Thrymsas: The Tiny Gold Coins That Launched Anglo-Saxon England’s Money

Before Pennies, England Had Thrymsas: Tiny Gold Coins With a Huge Backstory

By Mike Markowitz

After Rome’s power faded in western Europe, gold still spoke.

Small gold coins moved through the ports, markets, and royal courts of the early Middle Ages. They crossed the Channel from Francia. They passed through Kent, London, York, and other centers of power. Then, around 600 CE, Anglo-Saxon England began to make its own versions.

Today, collectors call these coins thrymsas. Their users probably called them scillingas, or shillings.

That difference matters. “Thrymsa” came from the Latin name tremissis, or triens. The word appears in Anglo-Saxon written sources. However, most specialists believe the people who spent these coins used another name.

Even so, “thrymsa” remains the standard numismatic term. It describes one of the most important coinages in early English history.

These tiny coins weigh about half as much as a modern U.S. dime. Yet they carry a huge story. They mark England’s return to coinage after the end of Roman Britain. They also reveal a world of trade, imitation, religion, and political ambition.

From Roman Tremissis to Anglo-Saxon Thrymsa

The Roman emperor Theodosius I introduced the gold tremissis around 380 CE. The coin weighed about 1.5 grams. A modern U.S. dime weighs 2.268 grams, so the tremissis felt small in the hand.

The tremissis represented one-third of the gold solidus. That made it useful for meaningful payments. It could represent the value of a hog or sheep. However, its thin flan and small size made it vulnerable to wear.

As western Roman authority collapsed, Germanic kingdoms copied the tremissis. These new powers needed gold coins for prestige, gifts, taxation, and trade. Therefore, they borrowed a familiar Roman format and adapted it.

Over time, the average weight settled closer to 1.3 grams. At the same time, mints stretched their bullion. They mixed gold with silver and sometimes copper. [1]

That slow debasement became one of the defining features of seventh-century coinage.

Merovingian Gold Crosses the Channel

The Merovingian kingdom, centered in what is now France, ruled from about 481 to 751 CE. Its mints produced hundreds of different tremisses. [2] Many came from small and temporary mint places.

These coins reached Britain through trade and political contact. In fact, Merovingian tremisses circulated in England in greater numbers than the earliest local gold coins.

Anglo-Saxon moneyers then copied them. They also copied Roman prototypes. Yet they did not merely duplicate old models. Instead, they transformed them.

Faces became abstract. Legends became garbled. Crosses, wreaths, runes, and invented letter forms filled the dies. To modern eyes, the designs look strange. To early medieval users, they carried authority.

That authority came from gold.

The Crondall Hoard Changes the Story

In 1828, a remarkable gold hoard came to light at Crondall in Hampshire. [3] The find included a group usually described as 100 gold pieces: 73 Anglo-Saxon thrymsas, 24 Merovingian tremisses, and three blanks.

Most of the coins now reside in Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum. Scholars date the deposit to about 635–650.

The Crondall Hoard remains vital because early Anglo-Saxon gold survives in tiny numbers. Without it, numismatists would know far less about England’s first post-Roman coinage.

The hoard also shows how closely England connected with Francia. Continental gold and English gold sat together. That mix tells a simple story. Trade, migration, marriage, religion, and politics all crossed the Channel.

Three Phases of Anglo-Saxon Gold

During the seventh century, Anglo-Saxon gold coinage changed fast.

Numismatists divide the series into three broad stages. First came the Substantive Gold phase, also called the Crondall phase. These coins retained relatively strong gold content.

Next came the Pale Gold phase. The coins looked lighter and more silvery because moneyers added more silver and base metal.

Finally came the Transitional phase. By then, gold had almost disappeared from the coinage. Around 680, silver sceattas replaced thrymsas.

That shift from gold to silver changed English money. It also prepared the way for the later penny system.

Eadbald: The First English King Named on a Coin

His father, Æthelberht, became the first Anglo-Saxon ruler to convert to Christianity. His mother, Bertha, came from the Merovingian royal house. She was the daughter of King Charibert.

That background gave Eadbald a powerful position. It also placed Kent at the center of England’s early Christian and commercial networks.

Eadbald holds a special numismatic distinction. He became the first English ruler named on a coin.[4]

About eight examples of his thrymsa survive. Most remain in museums. All known examples share the same obverse die. However, different reverse dies exist. That variety suggests a meaningful issue, not a one-off experiment.

