Viking coin with raven - Raven penny.
Here you can buy a Viking coin replica with raven motif that was made after a historical find from England.
The so-called raven penny of the Viking king Olaf or
Anlaf Guthfrithsson was widespread in Ireland and England between 939 and 941 AD and is a remarkable example of the coinage of the Viking Age.
Link to the historical model...
The Viking coin is
2 cm in diameter, which corresponds to the size of the original raven penny. The material
thickness is 1 mm, which is slightly thicker than the historical Viking coins.
The Raven Penny replica is made of
brass and is available in silver or gold colour.
The Raven Penny was once minted in the name of
Anlaf Guthfrithsson between 939 and 941 AD, when he was Viking King of Dublin (Ireland). At that time a large part of England was under Viking rule and was called the Danelag.
In 937, Anlaf Guthfrithsson had fought against
Aethelstan, King of England, at the Battle of Brunanburh, and after his death in 939, successfully conquered York and parts of the East Midlands.
The inscription ANLAF CVNVNC on the obverse of the Viking coin is
Old Norse and means "King Anlaf" (Olaf). It is one of the oldest surviving texts in this language.
The obverse of the raven penny shows a raven, which is probably the sign of Anlaf's
war standard and is associated with the Norse god Odin.
The use of the Old Norse language on this Viking coin instead of Latin was a
strong signal of the power and independence of the Vikings in the British Isles at this time.
Some Viking coins were closely based on
Anglo-Saxon designs, while others such as the Raven Penny had an unmistakably Viking design language.