LEGEND
Obv: + HΛRÐECNVT REX, helmeted and armored bust of Hardeknud facing left. Rev: + SV ME RLE Ð ON, voided long cross, with triple-crescent ends.

This wonderful specimen is a very rare and exceptional medieval Hardeknud III (as Rex – last Viking King of England) silver penny, with an extraordinary 200 year provenance that began during the first official 1836 London Numismatic Society year of initiation. King Hardeknud III (Knud “the Hardy”) was born in 1018 AD and died on June 8, 1042 AD. He was first King of Denmark from 1035 – 1042 AD and reigned as sole King of England from 1040 – 1042 AD, the last Viking Scandinavian to rule all England. He was the only son of Viking King Cnut the Great (who ruled Denmark, Norway, and England) and Emma of Normandy, queen consort of England, Denmark and Norway and was also the daughter of Richard I, Duke of Normandy (see Richard I denier), circa 942 AD. He succeeded his father to the throne of Denmark in 1035 AD. The wars in Norway against Magnus I prevented him from claiming the throne of England immediately after his father’s death. Consequently, it was agreed that his elder half-brother Harold Harefoot was to rule England. Hardeknud was considered too Danish at the time to be King of England. Meanwhile, Hardeknud settled the conflicts in Scandinavia through a treaty with Magnus in 1038 AD. Historian believe the treaty freed Hardeknud to begin planning an invasion of England. When Harold suddenly died on March 17, 1040, Hardeknud was invited to England and sailed with a peaceful fleet of 62 warships, reaching the shores of England on June 17, 1040. He ruled England for two short years when, on June 8, 1042, he died at Lambeth. He was buried at Winchester, the same location his father Knud and his mother Emma are buried. Edward assumed the throne following Hardeknud’s death, ending Scadinavian rule and restoring the Saxon royal line of Wessex. The remarkable 200 year old provenance of this rare penny includes its engraving, illustration and publication in the “Annals of the Coinage of Great Britain and Its Dependencies” 3rd Edition – Volume III (London 1840), Plate D coin #42, by the honorable Reverend Rogers Ruding.

DOCUMENTATION
Value: Penny (East Danish weight standard). Metal: AR Silver. Weight: 1.04 grams. Mint: Struck at the mint of Lund, Denmark. Moneyer: Sumarlith. Date: circa 1040-1042 AD.
Attribution: Becker, Coinages, dies H2/184; P. Hauberg, Myntforhold og Udmyntninger i Danmark indtil 1146 AD; Hede 33 var. (obv. type; same rev. die); SCBC 1170; Published in the “Annals of the Coinage of Great Britain and Its Dependencies” 3rd Edition – Vol. III (London 1840), Plate D #42, by Rev. Rogers Ruding (this coin engraved and illustrated); 1836 London Numismatic Society Show; James Dodsley Cuff (1780-1853) Collection (Cuff was a Numismatist & founding member of the 1836 London Numismatic Society), Sotheby & Wilkinson, 8 June 1854, lot 593; Roderick Mingey Murchison Collection, Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, 28 May 1866, lot 328; William Lake Price Collection, Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, 27 May 1880, lot 43; Henry Webb Collection, Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, 5 July 1895, lot 35; Walter Machado Maish Collection, Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, 25 March 1918, lot 58; Gordon V. Doubleday Collection, Glendining’s, 6 October 1987, lot 186; Davissons Ltd, Auction 18, 21 November 2002, lot 228; Allan Williams Collection, Spink Auction 18012 – Part II, London, 3 July 2018, lot 308, (front cover photo of catalogue); CNG Triton Auction XXII, New York, 8 January 2019, lot 1243 (this coin).