A new Agnus Dei/Last Small Cross mule

Extract

The Lenborough hoard has produced the twenty-third coin struck from Agnus Dei dies, which is also the second known mule of an Agnus Dei obverse with a Last Small Cross reverse. It is illustrated in Gareth Williams's preceding article as Fig. 7 (p. 304). This specimen adds to the small group of English finds of Agnus Dei pennies, which previously consisted of three single-finds. Lenborough is therefore the first ever English hoard to contain an Agnus Dei coin, mule or otherwise. The presence of just one penny of the type in an assemblage of almost 1,000 coins of Æthelred II (with a large proportion of the total consisting of the types either side of Agnus Dei) reinforces the rarity of the issue. Detailed research into the hoard may unveil more about the circumstances behind its composition, including the chronological profile of the Last Small Cross element, and thereby add to the general picture of the context in which Agnus Dei was produced.