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1.   OFFA [757-96] silver penny
       Portrait type - Light coinage
       LONDON mint - Moneyer - DUD
       obv. OFFA, bust right rev. +dVD
       1.19g
       ref. Chick type 22a, illus. p.68 & pl.4 [this coin]; Blunt 30, Spink 905, North 30
       SCBI 20:555 [this coin]
       Only 3 examples of this type are recorded in Chick, one chipped
2. OFFA [757-96] silver penny
     Crosslet Type - Light coinage
     CANTERBURY mint - moneyer - BABBA
      obv. O / F / F / A   rev. B / A / BB / A
     1.18g
     ref. Chick 89e, North 266, Spink 904
     This example found - near Petersfield, E.Hamps. 2013
     Recorded - EMC 2013.0026 Probably the finest known of this type VERY RARE

3. OFFA [757-96] silver penny
     London type - Light coinage - Cross of lobes
     LONDON mint - Moneyer - BEAGHEARD
     obv. + O / FF / AR / EX    rev. + BAH / HARD
     1.12g
     ref. Chick 17a, North 279, Spink 904, Blunt 22 and cf. EMC 2009.1115
     Found - Kelling, nr. Holt, Norfolk, 2013
     Recorded - EMC 2013.0107   VERY RARE

4. OFFA [757-86] silver penny
     Light coinage - Cross of lobes
     CANTERBURY mint - Moneyer - EOBA
     obv. +O FF AR EX, in angles of cross rev. E O B A, in lobes of Celtic cross
     1.10g
     ref. Chick 117, North 276, Spink 907
     This example was found Norfolk, 2012   VERY RARE

5. OFFA [757-96] silver penny
    Light coinage
    LONDON mint - Moneyer - AETHELWEALD
    obv. OFFA REX   rev. EdEL WALD
    1.13g
    ref. Chick 13, North 287, Spink 904   VERY RARE
6. A Rare Anglo-Saxon Silver Penny of Offa (757-796 C.E.), King of Mercia, An
    Extraordinary Royal Portrait

Great Britain. Kings of Mercia. AR Penny, ND (Canterbury mint, struck c. 787-792). North-301; S-905; Blunt-65. 1.18 grams. Offa, 757-796 AD. Group II; Light Coinage. Portrait issue. Draped and diademed bust right; OFF REX in four lines. Reverse: Floriate cross with lozenge center, small cross within; IBBA in angles. Crisply struck, on excellent metal. Variegated dark smoky toning, with lighter areas of deep gold and russet. Some hints of mint luster. Extremely Rare. NGC graded AU-50. .

Found in North Yorkshire in 2000 (EMC 2000.0639). One of only three known with this obverse design. An extraordinary portrait for this era -- a masterpiece of Saxon art!.

Offa reigned as King of Mercia from 757 until his death in July 796. The son of Thingfrith and a descendant of Eowa, Offa came to the throne after a period of civil war following the assassination of Æthelbald. Offa defeated the other claimant, Beornred. In the early years of Offa's reign, it is likely that he consolidated his control of midland peoples such as the Hwicce and the Magonsæte. Taking advantage of instability in the kingdom of Kent to establish himself as overlord, Offa also controlled Sussex by 771, though his authority did not remain unchallenged in either territory. In the 780s he extended Mercian supremacy over most of southern England, allying with Beorhtric of Wessex, who married Offa's daughter Eadburh, and regained complete control of the southeast. He also became the overlord of East Anglia and had King Æthelberht II of East Anglia beheaded in 794, perhaps for rebelling against him.

Offa was a Christian king who came into conflict with the Church, particularly with Jaenberht, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Offa managed to persuade Pope Adrian I to divide the archdiocese of Canterbury in two, creating a new archdiocese of Lichfield. This reduction in the power of Canterbury may have been motivated by Offa's desire to have an archbishop consecrate his son Ecgfrith of Mercia as king, since it is possible Jaenberht refused to perform the ceremony, which took place in 787. Offa had a dispute with the Bishop of Worcester, which was settled in the Council of Brentford in 781.

Many surviving coins from Offa's reign carry elegant depictions of him, and the artistic quality of these images exceeds that of the contemporary Frankish coinage. Some of his coins carry images of his wife, Cynethryth - the only Anglo-Saxon queen ever depicted on a coin. Only three gold coins of Offa's have survived: one is a copy of an Abbasid dinar of 774 and carries Arabic text on one side, with "Offa Rex" on the other side. The gold coins are of uncertain use but may have been struck to be used as alms or for gifts to Rome.

Many historians regard Offa as the most powerful Anglo-Saxon king before Alfred the Great. His dominance never extended to Northumbria, though he gave his daughter Ælfflæd in marriage to the Northumbrian king Æthelred I in 792. Historians[which?] once saw his reign as part of a process leading to a unified England, but this is no longer the majority view. In the words of a recent[when?] historian: "Offa was driven by a lust for power, not a vision of English unity; and what he left was a reputation, not a legacy." Offa died in 796; his son, Ecgfrith, succeeded him, but reigned for less than five months before Coenwulf of Mercia became king.