| Hexham Hoard | |
|---|---|
 Styca of Aethelred II from Hexham Hoard | |
| Created | c.850 (deposited), 9th century (mid) |
| Period/culture | Anglo-Saxon |
| Place | Hexham, Northumberland |
The Hexham hoard is a 9th-century hoard of eight thousand copper-alloy coins of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria, which were discovered whilst a grave was being dug close to Hexham Abbey in 1832.
!["An Account of the Discovery at Hexham ..." [proceed to p. 367] (Archaeologia, or, Miscellaneous tracts relating to antiquity - Society of Antiquaries of London. Volume 25, 1834) Archaeologia, or, Miscellaneous tracts relating to antiquity - Society of Antiquaries of London. Volume 25, 1834 (IA s2id13276840).pdf](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/eb/Archaeologia%2C_or%2C_Miscellaneous_tracts_relating_to_antiquity_-_Society_of_Antiquaries_of_London._Volume_25%2C_1834_%28IA_s2id13276840%29.pdf/page1-220px-Archaeologia%2C_or%2C_Miscellaneous_tracts_relating_to_antiquity_-_Society_of_Antiquaries_of_London._Volume_25%2C_1834_%28IA_s2id13276840%29.pdf.jpg)
The hoard was uncovered on 15 October 1832, whilst the grave of a man called William Errington was being dug on the west side of the north transept of Hexham Abbey by the sexton and his assistant. [1] [2] [3] The area outside the church where the grave was being dug was known as Campey Hill and at the time had only recently become part of the burial ground. [2] The grave itself was dug unusually deeply, striking the vessel that contained the coins. [2] The sexton, Mr Airey, recognised the potential importance of the find and stopped the entire assemblage being dispersed; however a significant portion of the coin hoard was lost before it could be examined. [2] The coins were held within a bronze bucket, which was broken during its discovery; it was acquired by the British Museum, who later reconstructed it. [4] The hoard was initially published and catalogued by the antiquarian John Adamson. [2] Further specimens were recorded when the grave was re-opened in 1841. [5]
The Hexham hoard consisted of approximately eight thousand Northumbrian stycas. [2] These included specimens from the reigns of three kings Eanred, Aethelred II and Redwulf, as well as coins of two archbishops Eanbald and Wigmund. [2] There were additional coins in the hoard, whose attribution to a particular issuer are difficult to clarify and are known as 'irregulars'. [6]
The assemblage contains no coins of Osberht or Archbishop Wulfhere. [6] Numismatist, C S Lyon, suggested that the hoard was concealed either in the reign of Redwulf or in the second reign of Aethelred II, giving a date of concealment of circa 845; [6] historian Hugh Pagan dates concealment to Aethelred II's second reign. [7]
Study of the stycas from Hexham, as well as other hoards including Kirkoswald, Bolton Percy and several finds from York, was done by Elizabeth Pirie who created the typology for the coinage. [8]
The hoard was divided and parcels of the coins from it were sold to a number of institutions, including: British Museum; [6] [5] the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle; [9] the Ashmolean Museum (who also had a portion of the bucket for a period of time); [10] Whitby Museum; [9] Manchester Art Gallery – where an unopened parcel from the hoard was 're-discovered' in 1977. [11]
Scandinavian York, Viking York is a term used by historians for what is now Yorkshire during the period of Scandinavian domination from late 9th century until it was annexed and integrated into England after the Norman Conquest; in particular, it is used to refer to York, the city controlled by these kings and earls. The Kingdom of Jórvíc was closely associated with the much longer-lived Kingdom of Dublin throughout this period.
Hexham Abbey is a Grade I listed church dedicated to St Andrew, in the town of Hexham, Northumberland, in the North East of England. Originally built in AD 674, the Abbey was built up during the 12th century into its current form, with additions around the turn of the 20th century. Since the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1537, the Abbey has been the parish church of Hexham. In 2014 the Abbey regained ownership of its former monastic buildings, which had been used as Hexham magistrates' court, and subsequently developed them into a permanent exhibition and visitor centre, telling the story of the Abbey's history.
A sceat was a small, thick silver coin minted in England, Frisia, and Jutland during the Anglo-Saxon period that normally weighed 0.8–1.3 grams.
Eanred was king of Northumbria in the early ninth century.
