Two rare Anglo-Saxon Agnus Dei coins found in Denmark

Two rare Late Anglo-Saxon coins have been found by metal detectorists in Denmark, one near Løgumkloster and one at Kåstrup in Thy. They were discovered as part of routine archaeological surveys in Jutland performed by volunteers in collaboration with Danish cultural heritage authorities and have now entered the collections of the National Museum of Denmark.

There are fewer than 30 examples of the English Agnus Dei type coin minted around 1009 by King Æthelred the Unready in the hope that God would express his approval of his iconography on the coinage by helping England’s fight against the Viking invaders. The fact that majority of the Agnus Dei coins known have been found in Scandinavia suggests the petition was rejected.

The coins differ significantly from contemporary English coins, which bear the portrait of the king and a cross on the reverse. The Lamb of God coins, on the other hand, are marked on one side with a lamb pierced by a cross – a Christian symbol of Christ’s sacrifice. The lamb stands on a tablet with the Greek letters alpha and omega, symbolizing that God is the beginning and end of all. On the other side of the coin is the ascending dove of the Holy Spirit.

After more than 150 years of constant attacks, England had a generation of relief from Viking invaders under the reigns of Æthelred’s uncle Eadwig (r. 955-959) and father Edgar (959-975). Edgar had been a strong supporter of the monasteries, giving them large grants and forcing lay landowners to give them their land. When Æthelred ascended the throne in 978, he was a child, no more than 12 years old, but when he reached his majority, he dismissed his regents and changed course, chipping away at ecclesiastical privilege and property, giving church lands to his supporters.

But the Vikings came back. Small raids in the 980s led to a major attack on Ipswich in 991 and an invading force that defeated English defenders over and over. Æthelred had to buy them off with tribute, but they returned in 993, and the king had to pay an even bigger price for a (temporary) cessation of hostilities. The Danish fleet returned in 997, and this time there was no tribute sufficient to stop the raids. He was so desperate after five years of attacks that Æthelred ordered the massacre of all Danish men in England on St. Brice’s Day (November 13, 1002). It didn’t help. When the largest army yet, led by Thorkell the Tall, landed in Sandwich in 1009, the English defenses were routed. Cities paid their own tributes to get out of the line of fire, and in 1011, England paid a massive tribute of 48,000 pounds to free Canterbury and the captured Archbishop (he was killed anyway).

Seeing the return of so much death and destruction at Viking hands as retribution for his sins, Æthelred repented of the anti-church actions of his early reign. He restored the lands and privileges he had removed, and in the 980s began minting coins featuring religious images (the hand of God, crosses) instead of his stylized portraiture. The Agnus Dei type, portraying the Lamb of God with a cross on the obverse and the dove of the Holy Spirit on the reverse, was minted in 1009 in response to Thorkell the Tall’s invasion.

The Vikings loved the religious coin types. Instead of invoking God’s favor and protection to repel Viking attacks, these types of coins ended up being highly sought after by the invading armies. They appear in Scandinavian hoards in large amounts, often pierced to be were worn as pendants. The plunder and tribute extracted from England had a powerful effect on the currency system in Denmark.

“The Danish mint is inspired and based on the well-ordered English coinage system. The Vikings quickly discovered that it was much smarter to use coins than to cut silver into pieces when trading,” says [National Museum curator] Gitte Tarnow Ingvardson.

Even the Lamb of God coins were imitated here at home. The Viking kings Canute the Great and his son Hardeknud minted coins with the same two motifs, as did Sweyn Estridsen, who ended up playing an important role in the establishment of the Danish church organization.

The two Agnus Dei coins are now being cleaned and conserved. They will be studied further and subjected to scientific analysis to find out more information about their origins in England and deposition in Jutland.

* This article was originally published here