Viking Age and Medieval coinage and monetary history Research Papers (original) (raw)

- by Arnaud Lestremau
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- Anthropology, Historical Anthropology, High Middle Ages, Anglo-Saxon Studies
- by Steen Agersø
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- Viking Studies, Viking identities, Viking Age Archaeology, Carolingian Studies

Во 852 г. Константинопол за првпат е нападнат од Викинзите – Руси, читаме во Несторовиот летопис. Викинзите се појавиле пред ѕидините на Константинопол (кој на нордиски го нарекувале Миклогорор - Голем Град), успеваќи да извојуваат... more

- by Stevce Todorovski
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- Viking Age Archaeology, Vikings, Viking Age, Material Culture of the Viking age

"Det mynt- og pengevesenet som vokste frem i Norge på 1000-tallet utviklet seg paralelt med byenes og statens fremvekst i høymiddelalderen. Kongemaktens svekkete stilling i Norge etter 1319, svartedauen og internasjonal sølvmangel førte til en reversering av pengevesenets utvikling som kulminerte med opphør i utmynting etter 1387. Det skulle gå mer enn hundre år før det igjen ble preget mynt på norsk jord.
Kongemakten etablerte mynt- og pengevesenet som regale allerede på 1000-tallet. Ved å utelukke utenlandsk mynt og tidligere kongers utmyntinger la Harald Hardråde (1047-1066) og Olav Kyrre (1067-1093) grunnlag for et monopolmyntvesen. Kongemakten sørget for kontroll med pengeomløpet gjennom myntfornyelser og lovgivning. Manipulering med myntenes sølvinnhold og vekt gjorde mynt- og pengevesenet til innbringende inntektskilder. I møtet mellom kongemakten som myntutgiver og folket som bruker av penger reagerte folk på kraftige forringelser av myntens kvalitet. Slike reaksjoner ble gjerne etterfulgt av forbedringer i vekt og gehalt. Sammenhengen mellom myntenes faktiske verdi og pengeverdien gjorde seg gjeldende allerede på 1100-tallet. Det var i dette spenningsfeltet praksisen med å veie og telle mynten oppsto.
I norsk historieskrivning har mynt- og pengevesen ofte blitt nedvurdert. Den rådende oppfatning er at mynt fantes det lite av og de var ikke utbredt som betalingsmiddel. Denne avhandlingen utfordrer dette synet på sentrale punkter. Numismatiske og historiske kilder tyder på at det fantes store antall mynter i omløp. Folk hadde tillit til kongens mynt foruten i enkelte tilfeller da den var blitt forringet utover det akseptable. Pengenes kjøpekraft var tilpasset prisnivået på varer og tjenester i samfunnet. Mynt ble brukt til å betale skatter og avgifter, landskyld og som betaling i jordhandler. Undersøkelser av betalingsmidler i jordtransaksjoner fra 1280 til 1350 vitner om pengeøkonomi i byene og naturaløkonomi på landet. Naturalhusholdet fortsatte å være viktig for mange mennesker. Mynt og penger gjorde seg først og fremst gjeldende i byene. Det synes likevel klart at de fleste kjente til og brukte penger i Norge i høymiddelalderen. Mynt og penger var en del av de politiske, økonomiske og mentalhistoriske prosessene som skapte endring i samfunnet.
Temaene som tas opp i denne avhandlingen baserer seg på numismatiske, historiske, og noe arkeologiske kilder. Det er bare gjennom tverrfaglig tilnærming at det har vært mulig å finne svar på flere de problemstillingene som er reist. I enkelte tilfeller har det vært nødvendig å gå inn på dateringen av myntserier. Dette gjelder særlig de store anonyme brakteatseriene som er forsynt med et kronet hode en face. Disse diskusjonene er ikke gjort til noen hovedsak."

