Viking Objects
Forged Hack-gold Rod (CM 595-2010)
This forged hack-gold rod comprises a curved section of gilt copper-alloy. It is square in cross-section and is broken at both ends. It shows that someone near Torksey was trying to con others by passing copper-alloy as gold. Like hacksilver, hack-gold was used to pay for items by weight of precious metal. The buyer and seller would agree the value of an item and pieces of silver or gold would have been cut up and weight out until the right amount had been paid. Gold was much less common among the Vikings than silver.
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Viking Objects
Gold Ingot (BH-720251)
The Vikings arriving in England had a bullion economy in which they paid for goods, most commonly, with silver that was weighed to an amount agreed between the buyer and the seller. Though rarer than silver equivalents, this gold ingot formed part of the bullion currency used by Vikings in England. 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 bullion before adoption of a monetary economy.
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Viking Objects
Arabic Dirham Fragment (LIN-5F318A)
Fragment of an Early Medieval Arabic dirham, probably dating between the eighth-ninth centuries. The fragment appears to have been cut down into a smaller module. The fact that it may have been cut suggests that it was used as part of a bullion transaction in line with the dual bullion-monetary economy established by the Vikings in England. The circulation of Arabic dirhams is generally attributed to Viking activities and this example’s proximity to the winter camp of Torksey likely connects the dirham with the activities of its inhabitants. Arabic coins are especially useful for dating sites, because they carry the date when they were minted. This permits precise dating where the part of the coin with the date survives, whereas European coins can only be dated to the reign of the ruler depicted on them. In western descriptions of these coins, the Arabic dates found on the coins are usually listed in square brackets, as above, and the European equivalent is listed after it. This coin is a product of the Abbasid Caliphate which was ruled from its capital in Baghdad. The Abbasid Caliphate was at its greatest extent c.850 CE, occupying lands from Morocco in the west to Afghanistan in the east.
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Viking Objects
Abbasid Silver Dirham (CM_773_2008)
This coin was 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 ones wealth and vast trade connections. Millions of Arabic Dirhams would have been imported throughout the Viking world and are mostly found in hoards. Reduction in access to silver coins like this is thought to have been one of the causes of the Viking Age.
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Viking Objects
Silver Dirham (DENO-07CCA4)
A complete silver dirham of Madinat al-Salam (Baghdad) reign of al-Mahdi Billah, 163 AH (780 AD). 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
Northumbrian Styca (DENO-87CE96)
This copper-alloy styca was minted by the moneyer Eardwulf in the name of King Ethelred II of Northumbria during his second reign. 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
Imitation Carolingian Gold Solidus (CM.521-1998)
This cut-quarter of an imitation gold solidus is one of 80 known imitations as opposed to 15 official solidi and is a copy of coins issued by Louis the Pious (778-840 CE). It was probably made somewhere in Frisia on the north-west coast of what is now the Netherlands. The importance of this carefully divided quarter-coin is as evidence for the acceptance of solidi on its actual monetary value rather than as mere bullion in the 9th century; if it were hack-gold it would not have been cut so meticulously. The Vikings would have obtained real and imitation Carolingian coins through their raiding and trading activities in the Frankish Empire.
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Item
Abbasid Silver Dirham Fragment (CM_1770_2008)
This fragment of a silver dirham was minted for the Abbasid ruler at Madinat al-Salam, [180-183] 796-799 CE . 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. Arabic dirhams like this one from Torksey demonstrate contact between the Viking diaspora and the Arabic world. Arabic coins are especially useful for dating sites, because they carry the date when they were minted. This permits precise dating where the part of the coin with the date survives, whereas European coins can only be dated to the reign of the ruler depicted on them. In western descriptions of these coins, the Arabic dates found on the coins are usually listed in square brackets, as above, and the European equivalent is listed after it. This coin is a product of the Abbasid Caliphate which was ruled from its capital in Baghdad. The Abbasid Caliphate was at its greatest extent c.850 CE, occupying lands from Morocco in the west to Afghanistan in the east.
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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
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.