Hines, John Alan ![]() |
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Abstract
The seventh-century vernacular laws from the kingdoms of Kent and Wessex specify fines or compensation payments using units of account that have given us familiar terms in the numismatics of this period: scillingas (shillings), sceattas and pæningas (pennies/pence). In light of the use of cognate words in Gothic and Old High German, and the comparative values given in the Old English law-codes themselves and in the fifth-century Theodosian Code, it is suggested that these represent a regular and durable bimetallic system correlating values in gold and silver. This proposition is examined further against the evidence of weighing-sets from sixth- and early seventh-century Anglo-Saxon graves, and argued to give greater and more precise meaning to the use of gold and silver in Early Anglo-Saxon artefacts such as the great gold buckle from Mound 1 at Sutton Hoo, Suffolk.
Item Type: | Article |
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Date Type: | Publication |
Status: | Published |
Schools: | History, Archaeology and Religion |
Subjects: | C Auxiliary Sciences of History > CC Archaeology D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain K Law > KD England and Wales P Language and Literature > PE English |
Uncontrolled Keywords: | Anglo-Saxon Laws; Numismatics; Lexicology |
Additional Information: | See also Erratum, Antiquaries Journal 91 (2011), 397-398 |
Publisher: | Society of Antiquaries of London |
ISSN: | 0003-5815 |
Last Modified: | 03 May 2023 15:13 |
URI: | https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/31501 |
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