Flipping the Coin: New Perspectives on Imitation Coinage in the Viking Age
Open Access
Author:
Meyer, Sarah
Area of Honors:
History
Degree:
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Benjamin Thomas Hudson, Thesis Supervisor Cathleen Denise Cahill, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
Imitation Coinage Viking Monetary History Baltic Region British Isles Scandinavia Medieval Numismatics
Abstract:
All coins in the Viking Age functioned as some form of “imitation.” Imitation coinage refers to coins that replicate pictorial symbols or textual inscriptions of past monetary objects. These “imitative characteristics” may be found on coins issued in the same society, yet they are most frequently discovered in a cross-cultural context. The study of Viking Age coin imitations from the Baltic region, the British Isles, and Scandinavia provides insight into the economic, political, and social context of imitative practice. These coins are testaments of monetization, state-building, and distinctive social identity. New perspectives on imitation coinage in the Viking Age indicate that all forms of medieval coinage are imitative—such a conclusion offers new avenues for the study of cross-cultural exchange in the Middle Ages.
