The Anglo-Saxon silver 'penny' was introduced by Heaberht, king of Kent, in A.D. 764. The name is derived from the Old English penig, pening, pending and is cognate with German pfennig. In common usage, the term meant any kind of coin but it is normally now restricted to the thinner, flatter hammered issues of the Middle and Later Anglo-Saxon periods. Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Scandinavian pennies are not common coins, and they are highly prized - especially where they are linked to colourful figures such as Alfred, Athelstan and Athelred. Penny production was apparently confined to the larger and wealthier kingdoms: Wessex, Mercia, Kent and East Anglia. After the process of re-conquest of the Danelaw was accomplished (begun by Alfred, continued by his son, Edward, and completed by his grandson, Athelstan) coins could be issued which refelcted the new 'English' identity. We purhase Anglo-Saxon pennies regularly - check back to this page soon.

Featured Saxon Pennies:

These new large flan Saxon pennies were larger and thinner than the sceatta, but weighed approximately the same. The penny was the only denomination of English coinage produced until the reign of Edward I, some 500 years later, with the rare exception of occasional gold coins and somewhat less rare silver halfpence. This was only possible because the main economy was based on barter and not on coins, especially since the penny represented a huge sum of money to the ordinary peasant. On the obverse the Saxon penny bore the king's name and later his effigy, and on the reverse the name of the moneyer. The new large flan Saxon penny was adopted by king Offa, who produced the first English pennies with a royal portrait.