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Thrymsa 'Oath-taking' type
| Issuer | Early Anglo-Saxon |
|---|---|
| Year | 655-675 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Diademed bust facing right, with an extended arm projecting to the right, the open hand resting upon or gesturing toward a cross; the gesture is interpreted as an oath-taking pose, lending the type its name. The hair is rendered in a beaded or striated fashion, consistent with late Roman and early Byzantine artistic conventions inherited by Anglo-Saxon die-cutters. The bust occupies most of the flan, with minimal peripheral field. The overall style reflects debased imitation of Late Antique prototypes typical of early Anglo-Saxon gold coinage. |
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| Reverse description | Central device consisting of a lyre-shaped or tuning-fork-shaped object, a motif characteristic of this thrymsa type, enclosed within a double border composed of pellets forming a wreath or annular frame. Traces of a degraded Latin legend are visible around the periphery, though the inscription is largely illegible due to the degenerate state of the die engraving. The reverse field is otherwise plain. The overall style reflects the progressive abstraction of Roman and Byzantine reverse types common to mid-seventh-century Anglo-Saxon gold coinage. |
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| Additional information |
The 'Oath-taking' thrymsa takes its name from the unusual figural arrangement on the reverse, interpreted by scholars as depicting a formal oath ceremony — a reading that remains contested but has stuck in the literature since Sutherland's work on early Anglo-Saxon gold. These coins were struck in the decades immediately following the Christianization of the southern English kingdoms, when Frankish monetary influence was still the dominant force shaping insular coinage. The thrymsa itself was an Anglo-Saxon adaptation of the Merovingian tremissis, the gold third-siliqua that had circulated freely across the Channel trade network.
Surviving examples are rare in any condition. The type belongs to a transitional phase before the sceat coinage displaced gold entirely from everyday English exchange in the late seventh century.