Coins

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These three complete and three fragmentary silver coins are the surviving examples from the large Viking Age silver hoard found at Burray in Orkney. They circulated with the rest of the objects and hacksilver in the hoard as bullion.

Five coins (3 complete and 2 fragments) were minted in Anglo-Saxon England, from the reigns of Eadwig (955-959) to Ethelred II (979-1016). One fragment is a tenth century coin minted in Cologne. The coins have been bent, nicked and pecked.

In the Viking world, silver and, to a lesser extent, gold were used as a medium of exchange, weighed on balances. Coins of many countries occur in the hoards, included for their bullion weight rather than an amount guaranteed in their country of origin.

Record details

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• Online ID: 000-100-043-766-C
• Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
• Project: National Museums Scotland
  Project description   View all records in project
• Ref: National Museums Scotland  X.IL 268
• Date: Deposited around 997 and 1010
  
• Material: Coin / portion
  
• Dimensions:
• What: Coin / portion
  
• Subject:
• Who:
• Where: Scotland, Orkney, Burray
  
• Event:
• Description: Three coins and portions of three others from the Burray hoard
  
• References:
  • Stevenson, Robert B. K. Sylloge of Coins of the British Isles, 6: National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland, Edinburgh. Part I. Anglo-Saxon coins (with associated foreign coins), London: British Academy, 1966, nos. 344, 465, 654-5, 663, 735. 
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