Coins and Coinage in Viking-Age Norway: The Establishment of a National Coinage in Norway in the XI Century, with a Survey of the Preceding Currency History

Description

This study is concerned with the currency history of Norway up to c. 1100. Using the preserved coins and coin hoards as a starting point, I have attempted to study the occurrence and function of coins in Norway before 1100. Thus, I do not discuss the reasons for the import of foreign coins into the country. I have gone right back to the oldest proven occurrence of coins in Norway, partly for the sake of completeness and partly because the coins in question, Roman denarii, occasionally turn up in Scandinavian hoards from the late Viking Age, and this is the period upon which my attention is focused. The late Viking Age saw a great increase in the occurrence and circulation of foreign silver coins in Norway and it was then that the first Norwegian issue was begun. The very limited output during the reigns of Olaf Tryggvason (995-1000) and Olaf Haraldsson (1015-1030) was, however, not decisive for the establishment of the coinage. The decisive stage was reached with the coinage of Harald Hardråde (1047-1066). LIST OF TABLES 3 LIST OF FIGURES 5 INTRODUCTION 7 A. THE SOURCES 9 1. The written sources 9 2. The numismatic sources 11 B. PREVIOUS WORKS AND LITERATURE 25 1. Catalogues 25 2. Publications of finds 26 3. Surveys of Norwegian coinage and coin history 27 C. THE HISTORY OF COINS IN NORWAY BEFORE THE INTRODUCTION OF A NATIONAL COINAGE 33 1. The period of Roman coins 33 a. The denarii 33 b. The solidi 34 2. The Merovingian Period (VII and VIII centuries): the background for the Viking-Age coin history 39 3. Frankish deniers and early Anglo-Saxon pennies 43 4. Kufic coins 47 5. Byzantine coins 53 6. German and late Anglo-Saxon pennies 54 D. THE BEGINNING OF NORWEGIAN COINAGE 58 1. Olaf Tryggvason 58 2. Olaf Haraldsson 60 E. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A NATIONAL COINAGE IN NORWAY 65 1. Harald Sigurdsson in Constantinople and Odense 65 2. Harald Hardråde’s Norwegian coinage: pennies of the Triquetra type 68 a. Numismatic prototypes and parallels 68 b. Finds 70 c. Weight 74 d. Silver content 79 e. Diameter 85 f. Thickness 87 g. Die-axis 88 h. Centering 89 i. Secondary treatment 91 j. Obverse varieties 94 k. Reverse varieties 96 l. King’s name 97 m. Moneyers’ names 98 n. Mints 99 o. Blundered legends 100 p. Letter-forms and initial marks 103 q. Dies and die-links 105 r. Conclusions on the issue of the Triquetra pennies 106 3. Further development of the Norwegian XI-century coinage 108 F. CONCLUSIONS Ill G. NOTES 115 H. INTRODUCTION TO THE CATALOGUES 123 I. A CATALOGUE OF NORWEGIAN FINDS OF COINS AND SOME RELATED OBJECTS EARLIER THAN C. 1100 127 (MISSING!) J. A CATALOGUE OF FOREIGN FINDS CONTAINING NORWEGIAN COINS EARLIER THAN C. 1100 177 (MISSING!) K. CORPUS OF NORWEGIAN COINS C. 995-C. 1065 191 L. BIBLIOGRAPHY 207 M. ABBREVIATIONS AND DEFINITIONS 217 1. In the text 217 2. In the Bibliography 219 N. INDICES 221 1. Personarum 221 2. Locorum 223 3. Rerum 228 O. MAPS 231 1. List of maps 231 2. Maps 1-13 232 P. PLATES 245 1. Key to plates 245 2. Plates I-XXII 249