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Norway's first coin
Shortly after he was made king of Norway in the summer of 995, Olav
Tryggvason started issuing silver pennies in his own name, ONLAF REX
NORmannorum, "Olav, King of the Norwegians ". On the obverse is a half-length
picture of the king carrying a sceptre. The reverse bears a cross with
letters, one in each corner of the cross, which together form the word
CRVX, or "Crux", Latin for "Cross", an obvious reference to the Christian
cross. However, this design was not Olav Tryggvason's invention. Both sides
of the penny are copies of an Anglo-Saxon
penny that can be dated to the years 991-997.
The contemporary king of England was Ethelred II. He was given the sobriquet
"the Unread" (den rådville) as a result of being at a loss for ideas
in the battle against the Viking army led jointly by Olav Tryggvason and
the Dane, Svend Tveskæg (Forkbeard). King Ethelred could come up
with only one solution: paying tribute or large sums of money, referred
to as "danegeld", to ensure peace. With this money in his coffers, mostly
Anglo-Saxon Crux pennies, Olav Tryggvason returned home in the spring of
995. Perhaps he also brought with him an Anglo-Saxon mint-master. This
is suggested by the signature on King Olav's pennies: the Anglo-Saxon moneyer
Godwine. The example presented in this exhibition comes from the large
hoard found at Igelösa
close to Lund in Skåne, southern Sweden.
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