Rare ninth-century penny discovered in Sussex

A rare coin dating back to the ninth century will be up for auction this week.

The coin, from the reign of Beornwulf, who was King of Mercia between 823-26, was found near Lewes on September 5, 2021.

The finder, who has not been named, was conducting an ongoing survey along with two volunteers near Lewes in East Sussex when he made the discovery.

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It is one of only nine coins recorded with a beaded inner circle on the reverse.

The finder of the coin said: “It was a lovely Sunday morning, and we were searching in a stubble field as part of a project that I have been working on for 20 years surveying the local landscape.

"In the past I had discovered Saxon pottery fragments in that area and after systematically searching the area with my Minelab E-trac detector, we had no results, so moved along 100 yards.

"I promptly got a positive signal, dug down 7 inches and saw a silver disc, which I recognised as a Saxon coin.”

Bradley Hopper, coin specialist at Noonans said: “The coin of the Mercian King Beornwulf who ruled from 823-826 has a portrait of the King on the obverse with a cross crosslet on the reverse.

"It was struck in East Anglia by the moneyer Eadnoth whose name also appears in the reverse legend.”

Noonans said Beornwulf, who was reigning at the time the coin was found, was a Mercian nobleman who deposed the previous Mercian ruler Ceolwulf.

During his three years as king, he rebuilt the Abbey of St Peter which had been founded around 679 AD.

In 825, Beornwulf lost a battle against the West Saxon King Egbert at Ellandun in Wiltshire.

This defeat resulted in the collapse of Mercian supremacy and later that same year, Beornwulf was killed during an East Anglian rebellion.

The coin is expected to reach between £6,000 and £8,000 in the auction of British coins at Noonans Mayfair, London, on June 27.

The finder will be splitting the proceeds from the sale of the coin with the landowner.