Malmesbury's Athelstan Museum buys coin of first King of England

The coin shows Athelstan in a crown with an inscription round the edges.

A rare coin showing a king who ruled more than a thousand years ago has been bought by the museum bearing his name.

Anglo-Saxon King Athelstan has an empty memorial tomb in Malmesbury Abbey and is buried somewhere in the grounds, but nobody knows where.

The town's museum is named after him and now has a coin from his reign, bought at auction after being spotted by a volunteer.

The museum has paid an undisclosed sum for the artefact.

King Athelstan is buried within the grounds of Malmesbury Abbey.

Volunteer and trustee Jonathan Tucker - an experienced art dealer - realised that Athelstan Museum did not have any items specifically from the king's reign, which was from 924 to 939.

He set out to find something and asked the museum if he could bid on their behalf.

Listen to Mr Tucker's interview with BBC Radio Wiltshire

"One thing that struck me was that even though King Athelstan was probably based here as his capital sometime around 925, we don't actually have anything in the museum from the period," he said.

He said it is quite a unique coin and there was some bidding competition.

The museum hasn't disclosed how much it paid, but Mr Tucker said: "It didn't go astronomically high, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to afford it. It went for a good price.

"Hopefully people will look at this for generations and associate the town with Athelstan."

King Athelstan, who was the grandson of Alfred the Great, had 'Rex Totius Britanniæ' stamped on coins and charters telling all that he was the 'King of Britons' - to us now, he was the first King of all England.

The museum - which has had other recent high-profile acquisitions, like Turner's painting of Malmesbury Abbey - said the coin will go on display late in January 2023.