The gold fineness varies from about 74% to 64%. That range also fits the early stage of Anglo-Saxon gold.

Witmen: A Common Early Type

The “Witmen” type dates to about 630–650. It probably ranks as the most common thrymsa type.[5]

The obverse shows a crude right-facing bust. The figure wears a collar with three pellets. A trident with a forked base appears nearby.

The reverse shows a cross inside a wreath. Around it runs a garbled inscription. Numismatists usually read the key element as WITMEN, probably the name of a moneyer.

That detail gives the coin extra importance. Early Anglo-Saxon coinage often speaks through fragments. A moneyer’s name, even in distorted form, opens a window onto the organization behind the coinage.

London: A Mint Named in Gold

A very rare type from about 630–650 points directly to London. [6]

Its obverse shows a crude face. Its reverse shows a cross inside a circle. Around the design appear letters read as LONDUNIU, which indicate London as the mint.

Only about seven examples exist. Their gold content ranges from about 60% to 68%.

The inscription runs retrograde, or backward. That detail appears often on early medieval coins. Die cutters worked by hand. They also copied inscriptions they may not have understood.

Even so, the London legend matters. It places one of England’s most important cities inside the earliest English coinage story.

York: Gold from the North

York ranked as the leading city in northern England. An unusual group of thrymsas now carries an attribution to York, mainly because several examples came from finds near the city.

About 14 examples appear in four subtypes, labeled A, B, C, and D.

The obverse shows a stylized standing figure between two crosses. The figure wears a checkerboard-patterned garment. [7] The reverse shows a cross inside a beaded circle. A garbled inscription surrounds it.

Some scholars suggest that the inscription may preserve the name of a moneyer named Daniel.[8]

These coins also show how coinage moved beyond Kent and London. Gold helped announce status in the north as well.

Concordia: A Roman Idea Reborn

The “Concordia” type belongs to the Pale Gold phase, about 650–675. Only about four examples survive.[9]

The obverse shows a right-facing head with a radiate crown. The reverse shows clasped hands, the ancient symbol of friendship and agreement.

The design looks back to Roman coinage. More specifically, it copies a type associated with Carausius, the Roman usurper who ruled a breakaway empire in Britain from 286 to 293.

That makes the coin remarkable. Near the end of the Pale Gold phase, an Anglo-Saxon moneyer copied a design roughly 382 years old.

This is the “wow” moment of the series. A seventh-century die cutter reached back into the Roman past and turned imperial propaganda into Anglo-Saxon gold.

Two Emperors: A Memory of Rome

The “Two Emperors” type also belongs to the Pale Gold phase. More than 50 examples survive.

The obverse shows a right-facing head. A few garbled letters act as a pseudo-inscription. The reverse shows two seated figures. They hold a globe between them. A winged Victory hovers above. [10]

The type comes from fourth-century Roman gold solidi. Anglo-Saxon moneyers may have known those coins through buried Roman hoards.

The meaning likely changed by the seventh century. Yet the image still carried power. It looked official, ancient and felt like money.

PADA: Runes on Gold

The ancient Futhorc, or Anglo-Saxon runic alphabet [11], contained 28 letters. Anglo-Saxons used it from the fifth to eighth centuries to write Old English. Latin letters gradually replaced it.

The runic letters for PADA appear on a series of thrymsas from a Kentish mint. [12] PADA probably names the moneyer.

These coins show a distinctive Anglo-Saxon identity. They do not rely only on Roman or Merovingian models. Instead, they place local writing on gold.

That choice matters. It gives the series a native English voice.

Crispus: Constantine’s Son on an English Coin

Crispus was born around 300 CE. He was the eldest son of Constantine I. As Caesar, or junior emperor, he appeared on many Roman coins.

In 326, Constantine ordered his execution. Ancient sources connect the event with an accusation involving Crispus and his stepmother. Many historians regard the accusation as likely false.

More than three centuries later, an Anglo-Saxon moneyer copied the bare-headed portrait of Crispus.

A rare pale gold thrymsa from London, dated about 660–670, shows that copied portrait on the obverse. [13] Its Latin inscription appears garbled. The reverse shows a cross inside a wreath. A runic inscription names the mint.