From Samarkand to Göta river- actual archeological finds from roman iron age to early Viking age. Three important finds spots along the river. “Grönån-Wooden manufacturing center” - wooden object dated from roman iron age to Germanic iron age (“pre Viking”). Key words: Tools made of wood, objects from carriages, charts as well as boats and ships, wooden wheel, wooden bowls, ladder, basket, oarlock, oar, tools for making ropes. Next findspot is the “Brakteats of gold from Trollhättan”. Väner region brakteats and south west Norway. Göta river and magnificent falls of Trollhättan, similarity to Sorte mull (Black soil) Bornholm Denmark, brakteat and wetlands, two brakteats has runic inscription and should be read in a reversed manner, the text is: “ I the eril is named Märthief, I wrote a powerful spell”. Key words: gold, runic inscriptions, wetland, eril, earl, Oden. Next subject is “Early Viking age trading centers along the Göta river”, there are locality names that indicate early trading as “kiöping” (Grönkiöping and Kiöping). Key words: finds of weights, coins and lumps of silver, coins from the Arabic word (both from north Africa and Samarkand). Dated between around 750-869 A.D. Archaeological excavation, long-oval pit-houses dated to 660-780 A.D. Photos and figures, all text is in Swedish

Bruno Jané et Philippe Schiesser, Les outils monétaires du Musée de La Cour d’or - Metz Métropole et les techniques de fabrications du « Grand Est », actes du colloque coorganisé par la SENA et le Musée de La Cour d’Or – Metz Métropole « Le monnayage à Metz et en Pays lorrain de l'Antiquité à nos jours » du 27 au 30 septembre 2018, Recherches et travaux de la Société d’Études Numismatiques et Archéologiques 9, 2019, p. 195-222.

- by Rory Naismith
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- Economic History, Archaeology, Monetary Economics, Medieval History
- by Valland Groupe francophone d'études norroises and +1
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- Viking Studies, Viking identities, Viking diaspora, Viking Age Archaeology
- by wladyslaw duczko
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- Medieval Archaeology, Medieval Scandinavia, Islamic Studies, Viking Studies

A beginner's guide to Medieval Austrian coins

- by David Ruckser and +1
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- Medieval History, Medieval Studies, Medieval Coinage, Viking Age and Medieval coinage and monetary history

The book examines the moneyers, those men responsible for minting the king’s coinage, within developing urban society in England during the tenth and eleventh centuries to address both their status and whether the internal workplace organisation of the mints might reflect the complexity of an Anglo-Saxon ‘state’. In reviewing the minting operation of late Anglo-Saxon England, and the men in charge of those mints, a better picture of the social history of pre-Conquest England is realised. These men were likely part of the thegnly or burgess class and how they organised themselves might reflect broader trends in how those outside of the aristocracy acted in response to royal directives. The book outlines a new and innovative method of analysing the organisation of labour in Medieval England. These new techniques and methodologies provide support for a previously unknown level of complexity in English minting.
Accompanying the book are several digital downloads, including the Moneyers of England Database, 973-1086, consisting of information on 3,646 periods of moneyer activity derived from 28,576 individual coins produced at ninety-nine geographic locations.

David Francès ens continuarà sorprenent agradablement. Als elogis que li he dedicat abans cal afegir-ne un com a colofó. Ha buscat sempre la col·laboració dels col·legues interessats en el seu tema, i ha pogut debatre, compartir opinions, dubtes i idees amb experts com Rafael Arroyo o Ramón Rodríguez Pérez, o amb molts afeccionats provinents dels fòrums virtuals, o amb un gran Sebastián Gaspariño. I aquesta actitud és, en un sentit pràctic, el més gran dels elogis. X. S. A. LE GOFF, Jacques. La Edad Media y el dinero: Ensayo de antropología histórica, Akal, Madrid, 2012 (título original: Le Moyen Âge et l'argent. Essai d'anthropologie historique, 2010).

The last 25 years of intensive detector archaeology has quadrupled the number of Viking Age hoards on Bornholm to amazing 100 hoards. The numerous hoards provide Museum of Bornholm with new and vital information on the history of Viking Age Bornholm, but the large number of hoards does also cause administrative challenges. This paper presents an update on the last 25 years of results and failures. Furthermore the paper discusses the perspectives of detector archaeology by introducing three new spectacular silver hoards: Skovsholm - the oldest Viking Age hoard of Bornholm, Åbo - located in a roof bearing post of a house and Ahlesminde – the first Danish Viking Age hoard containing gold coins.