Wigmund was a medieval Archbishop of York, who was consecrated in 837 and died in 854.
Wulfhere was Archbishop of York between 854 and 900.
Eardwulf was king of Northumbria from 796 to 806, when he was deposed and went into exile. He may have had a second reign from 808 until perhaps 811 or 830. Northumbria in the last years of the eighth century was the scene of dynastic strife between several noble families: in 790, king Æthelred I attempted to have Eardwulf assassinated. Eardwulf's survival may have been viewed as a sign of divine favour. A group of nobles conspired to assassinate Æthelred in April 796 and he was succeeded by Osbald: Osbald's reign lasted only twenty-seven days before he was deposed and Eardwulf became king on 14 May 796.
Æthelred was king of Northumbria in the middle of the ninth century, but his dates are uncertain. N. J. Higham gives 840 to 848, when he was killed, with an interruption in 844 when Rædwulf usurped the throne, but was killed the same year fighting against the Vikings. Barbara Yorke agrees, and adds that Æthelred was the son of his predecessor, Eanred, but dates his death 848 or 849. D. P. Kirby thinks that an accession date of 844 is more likely, but notes that a coin of Eanred dated stylistically no earlier than 850 may require a more radical revision of dates. David Rollason accepts the coin evidence, and dates Æthelred's reign from c.854 to c. 862, with Rædwulf's usurpation in 858.
Rædwulf was king of Northumbria for a short time. His ancestry is not known, but it is possible that he was a kinsman of Osberht and Ælla.
The history of the English penny can be traced back to the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of the 7th century: to the small, thick silver coins known to contemporaries as pæningas or denarii, though now often referred to as sceattas by numismatists. Broader, thinner pennies inscribed with the name of the king were introduced to Southern England in the middle of the 8th century. Coins of this format remained the foundation of the English currency until the 14th century.
Beonna was King of East Anglia from 749. He is notable for being the first East Anglian king whose coinage included both the ruler's name and his title. The end-date of Beonna's reign is not known, but may have been around 760. It is thought that he shared the kingdom with another ruler called Alberht and possibly with a third man, named Hun. Not all experts agree with these regnal dates, or the nature of his kingship: it has been suggested that he may have ruled alone from around 758.
Coinage in Anglo-Saxon England refers to the use of coins, either for monetary value or for other purposes, in Anglo-Saxon England.
Viking coinage was used during the Viking Age of northern Europe. Prior to the usage and minting of coins, the Viking economy was predominantly a bullion economy, where the weight and size of a particular metal is used as a method of evaluating value, as opposed to the value being determined by the specific type of coin. By the ninth century, the Viking raids brought them into contact with cultures well familiarised with the use of coins in economies of Europe, hence influencing the Vikings own production of coins.
The styca was a small coin minted in pre-Viking Northumbria, originally in base silver and subsequently in a copper alloy. Production began in the 790s and continued until the 850s, though the coin remained in circulation until the Viking conquest of Northumbria in 867.
John Allan, was a British numismatist and scholar of Sanskrit. Allan was a noted numismatist and produced the first systematic study of the coins the Gupta Empire, which remains a standard reference today.
Elizabeth Jean Elphinstone Pirie was a British numismatist specialising in ninth-century Northumbrian coinage, and museum curator, latterly as Keeper of Archaeology at Leeds City Museum from 1960 to 1991. She wrote eight books and dozens of articles throughout her career. She was a fellow of the Royal Numismatic Society, president of the Yorkshire Numismatic Society and a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London.
The Kirkoswald Hoard is a ninth-century hoard of 542 copper alloy coins of the Kingdom of Northumbria and a silver trefoil ornament, which were discovered amongst tree roots in 1808 within the parish of Kirkoswald in Cumbria, UK.
The Talnotrie Hoard is a 9th-century mixed hoard of jewellery, coinage, metal-working objects and raw materials found in Talnotrie, Scotland, in 1912. Initially assumed to have belonged to a Northumbrian metal-worker, more recent interpretations associate its deposition with the activities of the Viking Great Army.
The St Leonard's Place hoard was a hoard of c. 10,000 early medieval Northumbrian coins known as stycas, discovered by workers during construction work at St Leonard's Place in York in 1842. Many of the coins were subsequently acquired by the Yorkshire Museum.
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