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Analysis of 49 silver coins minted in England, Belgium, the Netherlands, and France reveals a link between the Channels that occurred in the 7th and 8th centuries AD.
At the time, the use of silver coins was rapidly increasing in northwestern Europe, but new research published in the journal Antiquity shows that the silver coins came from two different sources.
“There has been speculation that the silver may have come from Melle in France, or from an unknown mine, or that it may have been molten church silver,” said co-author of the study at the University of Cambridge. Professor Rory Naismith says: “But there was no hard evidence we could say either way, so we set out to find out.”
To trace its origins, a team from the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, and the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam carried out chemical analysis of 49 silver coins housed at Cambridge’s Fitzwilliam Museum.
The study reveals that the earliest coins, made between 660 and 750 AD, originated in the eastern Mediterranean, suggesting that they were likely melted silver objects from the Byzantine Empire.
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“It would be an understatement to say we were surprised by these results,” said lead author Dr Jane Kershaw from the University of Oxford. “We know that some Byzantine silver from Anglo-Saxon England remains, the most famous from Sutton Hoo, but we know that much larger amounts of Byzantine silver originally came from Anglo-Saxon shops. The links between Byzantium and Anglo-Saxon England were closer than most people realize.”
“This was quantitative easing, where elites were converting silver stored in valuables and using that silver to create coins and distribute them widely,” Dr. Kershaw continues. “It would have had a huge impact on people’s lives. Far more people would be using money and thinking in terms of monetary value than before.”
In contrast, the silver used in later coins, dating from 750 to 820 AD, was sourced from Mel in France’s Aquitaine region during the time of Charlemagne and the Carolingian Empire.
The authors suggest that Charlemagne caused the sudden and large-scale increase in mele silver by insisting on tighter control over coin production within his kingdom. A comprehensive account from the 860s details how Charlemagne’s grandson, Charles the Bald, reformed coinage by providing each mint with a small amount of silver as initial capital to start the process. Masu.
“I strongly suspect that Charlemagne did something similar with Mele silver,” Professor Naismith says.
Importantly, it highlights the efforts made by early medieval rulers to regulate the economy and shows the dependence of England, and particularly the Kingdom of Mercia, on French silver.
Header image credit: Antiquity
Source: Ancient | https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2024.33
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