Editing Æthelberht, King of Wessex (section)

== Coinage ==
{{see also|History of the English penny (c. 600 – 1066)}}
[[File:Coin of King Æthelberht of Wessex c. 862.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Coin of King Æthelberht dated c. 862]]

In the late eighth and ninth centuries, the only denomination of coin produced in southern England was the silver penny.{{sfn|Naismith|2012|p=203}} Coins were minted in an unidentified town in Wessex itself, but activity in the mid-ninth century was minimal and no Wessex coins of Æthelberht are known. Kent had mints at Canterbury and Rochester and they produced coins in the name of Æthelwulf until 858 and Æthelberht thereafter. The lack of coins in the name of Æthelbald is evidence that he did not have any status of overlordship over Æthelberht.{{sfn|Naismith|2012|pp=110, 125–26}} In the early ninth century the quality of the inscription and the bust of the king on coins declined, but it revived on the Inscribed Cross penny at the end of Æthelwulf's reign and this continued under Æthelberht's, which also saw the introduction of the rare Floreate Cross design in about 862.{{sfnm|1a1=Naismith|1y=2012|1p=65|2a1=Grierson and Blackburn|2y=2005|2p=308}} There was a considerable increase in the number of moneyers: twelve struck Inscribed Cross coins in Æthelwulf's reign and fifty in Æthelberht's. This may have been due to a recoinage starting at the end of Æthelwulf's reign and continuing in Æthelberht's, when old coins were called in and melted down to make new ones. The silver content of his Inscribed Cross issue fell to below 50% and one penny minted in Canterbury has only 30%, but a Floreate Cross coin has 84%, perhaps indicating that it was intended as a recoinage with higher fineness. There was also increasing standardisation of design in the coinage, reflecting greater royal control over currency and minting in the middle of the ninth century.{{sfnm|1a1=Pagan|1y=1986|1pp=58–60|2a1=Naismith|2y=2012|2pp=110–12, 164, 182}}