York talk: Hoards and Wealth in Viking Yorkshire

York talk: Hoards and Wealth in Viking Yorkshire

By Gareth Williams - British Museum

3:00pm Friday 15th July 2016

Venue: The York Coin Fair, The Grandstand, York Racecourse, Tadcaster Rd, York, North Yorkshire YO23 1EX

Coins of various types were used in Yorkshire from the initial capture of York by the Vikings in 866 to the death of the last Viking king of Northumbria in 954. These included pre-Viking Northumbrian stycas, Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Viking silver pennies from south of the Humber, imported Carolingian deniers and Islamic dirhams, and from the 890s (if not earlier) silver pennies of Viking Northumbria, minted in York. In addition to coin-based exchange, there is also evidence for a bullion economy, and a ‘status’ economy in which high-value items in silver and gold were used to display the wealth and status of their owners.
The study of these coins has traditionally been based on hoards, found both in Yorkshire and elsewhere, and recent finds such as the Vale of York hoard and ‘Near York’ hoard continue to add to our understanding. However, hoards only form part of the picture. Drawing on a combination of site-finds, single finds and hoards, this lecture will explore variation in the character of coin use within Viking Yorkshire, including chronological developments and also an apparent difference between York itself and its immediate hinterland and the wider area of Viking rural settlement.