The Dating of the Sutton Hoo Coins

Extract

Dr Gordon Ward's summary of the evidence of the coins and of the views of numismatists regarding the date of Sutton Hoo calls for some comment. Its object is apparently that of demonstrating that, as he himself puts it, ‘the numismatists have been set a task for which they are not equipped’. The archaeologists, he suggests, must be left to settle the date between themselves, and the numismatic ‘evidence’ can simply be ignored. If this ‘evidence’ runs counter to his belief that the burial commemorates King Redwald, so much the worse for the ‘evidence’. It is too uncertain and imprecise to be of much use anyway.