Coining

For almost five centuries, people in the heptarchy and neighboring smaller realms had to settle for bartered exchange or livestock as a measure of wealth.

Coinage itself was an imported idea, first seen in small scatters that were minted at places like Repton, and later on, larger silver penny-shaped tokens bearing kings' names or the Christian cross under a ruler such as Offa of Mercia, who produced coins stamped with his own royal insignia.

Those early silver coins were not just decorative.

They served a very tangible economic function, providing a standard weight and purity that could be recognized by traders moving goods across shires or between coastal ports.

This flexibility gave kings leverage over their subjects.

They were able to coerce payments by promising relief from future tax burdens if coins were paid on time, thereby tying the prosperity of villages more closely to the stability and prestige of the central authority.

Coinage did more than facilitate commerce.

It also became the medium by which agreements were enforced in courts.

There's also a capable adult who's been on the throne for most of her adult life.

Coinage suggests that she is seen as the dominant, which makes sense because she is the adult here, right? You have portrait coins that share their two heads sort of side by side.

And Cleopatra's head is in front.

It's the dominant one.