Anglo-Saxon Coin Is Coming Home!

A rare Anglo-Saxon coin found in Biggleswade and bought for a record-breaking sum is coming back to the county six years after being unearthed. The gold mancus from the reign of Coenwulf, King of Mercia, will be on display at Bedford Museum on loan from the British Museum - which paid more than £350,000 for it.

It was found on Biggleswade Common by a metal detecting enthusiast in 2001 and attracted national interest. There are only eight known English coins dated between 700 and 1250. This was the first to be found for more than 50 years. Originally the coin was bought by an American collector but it was prevented from leaving the country by an export ban, giving the museum, with the help of the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the Art Fund, the time to raise the cash needed to keep it on home shores.

Now Bedfordshire residents will get the chance to see the coin first-hand and learn more about the story of the county, the Anglo-Saxons and the making of England. It will form part of the Gold, Gods and Kings exhibition at the Bedford Museum, which officially launches on Saturday, July 21.

The exhibition will also include objects from Bedford Museum never before seen on public display and other loaned items being shown in Bedfordshire for the first time.

John Moore, the museum's director, said: "We are thrilled to have entered into this partnership with the British Museum to display some of Bedfordshire's Saxon treasures in the county for the first time.

"This is the first of what we hope will be an ongoing partnership to showcase national treasures in Bedford."

Fen Reeve, Horace Dilley, a guardian of Biggleswade Common, said: "It was found in Biggleswade and it is part of our history and heritage. I am delighted that it is going to be in Bedfordshire, it's absolutely super."

The exhibition opens with an exciting family day that will see visitors to the museum step back in time to 917AD when a Viking forces threatened the Saxon town of Bedford.

During the day visit the encampments, craft and battle displays and experience daily life within the Saxon and Danish settlements.