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Penny of Æthelred II

978–1016　・　silver　・　10th century　・　Mints across England

Penny of Æthelred II（obverse）
York Museums Trust / CC BY-SA 4.0（Wikimedia Commons）

The penny of Æthelred II, 'the Unready'. Money from the age of the Danegeld, of buying peace from the Vikings with silver. The chronicles record payments swelling without limit, from 10,000 pounds in 991 to 48,000 pounds in 1012. As a result, this king's pennies are found in greater numbers in Scandinavia than in England — tens of thousands of pieces in Sweden alone. The king's face notwithstanding, the silver crossed the sea and lay sleeping in the enemy's soil. Ironically, the minting system built to meet these payments is reckoned the finest in the world of its day.