Viking Coins Facts: Find Out What The Norse Rulers Used For Trade

The currency of any country or settlement is an ideal reflection of its culture.

So, it is not surprising that the Viking coins have been a matter of great research and analysis. While the Vikings adopted the use of coins from their foreign trade activities, the Viking rulers put considerable effort into making their money truly their own.

Before the advent of coinage, the Vikings were used to the bullion type of economy, where the weight and purity of metals like silver and gold were used to determine their value. Silver was quite precious and mostly owned by the upper class.

Eventually, through the Anglo-Saxon influence, the Vikings issued their own money.

Initially, Viking money was almost the same as English money, but as the years passed their money bore distinctive characteristics to signify their kingdoms and rulers. In fact, within Scandinavia, the Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish coins had different paths of evolution.

From goods of the everyday requirement to high-value items like land and weapons, the coins were used for everything.

The discovery of the Spillings Hoard and the Cuerdale Hoard paints a picture of how much silver the Vikings actually had. This was particularly true for the upper-class Vikings, for whom the owning of silver was a form of status symbol.

To learn more about Viking coins, keep reading! You can also check out Viking clothing facts and Viking food facts.

Fun Facts About Viking Coins

Given the rich history and culture of the Vikings, there are certainly a lot of interesting and fun facts related to the Scandinavian coins! In today's time, the market value of these coins would be well over 10 million dollars.

A Viking coin was made out of silver and due to the process of its mining, it has been referred to as a struck coin, as opposed to a cast coin.

The coins of the Viking Age were made by heating up silver and other metals and then beating them up into thin sheets, followed by the use of coining dies to turn the metallic sheets into coins with the appropriate inscription.

Within the Nordic countries, the coins of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, had variabilities among them.

Norwegian coinage: The oldest Norwegian coins of the Viking Age were issued right before the year 1000, in around 995. These coins featured the name of Olaf Tryggvasson, who was then King of Norway.

Following the year 1050, the production of Norwegian coins increased rapidly.

The silver coins of Norway initially weighed around 0.03 oz (0.9 g) and had silver as their main or only component. However, studies conducted on later coins revealed that the predominant silver weightage was replaced with that of copper.

Also worth noting, the initial silver coins had peck marks, which were probably the result of the person receiving the coins checking to see if the coins were solid silver.

The gradual reduction of these peck marks has been observed in the coins that had more copper. King Harald Sigurdsson, who came much after King Olaf Tryggvasson, was the one who introduced a national currency in Norway.

Danish coinage: Out of the three Scandinavian countries, the coinage in Denmark had the steadiest history. The earliest proof of Danish coins was the discovery of the coins issued by King Sweyn Forkbeard in the year 995.

Similar to the Norwegian coins, these were also made of silver and bore the image and name of the King. One of the most notable contributions to the monetary system of Denmark was made by King Cnut I. He issued his coins in the year 1016, which were minted in Hereford.

The coins were 0.003 oz (0.9 g) in weight and made out of silver. Denmark had coin mints in several other locations, like Ribe and Aalborg.

Swedish Coinage: The Swedish coinage system started off strong, but could not make it past 1030. The first coins were issued by King Olof Skötkonung, which quite naturally had his name and image.

The Swedish coins were made of silver but weren't as sophisticated as the coins of some of the other contemporary nations. One of the most unique features of the Swedish silver pennies was that they featured Christian symbols and depictions, further highlighting the Christianization of the Vikings.

Historical Facts About Viking Coins

The monetary history of the Vikings is undoubtedly fascinating since it tells us a lot about the development and modernization of the Viking culture.

During the Early Viking Age of the ninth century, the Viking raiders came into contact with the coins of several places that they visited. For instance, the Frankish Empire had its own coinage, which was established by Emperor Charlemagne.

The introduction of this coinage system coincided with the first Viking raid on the Empire. More notably, the Anglo Saxon kingdoms had strong and prominent coinage systems in place.

A lot of the time, the rulers of Anglo Saxon kingdoms, like the rulers of England, chose to pay off the Vikings with their English coins in order to save their kingdoms from the brutal Viking raids. This kind of payment was known as Danegeld.

Apart from this, the Vikings also came into contact with coins through trade. It is highly likely that the first foreign coins to be introduced to the Vikings came from Islamic countries.

Quite naturally, coming in contact with foreign coins on a regular basis influenced the Vikings to produce their own coins. Additionally, coins were a sign of the civil society of ancient times, and the Vikings indeed wanted to adopt that into their own culture.

The birth of Viking coinage took place once the Vikings started settling in England, in the late ninth century. Most of the coins of the early Viking times were very similar to the coins of England.

It can be said with certainty that the coinage of England was the prototype for Viking money.

You will be surprised to know that the first coins to be minted in Denmark even featured the name and image of the English King! This probably happened due to the Vikings carrying the coining dies from England and using them without making any changes.

Interestingly, as you know by now, the different coinage within Scandanavia was quite distinct from one another. Apart from featuring Viking rulers, some of the coins also featured Christian symbolism. Additionally, Byzantine coins also influenced the appearance of Viking money. The Viking coins showed imagery of Old Norse Gods, like the hammer of Thor too.

Facts About Viking Coins Found Today

In the present day, the recovery of a lot of Viking artifacts, including Viking coins has taken place, especially in Scandinavia and the British Isles. These archaeological findings serve as the foundation for our understanding of the Viking society and economy.

The Cuerdale Hoard, which was recovered from Lancashire in England, in the year 1842, was one of the most significant discoveries. This Viking hoard consisted of 8,600 silver items, some of which were coins, hack silver, and jewelry.

More interestingly, most of the coins in that hoard were of Viking origin, while some belonged to the Anglo Saxon empires of the British Isles. A number of theories exist that try to explain this amount of silver in one place.

One prominent theory is that the silver was a gift to the persecuted churches of the time. Much of the Cuerdale Hoard is now on display at the British Museum.

However, the biggest Viking hoard to be discovered to date was the Spillings Hoard. Found in 1999 by Jonas Ström, the Spillings Hoard had 147.7 lb (67 kg) of silver and 44 lb (20 kg) of bronze, with a total of 14,295 coins, in addition to jewelry and other precious items.

The coins in these hoards came from 69 different mints located all over the Viking range. Further studies showed that these items were buried in the ninth century. Currently, the Gotland Museum is home to the Spillings Hoard.

Facts About Viking Economy Before Coins

Like almost all other civilizations, the Viking economic history began with bartering, more precisely, with a system known as bullion economy. A number of precious metals, including and especially silver, were the main form of currency in this economic method.

The main characteristic of the bullion economy is that the purity and weight of the precious metals determined their value, and not any number ascribed to them, as seen in coins. Buying and selling took place by using ingots or bars of silver as the mode of payment.

Additionally, large silver pieces, like those belonging to jewelry, were cut up into smaller pieces, to pay for goods that required a lesser weight of silver. Such silver pieces were called hack silver.

Apart from jewelry, the Vikings also utilized the foreign coins they collected for this purpose. The traders were known to carry small scales that helped them weigh the silver before finalizing the trade.

It has been assumed that the use of silver for trading was mostly limited to important deals involving land, grains, weapons, or animals. For everyday requirements, the barter system was probably more commonly used.

The display of wealth was an important aspect of the upper-class Vikings. Hence, during the older Viking Age, the wealthier Vikings preferred to wear silver jewelry and other accessories as a status symbol. So, they would use the silver from foreign coins to make their own arm rings or brooches.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Viking coins facts: find out what the Norse rulers used for trade then why not take a look at Viking battles facts, or Viking axes facts.