The project was first suggested in the early 1950s by Christopher Blunt and other members of the British and Royal Numismatic Societies. In 1956, its unofficial committee secured recognition as a committee of the British Academy through the good offices of its first chairman, Sir Frank Stenton. The first volume, on Anglo-Saxon Coins in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, was published two years later in 1958. Since that date over sixty additional volumes have been published, covering both museum and some significant private collections in Britain, the United States, Germany, Russia, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Poland, Latvia and more. Further volumes are in preparation or projected for the future. The key gaps in the series remain the British Museum and the Royal Coin Collection in Stockholm. Both of which present massive undertakings and have only recently begun to be tackled comprehensively. Some of the early volumes, such as that covering the Cambridge collection, are also now in need of substantial updating. Nonetheless, British numismatics has been extremely well served by the project, and it continues to publish volumes almost every year.
Committee
Since its inception, the policy of the Sylloge Project has been to keep an eminent Anglo-Saxon historian as its chairman. This reflects the emphasis on Anglo-Saxon material in the published volumes, and the need to keep an educated outside perspective on the project. Chairmen have included:
Anglo-Saxon Coins. By R.B.K. Stevenson. 29 plates, 1966.
7. ROYAL COLLECTION, COPENHAGEN.
Part II. Anglo-Saxon Coins: Æthelred II. By G. Galster. 71 plates, 1966.
8. BRITISH MUSEUM.
Hiberno-Norse Coins. By R.H.M. Dolley. 8 plates, 1966.
9. ASHMOLEAN MUSEUM, OXFORD.
Part I. Anglo-Saxon Pennies. By J.D.A. Thompson. 42 plates, 1967.
10. ULSTER MUSEUM, BELFAST.
Part I. Anglo-Irish Coins, John - Edward III. By M. Dolley and W. Seaby. 20 plates, 1968.
11. READING UNIVERSITY.
Anglo-Saxon and Norman Coins; ROYAL COIN CABINET, STOCKHOLM. Anglo-Norman Pennies. By C.E. Blunt and M. Dolley. 20 plates, 1969.
12. ASHMOLEAN MUSEUM, OXFORD.
Part II. English Coins 1066-1279. By D.M. Metcalf. 36 plates, 1969. 13-15. ROYAL COLLECTION, COPENHAGEN. Part III. A, B, and C. Anglo-Saxon Coins: Cnut. By G. Galster. 158 plates, 1970.
16. NORWEB COLLECTION.
Ancient British and English Coins to 1180. By C.E. Blunt, F. Elmore-Jones and R.P. Mack. 17 plates, 1971.
17. MIDLAND MUSEUMS.
Ancient British, Anglo-Saxon and Norman Coins. By A.J.H. Gunstone. 30 plates, 1971.
18. ROYAL COLLECTION, COPENHAGEN.
Part IV. Anglo-Saxon Coins from Harold I and Anglo-Norman Coins. By G. Galster. 54 plates, 1972.
19. BRISTOL AND GLOUCESTER MUSEUMS.
Ancient British Coins and Coins of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Mints. By L.V. Grinsell, C.E. Blunt and M. Dolley. 27 plates, 1972.
20. MACK COLLECTION.
Ancient British, Anglo-Saxon and Norman Coins. By R.P. Mack. 56 plates, 1973.
21. YORKSHIRE COLLECTIONS.
Coins from Northumbrian mints, c.895-1279; Ancient British and Later Coins from Other Mints to 1279. By E.J.E. Pirie. 54 plates, 1975.
22. ROYAL COLLECTION, COPENHAGEN.
Part V. Hiberno-Norse and Anglo-Irish Coins. By G. Galster with M. Dolley and J. Steen Jensen. 22 plates, 1975.
23. ASHMOLEAN MUSEUM, OXFORD.
Part III. Coins of Henry VII. By D.M. Metcalf. 53 plates, 1976.
24. WEST COUNTRY MUSEUMS.
Ancient British, Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman Coins. By A.J.H. Gunstone. 30 plates, 1977.
25. NATIONAL MUSEUM, HELSINKI.
Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman Coins. By T. Talvio. 41 plates, 1978.
Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman Coins By E. Lindberger. 37 plates. 2006.
53. SCOTTISH MUSEUMS.
English Coins, 1066-1279. By J. D. Bateson. 38 plates. 2001.
54. ROYAL COIN CABINET, STOCKHOLM.
Part V: Anglo-Saxon Coins, Edward the Confessor and Harold II. Part VI: Supplement. Anglo-Norman Pennies. Part V by F. Colman; Part VI by M. Blackburn and K. Jonsson.
55. HERMITAGE MUSEUM, ST PETERSBURG.
Part IV. English, Irish and Scottish Coins, 1066-1485. By M. Mucha. 23 plates. 2003.
56. MASS COLLECTION.
English Short Cross Coins, 1180-1247. By J. P. Mass. 82 plates. 2001.
57. SCHNEIDER COLLECTION.
Part II. English Gold Coins,1603 to the 20th Century. By P. Woodhead. 58 plates. 2002.