Search

Haithabu and the Danish monarchy in the 10th centuryNumismatic evidenceIn the 10th century, Haithabu and its environs constituted a numismatic enclave with its own coinage used by number rather than by weight. This is apparent both from hoards located in the town’s hinterland and single finds from the town itself. In these, local coins – imitations of Charlemagne’s coins from Dorestad – dominate in the form of intact speciments that are neither bent nor tested. At that time in Scandinavia and Baltic area it was the norm to use silver as payment by weight. Ornaments and coins from many different origins were used and these were cut up to give the required weight; the quality of the metal was tested by bending and nicking and pecking. Finds of Islamic dirhams and characteristic balance weights for weighing silver do, however, show that this latter usage of coins also took place in the Schlei area and Haithabu. Unfortunately, it is not possible to determine from the archaeological record whether these two ways of using coins and silver reflect two chronological phases or, alternatively, two coeval parallel spheres of coin usage – one internal with exclusive use of its own coinage and one external with acceptance of silver according to weight, when trading with foreign merchants.Over the past decade, excavations and metal-detector surveys in Haithabu have yielded several speciments of Danish king Harald Bluetooth’s characteristic cross-motif coin from AD 975/980-985/990, which was previously conspicuous by its absence. These new finds show that, in Haithabu, cross-motif coins fulfilled the function of local coinage used by number following cessation of minting of the earlier Carolus-Dorestad imitations. These cross-motif coins must, accordingly, have been struck in Haithabu itself.The distribution of records of cross-motif coins across the rest of Denmark suggests that Harald used this coinage as gifts to his nobles and, accordingly, it symbolises the king. It is not si

Haithabu and the Danish monarchy in the 10th centuryNumismatic evidenceIn the 10th century, Haithabu and its environs constituted a numismatic enclave with its own coinage used by number rather than by weight. This is apparent both from hoards located in the town’s hinterland and single finds from the town itself. In these, local coins – imitations of Charlemagne’s coins from Dorestad – dominate in the form of intact speciments that are neither bent nor tested. At that time in Scandinavia and Baltic area it was the norm to use silver as payment by weight. Ornaments and coins from many different origins were used and these were cut up to give the required weight; the quality of the metal was tested by bending and nicking and pecking. Finds of Islamic dirhams and characteristic balance weights for weighing silver do, however, show that this latter usage of coins also took place in the Schlei area and Haithabu. Unfortunately, it is not possible to determine from the archaeological record whether these two ways of using coins and silver reflect two chronological phases or, alternatively, two coeval parallel spheres of coin usage – one internal with exclusive use of its own coinage and one external with acceptance of silver according to weight, when trading with foreign merchants.Over the past decade, excavations and metal-detector surveys in Haithabu have yielded several speciments of Danish king Harald Bluetooth’s characteristic cross-motif coin from AD 975/980-985/990, which was previously conspicuous by its absence. These new finds show that, in Haithabu, cross-motif coins fulfilled the function of local coinage used by number following cessation of minting of the earlier Carolus-Dorestad imitations. These cross-motif coins must, accordingly, have been struck in Haithabu itself.The distribution of records of cross-motif coins across the rest of Denmark suggests that Harald used this coinage as gifts to his nobles and, accordingly, it symbolises the king. It is not si

Haithabu and the Danish monarchy in the 10th centuryNumismatic evidenceIn the 10th century, Haithabu and its environs constituted a numismatic enclave with its own coinage used by number rather than by weight. This is apparent both from hoards located in the town’s hinterland and single finds from the town itself. In these, local coins – imitations of Charlemagne’s coins from Dorestad – dominate in the form of intact speciments that are neither bent nor tested. At that time in Scandinavia and Baltic area it was the norm to use silver as payment by weight. Ornaments and coins from many different origins were used and these were cut up to give the required weight; the quality of the metal was tested by bending and nicking and pecking. Finds of Islamic dirhams and characteristic balance weights for weighing silver do, however, show that this latter usage of coins also took place in the Schlei area and Haithabu. Unfortunately, it is not possible to determine from the archaeological record whether these two ways of using coins and silver reflect two chronological phases or, alternatively, two coeval parallel spheres of coin usage – one internal with exclusive use of its own coinage and one external with acceptance of silver according to weight, when trading with foreign merchants.Over the past decade, excavations and metal-detector surveys in Haithabu have yielded several speciments of Danish king Harald Bluetooth’s characteristic cross-motif coin from AD 975/980-985/990, which was previously conspicuous by its absence. These new finds show that, in Haithabu, cross-motif coins fulfilled the function of local coinage used by number following cessation of minting of the earlier Carolus-Dorestad imitations. These cross-motif coins must, accordingly, have been struck in Haithabu itself.The distribution of records of cross-motif coins across the rest of Denmark suggests that Harald used this coinage as gifts to his nobles and, accordingly, it symbolises the king. It is not si

