A London Street-name on a late Anglo-Saxon Penny – Richard Ambrose and Rory Naismith

The late Anglo-Saxon coinage minted between the early 970s and the Norman Conquest of 1066 is one of the most extensively studied portions of medieval English currency. Even so, new surprises continue to emerge. One such is a Harold I penny from a recent auction which presents, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, the first known instance of a street-name on Anglo-Saxon coinage.  The occurrence of one street name opens up the possibility that certain other puzzling mint-signatures could reflect streets or districts within larger centres rather than separate locations.