'Lost' King Stephen medieval pennies found in Norfolk
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This is one of the nine pennies that was found in Wymondham in Norfolk
A set of nine medieval pennies has been discovered in Norfolk.
The coins date back to the reigns of the kings Stephen, Henry II, and Henry III - all kings of England in the 12th and 13th centuries.
They were found during a metal detecting session in the Wymondham area.
Experts reckon this collection was in a purse that was lost hundreds of years ago.
What can we learn from the King Stephen coins?
The lost purse included cut-up coins, such as this halfpenny, which were used as change
Some of the coins were chopped up into smaller pieces, making halfpennies and some quarters of pennies.
These coins were being used during the 12th century in England. The country was still recovering from a difficult time after the Norman Conquest in 1066, so there weren't many coins to go around. This meant people often cut their coins up, to have smaller currency to use.
Did you know?
A coin expert or collector is called a numismatist
Although it might not seem like much now, a penny was worth quite a lot back then. Workers used to be paid between one and two pennies a day.
The coins were likely in someone's purse, which they dropped or lost hundreds of years ago.
Experts believe this because of the small change that was found. You might have heard of archaeologists finding coin hoards - which is when someone has kept or hidden a big collection of coins, that they wouldn't usually take out and about with them.
King Stephen
Some of the coins in the collection come from when Stephen was King of England, from CE 1135 to 1154.
This was a tricky time in history. Stephen's cousin Matilda was the daughter of the last king, King Henry I and claimed she should be in charge instead of Stephen.
Royal family arguments were a pretty big deal in medieval England...
She brought an army over from France and tried to fight to take over the throne from her cousin. She didn't succeed, but King Stephen was briefly captured, and there was lots of distrust between the king and the nobility - people like Lords and Dukes.
Empress Matilda's battle for the throne lasted for 19 years - it was not successful - despite her being heir to the throne after her dad, King Henry I died.
Historians often call this time in English history "the anarchy".
- Published19 August 2022
