Gold coinage soon gave means to that of small thick silver sceats (that means “a little”; concerning 1.29 grams, or twenty grains) of essentially different style. Some had Runic legends, as well as the name Peada, supposedly a reference to the king (flourished 656) of Mercia; most, but, were nonregal, and their legends are Latinized. Varieties were varied, and a few virtually certainly originated in Frisia, where sceats are found in large quantities, denoting the trading connection that referred to as for their use; these show animal and floral design. Within the south the sceats lasted till c. 800. Tiny silver sceats were developed in the mid-8th century in Northumbria, where they quickly gave way to copper, that lasted until c. 850.
Infiltration of Merovingian gold from France in the sixth century prompted the problem of Anglo-Saxon gold “thirds” in the 7th; solidi were only terribly rarely struck, because of their high intrinsic value. Output, never great, was confined chiefly to the London-Kent area. The London mint, almost actually episcopal, signed its coins with the name LONDVNIV; Kentish coinage was mainly regal. Additionally, there were a maybe tiny Mercian series and another from York. A additional series, copied from late fourth-century Roman prototypes, was struck c. 650, when the gold content was quick diminishing.
Gold coinage soon gave means to that of small thick silver sceats (that means “a little”; concerning 1.29 grams, or twenty grains) of essentially different style. Some had Runic legends, as well as the name Peada, supposedly a reference to the king (flourished 656) of Mercia; most, but, were nonregal, and their legends are Latinized. Varieties were varied, and a few virtually certainly originated in Frisia, where sceats are found in large quantities, denoting the trading connection that referred to as for their use; these show animal and floral design. Within the south the sceats lasted till c. 800. Tiny silver sceats were developed in the mid-8th century in Northumbria, where they quickly gave way to copper, that lasted until c. 850.
Gold coinage soon gave means to that of small thick silver sceats (that means “a little”; concerning 1.29 grams, or twenty grains) of essentially different style. Some had Runic legends, as well as the name Peada, supposedly a reference to the king (flourished 656) of Mercia; most, but, were nonregal, and their legends are Latinized. Varieties were varied, and a few virtually certainly originated in Frisia, where sceats are found in large quantities, denoting the trading connection that referred to as for their use; these show animal and floral design. Within the south the sceats lasted till c. 800. Tiny silver sceats were developed in the mid-8th century in Northumbria, where they quickly gave way to copper, that lasted until c. 850.
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