Haithabu and the Danish monarchy in the 10th centuryNumismatic evidenceIn the 10th century, Haithabu and its environs constituted a numismatic enclave with its own coinage used by number rather than by weight. This is apparent both from hoards located in the town’s hinterland and single finds from the town itself. In these, local coins – imitations of Charlemagne’s coins from Dorestad – dominate in the form of intact speciments that are neither bent nor tested. At that time in Scandinavia and Baltic area it was the norm to use silver as payment by weight. Ornaments and coins from many different origins were used and these were cut up to give the required weight; the quality of the metal was tested by bending and nicking and pecking. Finds of Islamic dirhams and characteristic balance weights for weighing silver do, however, show that this latter usage of coins also took place in the Schlei area and Haithabu. Unfortunately, it is not possible to determine from the archaeological record whether these two ways of using coins and silver reflect two chronological phases or, alternatively, two coeval parallel spheres of coin usage – one internal with exclusive use of its own coinage and one external with acceptance of silver according to weight, when trading with foreign merchants.Over the past decade, excavations and metal-detector surveys in Haithabu have yielded several speciments of Danish king Harald Bluetooth’s characteristic cross-motif coin from AD 975/980-985/990, which was previously conspicuous by its absence. These new finds show that, in Haithabu, cross-motif coins fulfilled the function of local coinage used by number following cessation of minting of the earlier Carolus-Dorestad imitations. These cross-motif coins must, accordingly, have been struck in Haithabu itself.The distribution of records of cross-motif coins across the rest of Denmark suggests that Harald used this coinage as gifts to his nobles and, accordingly, it symbolises the king. It is not si

Haithabu and the Danish monarchy in the 10th centuryNumismatic evidenceIn the 10th century, Haithabu and its environs constituted a numismatic enclave with its own coinage used by number rather than by weight. This is apparent both from hoards located in the town’s hinterland and single finds from the town itself. In these, local coins – imitations of Charlemagne’s coins from Dorestad – dominate in the form of intact speciments that are neither bent nor tested. At that time in Scandinavia and Baltic area it was the norm to use silver as payment by weight. Ornaments and coins from many different origins were used and these were cut up to give the required weight; the quality of the metal was tested by bending and nicking and pecking. Finds of Islamic dirhams and characteristic balance weights for weighing silver do, however, show that this latter usage of coins also took place in the Schlei area and Haithabu. Unfortunately, it is not possible to determine from the archaeological record whether these two ways of using coins and silver reflect two chronological phases or, alternatively, two coeval parallel spheres of coin usage – one internal with exclusive use of its own coinage and one external with acceptance of silver according to weight, when trading with foreign merchants.Over the past decade, excavations and metal-detector surveys in Haithabu have yielded several speciments of Danish king Harald Bluetooth’s characteristic cross-motif coin from AD 975/980-985/990, which was previously conspicuous by its absence. These new finds show that, in Haithabu, cross-motif coins fulfilled the function of local coinage used by number following cessation of minting of the earlier Carolus-Dorestad imitations. These cross-motif coins must, accordingly, have been struck in Haithabu itself.The distribution of records of cross-motif coins across the rest of Denmark suggests that Harald used this coinage as gifts to his nobles and, accordingly, it symbolises the king. It is not si

Haithabu and the Danish monarchy in the 10th centuryNumismatic evidenceIn the 10th century, Haithabu and its environs constituted a numismatic enclave with its own coinage used by number rather than by weight. This is apparent both from hoards located in the town’s hinterland and single finds from the town itself. In these, local coins – imitations of Charlemagne’s coins from Dorestad – dominate in the form of intact speciments that are neither bent nor tested. At that time in Scandinavia and Baltic area it was the norm to use silver as payment by weight. Ornaments and coins from many different origins were used and these were cut up to give the required weight; the quality of the metal was tested by bending and nicking and pecking. Finds of Islamic dirhams and characteristic balance weights for weighing silver do, however, show that this latter usage of coins also took place in the Schlei area and Haithabu. Unfortunately, it is not possible to determine from the archaeological record whether these two ways of using coins and silver reflect two chronological phases or, alternatively, two coeval parallel spheres of coin usage – one internal with exclusive use of its own coinage and one external with acceptance of silver according to weight, when trading with foreign merchants.Over the past decade, excavations and metal-detector surveys in Haithabu have yielded several speciments of Danish king Harald Bluetooth’s characteristic cross-motif coin from AD 975/980-985/990, which was previously conspicuous by its absence. These new finds show that, in Haithabu, cross-motif coins fulfilled the function of local coinage used by number following cessation of minting of the earlier Carolus-Dorestad imitations. These cross-motif coins must, accordingly, have been struck in Haithabu itself.The distribution of records of cross-motif coins across the rest of Denmark suggests that Harald used this coinage as gifts to his nobles and, accordingly, it symbolises the king. It is not si