This paper is based upon the complete metrology chapter from my book "Early World Coins" published in 2009. It is however a third revised version - with just a new preface added to the version of May 2020. It remains a holistic set of best guesses, concerning how important early metrological systems were linked through time. Copies of the complete 2009 work on paper are still available. Please write to info@earlyworldcoins.com for further details if interested.

- by Robert Tye
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- Numismatics, Money and Banking, Monetary history, Metrology, Weights and Measures

In the ninth to twelfth centuries the Dublin fleet was one of the most formidable war machines in the Irish Sea area. I analyse the annalistic and archaeological evidence for Hiberno-Norse naval power in Dublin around 1000 AD. Drawing on comparative information from Scandinavia and England, I consider the manpower needed for the fleet, and the financial and monetary implications of the size of the fleet.

- by Poul Holm
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- Medieval History, Maritime History, Naval History, Early Medieval History

A beginner's guide to the more common Medieval coins of Denmark

A gold object has appeared in Sweden which may provide new information about the Danish Viking king Harald Bluetooth, dead around 986. The gold object is a plaque with text and a cross symbol. Is this a contemporary memorial plaque for the dead king? In that case it is a unique and sensational object. Harald Bluetooth conquered Denmark and introduced Christianity as the state religion in the country. He was mortally wounded in a battle against his son Sweyn Forkbeard and fled to Wolin in northern Poland where he died. The gold object was encountered during excavation work in the medieval church ruins just outside Wolin in the village Wiejkowo.

- by Sven Rosborn
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- Polish History, Viking Studies, Viking Age Archaeology, Viking Age Scandinavia

During the Viking Age huge amounts of silver coins were imported to a very large area in Northern Europe from Iceland in the west to Russia in the east. The import from the east (c. 800-1010) was mainly Islamic dirhams, while the import from the west was very small before the late 10th century and it continued into the first half of the 12th century with a strong dominance of coins from Germany and England. However, coins from a large number of other areas were also imported. The paper gives a survey of the Viking-Age import of coins to Sweden and Northern Europe c. 800-1150. Statistical information about the number of coins (finds in Northern Europe), and where they had been struck (finds in Sweden) is provided. For the latter a graph shows the changes in import over time and information of where they have been found is provided.

The full book can be downloaded for free in high quality resolution:
https://files.wachholtz-verlag.de/openaccess/9783529035418.pdf
This second volume in the series collects papers from two workshops held at the University of Göt-tingen in 2019 and 2020. The international meetings tackled questions related to merchants and money in a comparative perspective, with examples spanning from the Bronze Age to the early Modern period and embracing Europe, the Mediterranean, Asia and East Africa. The first part of this volume presents historical case studies of how merchants planned and carried out commercial expeditions; how risk, cost, and potential profit was calculated; and how the value of goods was calculated and converted. The papers in the second part address current theories and methods on the development and function of money before and after the invention of coinage. The introduction of balance scales around 3000 BCE enabled the formation of overarching indexes of value and the calculation of the commercial value of goods and services. It also allowed for a selected set of commodities to take on the role of currency. Around 650 BCE, this led to the invention of coinage in the Eastern Mediterra-nean.

- by Lorenz Rahmstorf and +1
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- Southeast Asian Studies, Medieval Studies, African History, Mamluk Studies

In the present study, the silver content of 155 Viking-Age coins was analyzed. The aim was to re-exam the traditional interpretations of the silver content of different coinages during the Viking Age, and to offer an overview on the subject. The main question is what level of silver purity was considered as fine silver in everyday transactions in the Northern Lands and what variation was tolerated? The second aim of the study was to find possible inconsistencies in the silver content.

