I present to your attention a medieval coin-the Cenwulf gold penny, which is one of the rarest coins in the World.
This coin is also called the Cenwulf mancus in another way.
For information. Mankus is the European name for Arabic gold dinars, which were similar to pennies in their parameters.
The coin's diameter is 2 centimeters and it weighs about 4.5 grams.
On the obverse is a portrait of the ruler in profile and a circular inscription: "King Cenwulf", on the reverse is a flower-like decoration and the phrase "De vico lvndoniae", which means"from a trading place in London".
The Golden penny was made in 805-810 in the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Mercia during the reign of king Cenwulf.
Cenwulf ruled Mercia (796-821) and was the most powerful of all the British kings of that time.
The coin was discovered using a metal detector in 2001 in Bedfordshire (near London).
Historians suggest that this coin was used to pay an Anglo-Saxon worker for one month of work.
In 2006, at one of the us auctions, this coin was sold for 400 thousand dollars.
It was bought by the famous American numismatist Allan Davisson. However, the UK Government has imposed a ban on the export of this coin.
After this event, it was announced to raise funds for the redemption of such a valuable coin. The Ministry of culture of great Britain for six months transferred part of the proceeds from the national lottery system to a special Fund for the purchase of rarities.
As a result, the British Museum was able to buy the Golden penny from Davisson for 650 thousand dollars. If you put such a coin up for auction now, it will clearly gain more than a million dollars.
