Code: 12581
This is a silver farthing of King Svend II Estridsen, West Danish standard. Lund mint.
Obverse: Christ seated facing, raising hand in benediction and holding Gospels. Blundered legends
Reverse: Voided long cross, with pellet at center and triple-crescent ends. Blundered legends
Svend Estridsen (c.1019 –1076) was the last Viking king of Denmark from 1047 until he died in 1076. He was born in England, the son of Ulf Thorgilsson and Estrid Svendsdatter, the latter of whom was the daughter of King Sven Tveskæg (Forkbeard) and the sister of Kings Harald II and Knud den Stor (Canute). His skeleton reveals that he was a tall, powerfully built man who walked with a limp. He is noteworthy for having married three times, and fathered 20 or more children out of wedlock, including the five kings of Denmark: Harald Hen, Canute the Saint, Olaf Hunger, Eric Evergood, and Niels.
The obverse copies a Byzantine Christ figure design whereas the reverse copies the long cross of an Aethelred II penny. It has been suggested that the Byzantine-style design of Sven Estridsen's coinage was inspired by coins brought back by his contemporary (and sometime supporter) Harald Hardrada who had been a commander in the Varangian Guard of the Byzantine emperor.
This coin started life as a penny, but it was necessitated in trade to chop the coins into smaller fractional denominations as halfpennies and farthings. These coins were legal tender and a halfpenny was simply a penny cut in half, whilst farthings (four things) were divided into four parts.
DENOMINATION: Farthing
CULTURE: Viking Denmark
DATE: 1047 - 1076 AD
MATERIAL: Silver
SIZE: 8.9mm x 8.6mm
WEIGHT: 0.28 grams
ATTRIBUTION: Hauberg 6.
PROVENANCE: formerly in a private collection in Tallinn, Estonia
