1 - Mints in Britain and Ireland, c. 600–1066

Summary

Coins were struck at named and unnamed mints in England and Ireland throughout the period c. 600–1066, the bulk of them in England (see Map 9, p. 357 below). Section (a) lists first the certain or probable mint-places in England, secondly the named mints of uncertain location, and then concludes with a discussion of the many unnamed mints likely to have contributed to the coinage before the universal adoption of mint-signatures in the 970s. Section (b) discusses the several mints that operated in Ireland and the Irish Sea area in the late tenth and eleventh century: while just one, Dublin, is named, a number of others were probably active as well, including on the Isle of Man.

No mint-places can be identified within the bounds of modern Scotland or Wales during this period, but see Chapter 12, section (c), pp. 311–12, for discussion of a coin in the name Hywel Dda which may have been minted in Chester or (less probably) in Wales.

Throughout this appendix and the rest of the volume, the term mint-place has generally been preferred to mint (see also Chapter 1, section (d), p. 10). This is because coin production seems to have been quite devolved in this period: within a single town, minting was split between a number of moneyers who generally operated individually. It is therefore misleading to speak of ‘the mint of London’, ‘the mint of York’, etc., which implies a greater degree of unity and co-ordination than is normally apparent.

MINTS IN ENGLAND

Named mints of certain or probable location

Entries note the first occurrence and the duration of activity of each mint-place. A representative specimen (from the catalogue in this volume where possible) is cited for all mints active prior to Edgar's reform of the early 970s. Approximate dates for later Anglo-Saxon coin types can be found above in Table 17, pp. 224–6. Entries close with references to any contemporary documentation of minting activity, and to major published discussions. Shires refer to divisions at the time of DB; these are often co-terminous with modern ceremonial counties, with some differences, for instance in the case of Peterborough and the area around London.