes! Bagels No!
<< <i>Yery nice. I've been looking for one of William The Conqueror's grandfather (Rollo The Granger) who captured and conquered Normandy. Don't even know if they exist.
Take Care
Ben >>
I'm afraid i don't know the answer to that one either. One thing i should mention, did he go by any other names? Because medieval coins from areas like Normany, the Low Countries and Germany get terribly complex with monarchs, dukes, counts and others all issuing their own issues and sometimes they go under different names in different areas. Take the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, King of Spain. He was only the fifth of one of those two places (i forget which), he was a different number in the other one. Even i get confused.
<< <i>Yery nice. I've been looking for one of William The Conqueror's grandfather (Rollo The Granger) who captured and conquered Normandy. Don't even know itf they exist.
Take Care
Ben >>
Actually i've just looked him up, from Norway was he? That's actually not good news for you. They didn't do much coin wise... they tended to trade in silver ingots more than anything. It was only by the reign of Æthelred II (978-1016) that substantial coins went flowing in that direction, and of course Cnut's reign (1016-1035) that Denmark got producing coins proper. I suspect but i am not certain that perhaps Sweden might have produced some by this period??? Finland didn't i don't think, Norway i'm not sure, but i'd hedge a guess that they didn't.
But perhaps some were struck in Normandy?
That would be interesting to find out, if you ever do find out one way or the other i'd be interested in knowing.
<< <i>
<< <i>Yery nice. I've been looking for one of William The Conqueror's grandfather (Rollo The Granger) who captured and conquered Normandy. Don't even know itf they exist.
Take Care
Ben >>
Actually i've just looked him up, from Norway was he? That's actually not good news for you. They didn't do much coin wise... they tended to trade in silver ingots more than anything. It was only by the reign of ®thelred II (978-1016) that substantial coins went flowing in that direction, and of course Cnut's reign (1016-1035) that Denmark got producing coins proper. I suspect but i am not certain that perhaps Sweden might have produced some by this period??? Finland didn't i don't think, Norway i'm not sure, but i'd hedge a guess that they didn't.
But perhaps some were struck in Normandy?
That would be interesting to find out, if you ever do find out one way or the other i'd be interested in knowing. >>
Yes, I'm afraid your correct. Nothing much on the Norway side of things either as he was run-out-of-town as we say in South Dakota, Oh Well...
Regards
Ben
166 BHDs & 154 Die Varieties & Die States...
Bust Half Nut Club #180
Festivus Yes! Bagels No!
<< <i>wow, you REALLY go for the tough monarchs! And super nice too! Are you trying to get all the monarchs? >>
Well the initially plan had been just to get one coin from every monarch from 871 (Alfred the Great) 1016 with the final demise of Æthelred II.
Unfortunately as anyone familiar with coins of the period would point out there is a major stumbling block that'll set you back a few thousand of whatever currency and that's Edward the Martyr (975-978), the half brother of Æthelred II. Thus i thought well that's gonna be one gap that's not gonna get filled any time soon.
Therefore i decided to reduce the focus to eliminate him from the equation. From the reign of Alfred the Great (871-899) to mid way into Eadgar's reign (958/9-975) the two line type penny was the major design, called so because the moneyor on the reverse has his name in two lines.
I then decided to take Alfred the Great off of the list (for now) and focus just on the tenth century issues. Which basically left me with;
Edward the Elder (899-924)
Æthelstan (924-939)
Eadmund (939-946)
Eadred (946-955)
Eadwig (955-958/9)*
Eadgar (958/9-975)*
*I forget the exact dates here.
Of which i have Edward the Elder and Athelstan, and the Eadmund is technically paid for, i'm just finishing off payment on another coin i'm buying as well as this.
So that means i'm half way through. Eadred's and Eadwig's do turn up here and there, Eadgar until recently was around quite a bit but supply seems to have slowed down. I'll have to figure out the next tough one out of those three and track that one down.
Athelstan was undoubtedly the hardest of the series, i'm glad i got that one first.
<< <i>
Yes, I'm afraid your correct. Nothing much on the Norway side of things either as he was run-out-of-town as we say in South Dakota, Oh Well...
Regards
Ben >>
Kind of like Eric Bloodaxe who was so, well 'old Skool' that his contemporary Viking's found him a little too keen and treacherously bloodthirsty, he was an old traditionalist in a time when the Viking's had been slowing down and become a little less violent. They chased him out of Scandinavia... so he shifted to England, took up residence at the kingdom of York and cause Eadred no end of trouble. Eric was welcomed with open arms at first but he's ruthlessness got him despised pretty quickly and he got booted out. He later regained his throne but he was then worse than ever and like most traditional vikings he died a violent death from a sword. It was enough to give him legendary status both as the last king of York as an independent kingdom and as the last true Viking.
That is one awesome coin
My OmniCoin Collection
My BankNoteBank Collection
Tom, formerly in Albuquerque, NM.
"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." -Luke 11:9
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." -Deut. 6:4-5
"For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; He will save us." -Isaiah 33:22
I'm trying to put together a set too, Alfred the Great to Harold II Godwinson, of coins in the EF-ish range with nice eye appeal, strike and patina. I don't know if I'll get every major type, but I hope most. I'm also rounding out the set with some sceattas, stycas and neighboring contemporary deniers. I will probably have some cheap cut pennies as an example of that early practice.
I only just started, buying my first penny in November of 2011 (ETC, S-1182), but really getting the bug at the 2012 CICF at CNG's table. I now have on the order of ten pieces total, with all the core pieces (the Anglo-Saxon ones) all fitting the quality criteria.
EVP
How does one get a hater to stop hating?
I can be reached at evillageprowler@gmail.com
Hey EVillageprowler, York has a nice Alfred the Great penny right now, bet it doesn't last long though.
<< <i>Note to self - check the date of the posts before reading too far into a thread.
Hey EVillageprowler, York has a nice Alfred the Great penny right now, bet it doesn't last long though. >>
It'd be a nice centerpiece though, wouldn't it?
How does one get a hater to stop hating?
I can be reached at evillageprowler@gmail.com
<< <i>Guys - shhhhhhh!!! I am well aware of that one, but am currently broke. I am hoping it'll still be available at some time in the future. In the meanwhile, please ... shhhh. I am seriously begging.
I think you might be too late. The coin is on Vcoins and is marked as sold.
How does one get a hater to stop hating?
I can be reached at evillageprowler@gmail.com