 Because of the references in the law-codes mentioned above, these new silver pieces have been known to numismatists as "sceattas" since the 17th century.Contemporary terminology is uncertain, though it is likely that these coins were known as "peningas" (pennies), just like their later broader equivalents.Silver pennies of roughly this weight (1–1.6g) were to remain the sole unit of English currency until the 13th century, with the exception of rare silver halfpennies and even rarer gold coins.