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Each coin bears the face of one of two pre-Norman kings — Ethelred II, who took the throne in 978, when he was about 9 years old; and Canute, who ruled shortly after him.

He told the BBC: "If you look at the two kings that we know are in the hoard anyway, Canute and Ethelred II, they very rarely drop below £200 per coin".

The implications of a kingly rule that was not in conjunction with the wise was seared on the English and Saxon consciousness by Ethelred II.

The terrible weak reign of Ethelred II. had earned him the epithet of Unready.

Give the dates of the Battle of Hastings, and of the reigns of Louis Outremer, Ethelred II, and Edward the Confessor.