British Coins and Tokens

Harthacnut (1035-1042), Penny, Jewel Cross type, London, Wulfwine, cnvt recx a, rev. p,vlfpine on lvnde:, 0.96g/6h (BEH –; SCBI Stockholm –; N 797; S 1160). Some light porosity consistent with being a field find, otherwise very fine, extremely rare; Wulfwine unrecorded in the standard references for ‘Cnut’s’ Jewel Cross issue £1,500-£2,000

found at Hacheston (Suffolk) in 2010 (PAS SF-02F230; EMC 2010.0159)

The obverse die used to strike this coin was also employed by the London moneyer Brunman (SCBI Copenhagen 2292; SCBI Polish Museums 295).

Following the death of Cnut in 1035, the succession was contested by his two sons, Harold I and Harthacnut.  At a witan in Oxford, Harold was declared ruler of all England, despite the opposition of a Wessex faction headed by Earl Godwin and Harthacnut's mother, Ælfgifu Emma of Normandy, who set up a rival court in Winchester. With Harthacnut occupied in Denmark, this fragile situation did not last: near the beginning of 1037, Harold drove Emma out of England and took de facto control of the whole country.

The numismatic evidence of this period is particularly informative; as Tuukka Talvio put it, the Jewel Cross coinage ‘offers a rare opportunity to catch a glimpse of the political developments between Cnut’s death in the autumn of 1035 and Harold’s acquisition of sole power early in 1037’. Coins of the Jewel Cross type were issued for both Harold I (largely at mints on the Thames and north of it) and Harthacnut (largely at mints on the Thames and south of it in Wessex).  Harthacnut's Jewel Cross coinage was evidently short-lived, being known from a limited number of mints and with significant die-linking between mints and moneyers.  Jewel Cross coins were struck in the names of both 'Harthacnut' and 'Cnut'. The latter were considered by Dolley to be a posthumous issue of Cnut, perhaps struck late in 1035 under the auspices of his widow, Emma (cf. Dolley, BNJ XXVII, p.274). This, however, has not received universal support. These coins are perhaps better understood as representing a convenient shortening of Harthacnut’s name in an attempt to associate the new king with his illustrious father. In any case the Jewel Cross coins of ‘Cnut’ remain especially rare, with most examples offered to market being cracked or chipped.