Helena Hamerow on excavations at Southampton, which reshaped our views of the origins of English towns and of long-distance trade in the 8th/9th centuries.
The Normans: Three Centuries of Achievement, AD 911-1204
March 9, 2012 by
The Normans (Northmen) were Scandinavians who, after decades of foreign campaigns in France and the British Isles, settled in 911 with their leader, Rollo, in north-west France.
The Social Stratigraphy of Coin and Credit in Late Medieval England
January 29, 2012 by
The money that the medieval English made conducted matters of state into the heart of society. The concerted quality of value – the fact that creating a currency connected public authority with every individual holding it – made that unavoidable.
The Weight Standard of the English Coinage 1158-1279
January 25, 2012 by
In 1279 ‘The Form of the New Money’ (Forma nove monete) and the indenture of William de Turnmire both described the weight standards of Edward I’s new coinage. 243 pennies were to be struck from a tower pound of silver (5,400 troy grains) and the new round farthing was to be made in slightly debased silver at a heavier standard.
Relations between the Late Roman World and Barbarian Europe in the Light of Coin Finds
December 21, 2011 by
And so, during a period of well developed exchange between the Roman Empire and the Barbaricum, coinciding with the Golden Age and the House of Antonine, Roman coins started to flow more intensively in the reign of the last two Antonine emperors.
Viking Hoard discovered in England
December 15, 2011 by
Now known as the Silverdale Viking Hoard, the collection cotnains a total of 201 silver objects and a well preserved lead container. Of particular interest is the fact that the hoard contains a previously unrecorded coin type, probably carrying the name of an otherwise unknown Viking ruler in northern England.
The Colour of Money: Crusaders and Coins in the Thirteenth-Century Baltic Sea
November 21, 2011 by
Were coins actually perceived as coloured? Several studies have elucidated the idea that there are ways of perceiving, understanding and classifying colours other than in the modern western sense.
The contribution of the English mints to government revenue, 1158-1544
October 25, 2011 by
The contribution of the English mints to government revenue, 1158-1544 By Martin Allen Paper given at Economic History Society Annual Conference, University of Cambridge, 1-3 April 2011 Introduction: The contribution of the English mints to the king’s revenue is a relatively neglected aspect of government finance in medieval England. When the mints are included in […]
Early medieval port customs, tolls and controls on foreign trade
October 10, 2011 by
Early medieval port customs, tolls and controls on foreign trade Middleton, Neil Early Medieval Europe, Vol.13:4 (2005) Abstract The objective of this paper is to offer a fresh perspective on the nature and organization of international trade in early medieval ports from the evidence of documentary sources on tolls and customs, trading practices and controls on […]
Currency Change in Pre-millennial Catalonia: Coinage, Counts and Economics
August 5, 2011 by
Currency Change in Pre-millennial Catalonia: Coinage, Counts and Economics Jarrett, Jonathan Numismatic Chronicle, No.169 (2009) Abstract Barcelona in the late tenth century was on the verge of becoming a commercial as well as a political capital. The wealth of the four counties that its ruler, Count-Marquis Borrell II (945–93), controlled had been growing throughout his reign. […]
Roman coins in Iceland: Roman remnants or Viking exotica
July 23, 2011 by
Roman coins in Iceland: Roman remnants or Viking exotica By Davíð Bjarni Heiðarsson Published Online (2010) Introduction: Early one evening in the summer of 1923 a young man was strolling round the valley of Hvaldalur on the southeast coast of Iceland. The valley is known to be one of the most severe and inhospitable areas […]
Viking silver coin hoard discovered in northern England
July 1, 2011 by
A Viking treasure hoard of silver coins has been discovered in the northern English country of Cumbria. The find is being billed as ‘the missing link’ by experts who say it is the long-awaited significant evidence of 9th and 10th Century AD material culture of the settlers upon the area around Barrow-in-Furness. The 92 silver […]
Coinage and Money in the Latin Empire of Constantinople
May 1, 2011 by
What was used for money in the Latin Empire, and why did its rulers not issue coins in their own names?
