Penning, Lund, Cnut the Great, circa 1025–1030

This coin, minted at the end of the 1020s, reads ‘CNVT REX SW’, meaning ‘Canute, King of the Swedes’. Canute the Great was then king of Denmark and England, but the king of Sweden was actually Anund Jakob. So why would Canute pretend to have power over the Swedes? It has been suggested that the inscription was propaganda and a way to emphasise the victory against the allied Norwegian-Swedish forces at Helgeå in 1025. In a letter to his English subjects in 1027, Canute the Great also called himself king of part of the Swedes.

Image rights: Helena Bonnevier, Ekonomiska museet - Kungliga myntkabinettet/SHM (CC BY 4.0)

Object number: 100215_KMK

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