Penny - Edward Small Cross type, facing bust

The Small Cross type was introduced as part of the periodic recoinage system enforced under late Anglo-Saxon kingship, whereby all coin dies were recalled and recut every few years — a mechanism that generated revenue for the crown through reminting fees and kept the currency relatively uniform across a decentralized network of provincial mints. By Edward the Confessor's reign, over sixty mints were operating simultaneously across England, each producing coins from centrally-supplied dies.

This type was current in the years immediately preceding the succession crisis of 1066.