Hacksilver
Encyclopedia
Currency
In economics, currency refers to a generally accepted medium of exchange. These are usually the coins and banknotes of a particular government, which comprise the physical aspects of a nation's money supply...
by weight. It was common among the Norsemen
Norsemen
Norsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who spoke what is now called the Old Norse language belonging to the North Germanic branch of Indo-European languages, especially Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese, Swedish and Danish in their earlier forms.The meaning of Norseman was "people...
or Vikings, as a result of both their raiding and trade. The modern Russian currency the "ruble
Ruble
The ruble or rouble is a unit of currency. Currently, the currency units of Belarus, Russia, Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transnistria, and, in the past, the currency units of several other countries, notably countries influenced by Russia and the Soviet Union, are named rubles, though they all are...
" is derived from the Russian verb рубить, rubit, i.e., to chop, from the practice of the Rus
Rus' (people)
The Rus' were a group of Varangians . According to the Primary Chronicle of Rus, compiled in about 1113 AD, the Rus had relocated from the Baltic region , first to Northeastern Europe, creating an early polity which finally came under the leadership of Rurik...
, described by Ahmad ibn Fadlan
Ahmad ibn Fadlan
Ahmad ibn Fadlān ibn al-Abbās ibn Rāšid ibn Hammād was a 10th century Arab traveler, famous for his account of his travels as a member of an embassy of the Arab Abbasid Caliph of Baghdad to the king of the Volga Bulgars...
visiting the Volga Vikings in 922. An example of the related Viking weighing scale with weights was found on the Isle of Gigha
Gigha
The Isle of Gigha is a small island off the west coast of Kintyre in Scotland. The island forms part of Argyll and Bute and has a population of about 150 people, many of whom speak Scottish Gaelic. The climate is mild with higher than average sunshine hours and the soils are fertile.Gigha has a...
. Hacksilver may be derived from silver tableware, Roman or Byzantine, church plate and silver objects such as reliquaries or book-covers, and jewellery from a range of areas. Hoard
Hoard
In archaeology, a hoard is a collection of valuable objects or artifacts, sometimes purposely buried in the ground. This would usually be with the intention of later recovery by the hoarder; hoarders sometimes died before retrieving the hoard, and these surviving hoards may be uncovered by...
s may typically include a mixture of hacksilver, coins, ingot
Ingot
An ingot is a material, usually metal, that is cast into a shape suitable for further processing. Non-metallic and semiconductor materials prepared in bulk form may also be referred to as ingots, particularly when cast by mold based methods.-Uses:...
s and complete small pieces of jewellery.
Examples
- The 4th or 5th century hoard of Traprain LawTraprain LawTraprain Law is a hill about 221m in elevation, located east of Haddington in East Lothian, Scotland. It is the site of an oppidum or hill fort, which covered at its maximum extent about 16 ha and must have been a veritable town...
(Traprain Treasure) consists of four silver coins and over 53 pounds of sliced-up Late Roman silver tableware, much of it of very high quality. Whether this was handed over by Romans to the PictPICTPICT is a graphics file format introduced on the original Apple Macintosh computer as its standard metafile format. It allows the interchange of graphics , and some limited text support, between Mac applications, and was the native graphics format of QuickDraw.The original version, PICT 1, was...
ish occupants of the site, or the products of raids on Roman BritainRoman BritainRoman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
, is unclear.
- The Vale of York hoard includes over 617 silver coins and hacksilver.
- The Cuerdale HoardCuerdale HoardThe Cuerdale Hoard is a hoard of more than 8,600 items including silver coins, English and Carolingian jewellery, hacksilver and ingots. It was discovered on 15 May 1840 on the southern bank of a bend of the River Ribble, in an area called Cuerdale in South Ribble near to the city of Preston,...
includes 8,600 items, silver coins and hacksilver.
- The Skaill Hoard, the largest Viking Age silver hoard found in Scotland, consists of over 100 items, including jewelry, a few coins and assorted hacksilver. The hoard, dated to between 950 and 970, was found in SkaillBay of SkaillThe Bay of Skaill is a small bay on the west coast of the Orkney Mainland, Scotland.-Visitor attractions:Bay of Skaill is the location of the famous Neolithic settlement, Skara Brae, and a large residence, Skaill House, the property of the laird on whose estate Skara Brae was discovered...
, Sandwick, Orkney, in 1858.
- The main Penrith HoardPenrith HoardThe Penrith Hoard is a dispersed hoard of 10th century silver penannular brooches found at Flusco Pike, Newbiggin Moor, Near Penrith in Cumbria, and now in the British Museum in London. The largest "thistle brooch" was discovered in 1785 and another in 1830, with the bulk of items being recovered...
is of Viking-period penannular brooches, but a separate hoard found very close by includes many pieces of hacksilver.