page_title: Biggleswade
section_title: Anglo-Saxons
hierarchical_section_title: Biggleswade / History / Anglo-Saxons
caption_attribution_description: Free-hand drawing of the Coenwulf mancus, a gold coin of the early 9th century, after a photograph at britishmuseum.org[1] (BM inv. nr. 2006,0204.1). The obverse is inscribed COENUULF REX, the reverse DEVICOLUNDONIAE (viz. de vico Lundoniae). The coin was found 2001, in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire and was acquired by the BM in 2006. Weight: 4.33 g, diameter: 20 mm. This is the only known gold coin of Coenwulf (r. 796-821), and one of only eight known British gold coins of the period 700-1250. The coin was minted in London, and has seen little or no circulation, as it was probably lost shortly after it was issued. The similarity to a solidus of Charlemagne inscribed vico Duristat (i.e. Dorestad; BM nr. G3,FrGC.10 [Coins &amp; Medals, George III collection, French nr. 10]) has been taken to suggest that the two coins reflect a rivalry between the two kings, although it is unknown which coin has priority (Williams 2008). Literature: Gareth Williams, Early Anglo-Saxon Coins (2008), 43&#8211;45. John Blair, Building Anglo-Saxon England (2018), p. 230. on the Carolingian solidus: K.F. Morrison, H. Grunthal, Carolingian Coinage" ,Numism. Notes a. Monographs 158 (1967), p. 180, n° 643; Ph. Grierson, "Money and Coinage under Charlemagne" in: Karl der Grosse I (1966), p. 533.
context_page_description: Biggleswade is a market town and civil parish in Central Bedfordshire, part of the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. It lies on the River Ivel, 11 miles south-east of Bedford. Its estimated population was 20,200 in mid-2017, its growth encouraged by good road and rail links to London. The King's Reach development, begun in 2010, will provide 2,000 new homes to the east of the town.
context_section_description: (See also Hundred of Biggleswade)
  In the 5th century AD, Saxon invaders settled. The name Biggleswade may derive from Biceil, an Anglo-Saxon personal name, and Waed, the Saxon word for ford. Variant spellings include Bykeleswad in 1396, Bykleswade in 15th-century law records, and Bickleswade on a 17th-century ivory seal now in the British Museum.
  Wells and pits dating from the early 7th century and a quantity of later Maxey ware have been excavated at Stratton.
  Evidence of an Anglo-Saxon ringwork and bailey castle was discovered by aerial photography in 1954 between the A1 road and the River Ivel.
  In 2001 a gold coin bearing the name Coenwulf was found at Biggleswade on a footpath beside the River Ivel. The 4.33 g (0.15 oz) mancus, worth about 30 silver pennies, is only the eighth known gold coin dating to the mid to late Anglo-Saxon period. Its inscription, "DE VICO LVNDONIAE", shows it was minted in London. Initially sold to American collector Allan Davisson for £230,000 at auction; the British Government subsequently put in place a temporary export ban in the hope of saving it for the nation. The British Museum bought the coin in February 2006 for £357,832, with the help of funding from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the British Museum Friends. At the time, it was the most expensive British coin purchased.
caption: An impression of the Coenwulf coin
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