- by Eeva Jonsson
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- Metallurgy, Numismatics, Viking Age Scandinavia, Viking Age

A beginner's guide to the more common Medieval coins of Sweden

In his book " Viking Rus: Studies on the presence of Scandinavians in Eastern Europe " Waldyslaw Duczko examines the material evidence of Norse culture refuting the many literary misconceptions and conceits which have dominated cultural sensitivities for generations. The Norse presence in the East, though debated by some, is undeniable from an archaeological approach that examines the evidence from the 8 th through the 11 th centuries. The burial grounds and settlements which have been excavated reveal a host of objects unique to Norse culture, especially those with analogies or exact copies found in Scandinavia. The literary myths which have survived paint a picture of a Russian state emerging from a Viking hostile takeover of the region from Slavic tribesmen; however, the archaeology tells a different tale. Where charismatic heroes fill the pages of The Primary Chronicle, grave sites contain evidence of a rich mixture of cultures between the Norse and a mosaic of indigenous populations. Using material evidence Duczko picks apart the literary sources, validating certain contentious issues and eviscerating others. Many of the Norsemen who came East with their families to stay were drawn by trade, not plunder. Retaining their contacts with their homeland, these entrepreneurial Vikings were able to preserve part of their Norse culture while mingling with those surrounding them.

- by Konrad B Hughes
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- Russian Studies, Baltic Studies, Viking Studies, Viking Age Archaeology
- by Roman K Kovalev
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- Military History, Russian Studies, Byzantine Studies, Byzantine History

In copertina: L'Atrium Vestae così come appariva nel 1884, poco dopo la scoperta del ripostiglio nel novembre del 1883 (SSBAR, Archivio Fotografico, 13/FR/CV/A) In quarta di copertina: Moderna ricostruzione della sacca che un tempo... more

- by Rory Naismith and +1
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- Anglo-Saxon Studies, Anglo-Saxon Studies (History), Early Medieval Archaeology, Numismatics

The 9th volume of the research series “Rus’, Lithuania, Horde” is a special volume devoted to the XVI International Numismatic Congress in Warsaw (2022). The volume contains publications and analysis of numismatic and sphragistic findings, as well as academic research and supplementary studies. The series is intended for historians, archeologists, numismatists, sigillographers, and other persons interested in heraldry, economics, and the law of the states of Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages.

- by Dzmitry Huletski and +4
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- Numismatics, Early Medieval History, Sigillography, Viking Age Archaeology
- by Cristian Gazdac
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- Ancient History, Archaeology, Classical Archaeology, Monetary Economics

This paper is being written mainly as a genealogy, but it does also contain much valuable information as to just why such genealogies exist and/or can be reconstructed with the right knowledge of ancient texts. It is also more evidence of the existence of a royal oligarchy which had many branches, so as to cover many geographic locations and peoples. Because we find that the Viking leaders were of ancient royal ancestry, as the rest of those who were in power and either royal or of papal families, we can better understand just why they were able to do what they did and get away with it. They were, doing publicly, what their royal ancestors had been doing (and what other royals of their time were also doing) in secret (See my work on Royal Supremacy).[I] In terms of the Viking history as it was left to us, as 'Vikings', their " history " as Viking raiders began with the attack on Lindisfarne monastery in 793 CE/AD, and ended with the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066 CE/AD, when the Vikings were battling the English army, and the English army had successfully repelled them. Another thing to note, is that the Vikings are credited with various things, particularly, the discovery of America. However, there is evidence that their relatives and ancestors had already known of and visited America. And that explains just how it is that they knew where it was and how to get to it, and back. Though I have not yet written much about it (see my paper 'What Claudius Ptolemy Knew'), I have been meaning to write more about ancient world travel and the evidence that there is for it.[II] There are still a lot of people who do not want to even consider that ancient people had traveled around the world.

- by Roman Piso
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- History, Ancient History, Military History, Cultural History

Abhandlung über die Wirtschaftsweise des nordischen und slawischen Raumes und der Bedeutung des Gewichtgeldes durch die Jahrhunderte.

A beginner's guide to the more common Medieval coins of Bavaria