This coin compresses history. It links Constantine’s dynasty, Roman Britain, Christian symbolism, and Anglo-Saxon London in one tiny gold piece.

 Vanimundus: A Frankish Name with English Imitators

Vanimundus, or Warimund, was a Frankish moneyer. He probably never struck coins in Britain.

Even so, his name carried enough prestige that an anonymous Anglo-Saxon moneyer used it on a local series.

Some Vanimundus coins contain very pale gold, with only about 8% to 10% gold. Others are silver.

The obverse shows a crude right-facing head with a few garbled letters. The reverse shows a small cross inside a double-beaded circle. Around it appears some version of VANIMUNDUS MONE. [14]

This type shows how reputation worked in early medieval coinage. A trusted name could outlive its original mint and migrate across the Channel.

Transitional Thrymsas: Gold Fades into Silver

By about 675–680, British thrymsas contained 15% gold or less. Soon, silver replaced them.

The new silver coins kept similar sizes and related designs. Numismatists call them sceattas, from an Anglo-Saxon word for “treasure.” However, contemporary users probably called them penningas, or pennies.

The last thrymsas with detectable gold belong to the Transitional phase. They often show a helmeted head on the obverse. The reverse usually carries a crude Roman-style military standard, or labarum. [15]

That final stage closes the gold chapter. At the same time, it opens the silver age of English coinage.

Collecting Anglo-Saxon Gold Today

Collectors face a major challenge with thrymsas. The coins are rare, complex, and often difficult to classify.

The standard reference remains J.J. North’s 1993 work on English hammered coinage. Auction catalogs often cite North numbers. Many also cite the Standard Catalogue of British Coins, published annually by Spink. That catalog lists about 30 distinct thrymsa types. Some types survive as unique coins.

Only about 500 thrymsas exist. Museums hold many of them. Still, new examples continue to appear. Metal detectorists in Britain have added important finds during the past few decades.

That modern record matters. The United Kingdom’s antiquities system encourages reporting. [16] As a result, many finds enter public databases with location and context. That helps scholars map the spread of early English money.

CoinArchives Pro returned 300 hits for a simple “Thrymsa” search. However, many of those results represent repeated sales of the same coins. The true population remains much smaller.

Why Thrymsas Matter

Thrymsas do not look like modern coins. They look rough, small, and strange. Yet that is exactly why they matter.

They capture a world rebuilding itself after Rome and shows Kent looking toward Francia. In addition, they show London reemerging as a mint and York asserting regional weight. and importantly, they show moneyers copying Roman emperors, Frankish names, Christian symbols, and Anglo-Saxon runes.

Most of all, they reveal the birth of English coinage.

A thrymsa is tiny. But its story is enormous.

Suggested References

• J.J. North, English Hammered Coinage, Volume 1, 1993.
• Spink, Coins of England and the United Kingdom, annual editions.
• Rory Naismith, Making Money in the Early Middle Ages, 2023.
• D.M. Metcalf, studies on thrymsas and sceattas.
• Portable Antiquities Scheme and Early Medieval Corpus records.
• CoinArchives Pro auction database.

Citations

[1] Modern gold coins are typically alloyed with 10% copper to make the metal more resistant to wear
[2] https://coinweek.com/coinweek-ancient-coin-series-coinage-of-the-merovingians/
[3] https://coinweek.com/the-crondall-hoard-of-anglo-saxon-gold-coins/
[4] CNG Triton XX, January 10, 2017, Lot 1463, realized $90,000
[5] CNG Auction 114, May 13, 2020, Lot 1178, realized $4,500
[6] CNG Auction 100, October 7, 2015, Lot 1056, realized $9,000
[7] CNG Auction 114, May 13, 2020, Lot 1180, realized $22,500
[8] Woods (2020) page 71
[9] CNG Auction 99, May 13, 2015, Lot 1206, realized $27,500
[10] CNG Triton XXIX, January 13, 2026, Lot 1106, realized $9,000
[11] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Saxon_runes
[12] CNG Triton XXIV, January 19, 2021, Lot 1372, realized $4,500
[13] CNG Triton VIII, January 11, 2005, Lot 1752, realized $12,000
[14] Roma Auction XX, October 29, 2020, Lot 778, realized $1,678
[15] CNG Triton XXII, January 8, 2019, Lot 1353, realized $15,000
[16] https://finds.org.uk/