ABSTRACT
Fundamental to an understanding of the late Anglo-Saxon currency system is a study of the varying metrology of the different coin types. Indications of the general variation to be expected within a coin type as well as between types could perhaps be obtained from Brooke’s analysis of the weights of Norman coins, 1 but the first serious study to be published on the Anglo-Saxon series was that of Mrs Veronica Smart (née Butler) in 1961. 2 Mrs Smart analysed the weights of coins of Æthelred II and Cnut in the British Museum and showed that, not only did the weight of the penny vary from type to type (as had been known from Hildebrand’s time), 3 but also that several types were struck to more than one weight-standard. Moreover there was considerable regional variation.
