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
Gilded Lead-Alloy Weight (LEIC-C6C96A)
The inset decoration of this weight is probably a reused fragment of an Irish or Anglo-Saxon object. Its importation and re-working is likely the result of Viking intervention. The distinction of weights by embedded objects or other embellishments in various media is a widely recognised feature of some early medieval weights. 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 tradeable 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
Anglo-Saxon Zoomorphic Strap-End (NCMG 2003-27; T2001:2 ; 2002 T21)
A large silver strap-end with simple chevron decoration and six incised panels of ribbon knotwork divided by curved laddered frames. This strap-end is typical of ninth-century Anglo-Saxon design from the Yorkshire school. The border design is also found on the Trewhiddle type but due to its lower quality execution this strap-end is probably an imitation. Strap-ends came in various styles and were fairly common throughout the Viking world. They were used to decorate the ends of belts and to stop them getting damaged.