Viking Objects
Reproduction Polyhedral Weights
A group of four polyhedral weights of a type that is common throughout the Viking diaspora. This example has fourteen sides and four dots on each of the rectangular sides. These weights were adopted by the Vikings from Middle Eastern examples and appear to have become a de facto weight standard for traders.
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Viking Objects
Reproduction Silver Ingot
A white metal reproduction of a Viking Age silver ingot. Silver goods and coins might be melted down into ingots for ease of carrying.
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Viking Objects
Silver Ingot (NLM-ABB952)
This silver ingot was made by melting down worked silver and casting it in a mould. The Vikings arriving in England had a bullion economy in which they paid for goods with silver that was weighed to an amount agreed between the buyer and the seller. Hacksilver and silver ingots are the most common evidence for their bullion economy. It took some time for the Scandinavian settlers to adopt a monetary economy like that of the Anglo-Saxons, and both systems were used simultaneously for a while before they fully adopted the new system. The Vikings were familiar with monetary economies but they treated coins as just another form of silver before adoption of a monetary economy.
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Viking Objects
Merovingian Tremissis (LEIC-6BAA60)
This Merovingian gold tremissis was minted in Bourges in the late 6th or 7th century. It is possible that it made its way to England prior to Viking incursions but it is equally likely that the Vikings brought this coin with them as plunder after raiding in Frankia.
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Viking Objects
Danish Silver Sceat (NARC-70AFF4)
This silver sceat is classified as part of the Danish Series X Type 31. The obverse depicts the head of Woden with crosses to either side of a rounded beard and pellet above. The reverse depicts a monster facing left. These coins are considered to be associated with the early trading center at Ribe. It is very likely that they made their way to England by means of Vikings.
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Viking Objects
Northumbrian Styca (DENO-EF4544)
The blundered legends on this example suggest it is an imitation of stycas minted for a Northumbrian ruler or the Archbishops of York. While Wessex and Mercia were using silver coinage as part of their monetary economy, Northumbria was using copper coins known as stycas, which may have contained trace amounts of silver. The concentration of these coins at sites such as Torksey and ARSNY suggests that they could have remained in circulation after the fall of Northumbria in 866 but were taken to the sites by the Vikings during their campaigning. They were not much use to the Vikings within their silver-based bullion economy but it is suggested that they were treated as raw material and were used as commodity money instead. The evidence for the production of copper-alloy strap-ends at Torksey and ARSNY supports this idea that the stycas were used for production.
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Viking Objects
Northumbrian Styca (DENO-60AFD2)
This copper-alloy styca was probably minted by the moneyer Coenred in the name of King Redwulf of Northumbria. While Wessex and Mercia were using silver coinage as part of their monetary economy, Northumbria was using copper coins known as stycas, which may have contained trace amounts of silver. The concentration of these coins at sites such as Torksey and ARSNY suggests that they could have remained in circulation after the fall of Northumbria in 866 but were taken to the sites by the Vikings during their campaigning. They were not much use to the Vikings within their silver-based bullion economy but it is suggested that they were treated as raw material and were used as commodity money instead. The evidence for the production of copper alloy strap-ends at Torksey and ARSNY supports this idea that the stycas were used for production.
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Viking Objects
Abbasid Silver Dirham Fragment (CM_1775_2008)
A silver dirham fragment possibly minted at al-`Abbasiyya. The dirham was a unit of weight used across North Africa, the Middle East, and Persia, with varying values which also referred to the type of coins used in the Middle East during the Viking Age. These coins were extremely prized possessions not only for their silver value but as a way of displaying one’s wealth and vast trade connections. Millions of Arabic dirhams would have been imported throughout the Viking world and are mostly found in hoards.
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Viking Objects
Polyhedral Weight (LIN-752A9C)
This copper-alloy weight is of a type common within the Scandinavian diaspora. This example has fourteen sides and four dots on each of the rectangular sides. These weights were adopted by the Vikings from Middle Eastern examples and appear to have become a de facto weight standard for traders. Weights are an important form of evidence for Viking Age commerce and the use of standards across the different economic systems within which Vikings were integrated. Many of the weights discovered, particularly ones in Ireland and those of Arabic type, suggest that a standardized system of weights existed in some areas. These standard weights, alongside standard values of silver, are what allowed the bullion economy of Viking occupied areas to function. A bullion economy was a barter economy that relied on the exchange of set amounts of precious metal in various forms, such as arm-rings or coins, for tradable goods, such as food or textiles. Each merchant would have brought their own set of weights and scales to a transaction to make sure that the trade was conducted fairly.
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Viking Objects
Edward the Elder Penny (CM.615-1998)
A Horizontal type (HC1) silver penny of Edward the Elder (874-924), son of Alfred the Great, and minted by a moneyer called Beornwald. This coin was part of a hoard of twelve coins found at Thurcaston between 1992 and 2000. The coins are Anglo-Saxon, Arabic and Viking issues, and show the diverse and wide-ranging contacts between societies at this time. The hoard was probably deposited c.923-925, approximately five years after Leicester had been retaken by Mercia (c.918). They indicate that a bullion economy was still operating in the Danelaw as late as the 920s. This suggests that the reconquest did not immediately manage to institute Anglo-Saxon practices such as a monetary economy.
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Viking Objects
Coin of Burghred of Mercia (1989-58/3650)
A silver penny of Burghred of Mercia, found in the mass grave at Repton, minted by the moneyer Dudwine. Dudwine may be the same moneyer who was minting coins for Alfred the Great at a later date. Burghred was king of Mercia from 852-874 CE. He was driven out of Mercia by the Vikings during their march from Lindsey to Repton in 874 after they sacked Tamworth. Burghred fled to Rome, where he eventually died, and was replaced by Ceowulf II who was loyal to the Vikings. Minting coins was a way of controlling the means of exchange within a kingdom and which created a more easily administered standardized system of trade. Moreover, the coins themselves were often used as propaganda, portaying symbols and statements that gave off a desired message. The Vikings later used the minting of coins to legitimize their own rule.