Thrymsa 'Two emperors' type

The "two emperors" thrymsa belongs to a group of Anglo-Saxon gold coins that drew directly from late Roman and Byzantine tremissis prototypes circulating in seventh-century England, copying imperial imagery that had lost its original political meaning but retained clear monetary authority. These coins were not royal issues — they were almost certainly struck by merchants or moneyers operating without centralized oversight, in a period before any Anglo-Saxon kingdom had established a systematic coinage.

By the 670s this gold coinage was already giving way to the silver sceatta series, a transition driven by gold scarcity rather than policy.