Alfred penny

This silver penny has the bust of a king on one side with his name around: 'ÆLFRED REX' ('King Alfred'). On the other side is a monogram made up of the letters 'LVNDONIA' - the medieval Latin for London. It was issued in about 880, the time at which the Anglo-Saxons seem to have regained control of the London area from the occupying Viking forces. The West Saxon king Alfred (ruler of the only surviving independent Anglo-Saxon kingdom) could then lay claim to London, which had formerly been in the kingdom of Mercia. In 886 Alfred went further and re-established London by founding 'Lundenburg' within the walls of the old Roman city, and abandoning the earlier Saxon town of 'Lundenwic' that stood further to the west.