Penny of Cnut the Great from Lund

A Danish penny struck in Lund (dated 1018–1035). The coin was struck by King Cnut the Great of England, Norway and Denmark. On the front of the coin is a cross and on the back a dove, symbolising the Holy Spirit. When he was crowned King of Denmark in 1018, Cnut the Great also started to strike coins in the region of Denmark, using English pennies as a model. Cnut the Great is considered to be the founder of the Danish monetary system since he was the first to start systematically striking coins in the region. In Denmark, Lund was the most important minting location, and most of the Danish pennies found in Finland were made in Lund.

This coin was included in a hoard found in 1895 in Nikkilä, Nousiainen, which contained more than 1,600 coins and some silverware. A significant number of the coins in the hoard were German pennies, of which more than 1,100 were found, but there were also many English and Scandinavian coins as well as some Italian, Irish, Byzantine and Islamic coins. The hoard also included jewellery, such as rings and buckles. The objects had been hidden sometime after ca. 1045.