Claim: Although there is little textual evidence about Ethelweard of East Anglia, numisamatic evidence in the form of surviving coinage suggests he was the ruler of an independent kingdom, prehaps in the middle or late 840s.
Evidence: As with Æthelstan,whom he succeeded, textual evidence for Æthelweard's reign is very limited. However, numismatic evidence in the form of surviving coinage suggests that he was the ruler of an independent kingdom and not subject to Mercia or Wessex. The date when Æthelweard became king is uncertain, but it is conventionally dated to the middle or late 840s.