160 COINS RECENTLY DISCOVERED AT HOLY ISLAND. 



died in 951, when Northumbria ceased to be a separate kingdom, 

 and was added to the other dominions of Eadred. Several of the 

 Saxon kings of Northumbria were intimately connected with Lin- 

 disfame and its bishopric, now called Holy Island ; and it was 

 Oswald who was the founder of that see. He reigned from a.d. 

 634 to 642, and was the friend and protector of Aidan, its first 

 bishop ; and it is probable that he gave to the church of Lindis- 

 farne several of the lands which compose the modern district of 

 Norham and Islandshires. ^thelred reigned over Northumbria 

 from 840 to 848, with the exception of a few months in the year 

 844, when Redulf usurped the throne. The styca of this iEthelred, 

 referred to above, bears the king's name and title on the rim of the 

 obverse, and the name of the mintmaster or moneyer, who was called 

 Brother, on the rim of the reverse ; and in the centre of each side 

 is a cross. The legends are as follow : — " + EDILREDREX" and 

 ** -f BRODER." The other styca of Vigmund also bears his own 

 name and title of Archbishop on the observe, and the name of 

 his moneyer on the reverse, with a cross in the centre of each, 

 that on the obverse being a little larger than that on the reverse. 

 The legends are thus: — ♦'H-VIGMVNDIREP"and " + EDILAIIVID." 

 The coin of JEthelred is in good preservation, but the inscriptions 

 on Vigmund' s are a little worn and defaced. Vigmund was 

 Archbishop of York from 851 to 854. In 1808, upwards of 

 500 Northumbrian stycas were found in the parish of Kirkoswald, 

 in Cumberland ; in 1832, about 8000 were found at Hexham, in 

 Northumberland ; and since, a considerable quantity has been 

 found at York and at other places within the limits of the ancient 

 kingdom of Northumbria, including many of -^thelred's and Vig- 

 mund's. Some of the coins found at Hexham have been analyzed, 

 and found to contain, in 100 parts, from 60 to 70 of copper, 20 

 to 25 zinc, 6 to 11 silver, about 4 tin, with some very small por- 

 tions of gold and lead. It is material to add, that no stycas have 

 been found which were coined elsewhere than in Northumbria.* 



♦ For an account of the Anglo-Saxon coinage, see Introduction to Gough's 

 edition of Camden's Britannia, London, 1806, pp. 172 to 176 ; also Dr 

 Hicke's Thesaurus; and Turner's History of the Anglo-Saxons. For an ac- 

 count of the stycas found at Hexham, see Arcliajologia, vols. xxv. and xxvi. 

 Hawkins' Treatise on English Coins, pp. 37-54. A copy of the Treatise in the 



