English: Treasure case : 2006 T426

Inscription: + CFNEðRFð REGINA M [intending CENEðREð REGINA M, Cenethreth Regina Merciorum, Cynethryth Queen of the Mercians]
Inscription: EOBA [Minted by Eoba]

This case concerns a silver penny in the name of Cynethryth, wife of Offa, king of Mercia (757-96).

Under the terms of Treasure Act (1996), a single coin would not normally constitute Treasure. However, the coin comes from the same site as a hoard of coins found between 1991 and 1997. Two parcels of this hoard were declared to be Treasure Trove, and this coin would therefore count as Treasure as an addendum to the earlier hoard, as long as it can be established that the coin does come from the same hoard. Another find of Anglo-Saxon coins from the same site in 1998 was deemed to be unrelated and was disclaimed as Treasure.

In this case, the association with the earlier hoard seems clear. As mentioned above, the new coin is a penny of Offa’s wife Cynethryth. The earlier hoard contained 10 pennies of the light coinage of Offa, one light penny in the joint names of Offa and Eadberht, bishop of London, one penny in the name of Offa’s contemporary Ecgberht, king of Kent (c. 756-c. 780), and one of Jaenberht, archbishop of Canterbury (765-92). The new coin was struck by the Canterbury moneyer Eoba, as were two of the coins from the earlier find, and the group as a whole reflects the southern part of Offa’s kingdom. The weight of the new coin, at 1.31g, is also consistent with the light coinage of the rest of the hoard. Everything about the new coin is, therefore, consistent with it being part of the same hoard. Furthermore, there were two entirely separate coinage systems to the north and south of the Humber in the late eighth century. Out of over 200 single finds of Mercian and Kentish issues of this period recorded in the Corpus of Early Medieval Coin Finds at the Fitzwilliam Museum, there are no other recorded finds north of the Humber in this period, apart from another single coin of Offa from the same site found in 2000. With no comparable finds anywhere else in the north of England, it would be a remarkable coincidence if any coins of this period from the same site did not come from the same hoard.

This coin should be regarded as an addendum to the hoard from this site previously found to be Treasure Trove, and that as such it should also be considered as Treasure under the terms of the Treasure Act (1996).