|
Date: |
|
Description: | Surface metal analysis conducted at the British Museum indicated an approximate silver content for the ingot of 99%; it weighs 62.38 grams. The ingot is of broad slug-like shape, of plano-convex section with a slight lip around the edges of the convex face; length, 49 mm. The convex face has been partly flattened by transverse hammering with a rounded rectangular-sectioned tool giving it a corrugated appearance. Some of the indentations overlap. The long sides and narrower end are vertically ribbed by similar hammering. The ingot would have been cast in an open mould that may have been carved in stone, or possibly scraped in the earth. A large number of silver ingots of the Viking period have been found mainly in hoards in England, Ireland and the Netherlands, as well as in Scandinavia. The transverse hammering is a feature that occurs only occasionally on silver and gold ingots in England and can be paralleled in the Cuerdale, Lancashire, hoard deposited around AD 905 (see the discussion of hammering of the gold ingot from Norwich: Treasure Annual Report 2000, no. 66). Silver ingots in general were probably used as bullion in payments or trade transactions. Those from the Southern Danelaw most likely date from the late 9th and early 10th century before the 920s, when a dual economy in which both coins and bullion were used came to an end (M Blackburn, "Expansion and control: aspects of Anglo-Scandinavian minting south of the Humber", Vikings and the Danelaw. Select papers from the Proceedings of the Thirteenth Viking Congress, eds. J Graham-Campbell et al. (Oxford, 2001), pp. 125-42)This object qualifies as Treasure under the Treasure Act 1996.
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/r... | Go to resource |
|
More Like this...
-
INGOT
Potential find of Treasure: a…
-
INGOT
Potential find of Treasure: a…
-
ingot
Potential find of Treasure: a…
-
HOARD
British Museum Report to HM…
-
HOARD
A hoard dating to the…
-
INGOT
Viking silver ingot. Surface metal…
-
Ingot
A cast and hammered silver…
-
HOARD
The hoard comprises both items…
-
INGOT
Treasure Case 2005 T83British Museum…
-
INGOT
The ingot is short cigar-shaped…
|