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1 Penning - Harald Hardråde
| Issuer | Norway |
|---|---|
| Year | 1047-1066 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Penning |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | A triquetra (three-interlocked-arc Celtic knot motif) occupies the central field, surrounded by a peripheral legend rendered in an archaic or debased script. The inscription is largely illegible due to the crude hammered execution and wear typical of 11th-century Norwegian coinage. The overall design reflects the Hiberno-Norse artistic tradition prevalent during the reign of Harald Hardråde. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | A double-lined cross divides the field into four quarters; the upper-left and lower-right quarters each bear three pellets, a decorative arrangement consistent with Scandinavian penny types of the mid-11th century. A runic or debased legend encircles the cross along the periphery, rendered in a manner that is substantially illegible on surviving specimens due to the irregular flan and hammered technique. |
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| Additional information |
Harald Sigurdsson — Harald Hardråde, "Hard Ruler" — seized the Norwegian throne in 1047 after decades fighting as a mercenary commander in Kievan Rus and the Byzantine Varangian Guard, where he accumulated enough silver to fund his subsequent military ambitions. His coinage draws directly on Anglo-Saxon penny designs, a deliberate imitation reflecting both the prestige of English currency in Scandinavian trade networks and his own obsessive fixation on the English crown itself. That fixation ended at Stamford Bridge in September 1066, three weeks before Hastings settled the matter for someone else.