Iconography of Imperial coinage of Medieval Serbia
March 20, 2011 by
Iconography of Imperial coinage of Medieval Serbia Radic, Vesna XIII Congreso Internacional de Numismática, Bd. 2 (2005) Abstract After great conquests of King Dušan in 1334 and 1335 many Byzantine towns and large territories of Thessaly and Epirus came under Serbian rule. In the end of 1335 in Serres Dušan was proclaimed an emperor of […]
On the fringes of the shrinking empire : the militarization of administration and society in Byzantine Histria
March 9, 2011 by
On the fringes of the shrinking empire : the militarization of administration and society in Byzantine Histria Bileta, Vedran MA Thesis, Budapest College (2010) Abstract At the end of the Late Antiquity, the Byzantine province of Histria became from the center of the empire, its periphery. The centuries of peace and prosperity were replaced by constant […]
THE COINS OF THE DANISH KINGS OF IRELAND
February 27, 2011 by
THE COINS OF THE DANISH KINGS OF IRELAND Roth, Bernard The British Numismatic Journal, Vol. 6 (1910) Abstract Charles Haliday says ~ “It must surprise those who examine the history of Ireland that so little appears known respecting the social position of those Scandinavians who under the common name of Ostmen or of Danes, occupied our […]
Coin in Jewellery from Bukhara
February 6, 2011 by
Coin in Jewellery from Bukhara NIYAZOVA, MAKHSUMA I. Numismática oriental / Oriental Numismatics Actas del XIII Congreso Internacional de Numismática (2003) From ancient times coins used as currency and as element of adornment or amulet. The shell known as “kauri” was a currency and ornament in the same time. Pierced coins famous from archaeological excavations in […]
Tens of thousands of Song Dynasty coins discovered in China
December 23, 2010 by
Over 4400 pounds of copper coins dating back to the Song Dynasty were uncovered earlier this week by construction workers digging in a cellar in the Chinese province of Shaanxi. According to markings on the coins, they were minted between the years 1102 and 1106. Sources: Xinhua News Agency, Sify
Byzantine Gold Coins and Jewellery: A Study of Gold Contents
September 16, 2010 by
The Byzantine Empire slowly changed, of course, being effected by the emergence of Medieval Europe to the West and of Islam to the East and South
Economic Growth and Currency in Ayyūbid Palestine
July 2, 2010 by
Economic Growth and Currency in Ayyūbid Palestine By Stefan Heidemann Ayyūbid Jerusalem: The Holy City in Context, 1187-1250, edited by Robert Hillenbrand and Sylvia Auld (Altajir Trust, 2009) Introduction: In 583/1187 Saladin conquered Jerusalem. This occurred in a period of renewed economic growth in Syria and northern Mesopotamia, which lasted until the Mongol invasion. The […]
Dirham Mint Output of Samanid Samarqand and its Connection to the Beginnings of Trade with Northern Europe (10th century)
June 21, 2010 by
Dirham Mint Output of Samanid Samarqand and its Connection to the Beginnings of Trade with Northern Europe (10th century) By Roman K. Kovalev Histoire & mesure, Vol.17 n.3/4 (2002) Abstract: An examination of 14,865 Samanid dirhams struck in Samarqand from 634 hoards discovered in western Eurasia dating from the tenth to the eleventh centuries shows […]
The Evolving Representation of the Early Islamic Empire and Its Religion on Coin Imagery
May 23, 2010 by
The Evolving Representation of the Early Islamic Empire and Its Religion on Coin Imagery By Stefan Heidemann The Qur’an in Context, edited by Angelika Neuwirth, Nicolai Sinai and Michael Marx (Brill, 2010) Introduction: How did the theology of Islam and its idea of an empire evolve, based on the Hellenistic Romano-Iranian foundation, in the face […]
Saints and sinners: coins in medieval Italian graves
February 20, 2010 by
Why were coins deposited with ordinary people? Why were coins deposited with saints and with other important people? Why were coins not deposited in many or most graves?
Coins and trade in early medieval Italy
January 16, 2010 by
Coins and trade in early medieval Italy By Alessia Rovelli Early Medieval Europe, Vol.17:1 (2009) Abstract: This paper is an analysis of monetary circulation in early medieval Italy in the period c.600–900. Using a dual comparison – first, of the level of currency use as against ceramics within Italy, and second, of the pattern of […]
Coinage and Monetary Policies in Burgundian Flanders during the late-medieval ‘Bullion Famines’, 1384 – 1482
December 23, 2009 by
Coinage and Monetary Policies in Burgundian Flanders during the late-medieval ‘Bullion Famines’, 1384 – 1482 By John Munro Published Online (2009) Abstract: This paper seeks to answer two questions: were the coinage debasements in Burgundian Flanders (1384-1482) undertaken principally as monetary or fiscal policies; and were they beneficial or harmful? In a recent monograph, Sargent and […]
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