A mixed group of silver items in a ceramic pot forming a hoard, comprising: thirty 'hacked' items including a spoon, a crystal pendant, three earrings, a bracelet and five fragments, seven finger rings and fragments; eighty eight hacked ingots and fragments, some with incisions indicating how they should be divided; forty seven casting sprue and spillage elements; two hundred and fourteen dirhem coins of various types, three pierced for suspension; forty three hacked dirhem coins and fragments; with the ceramic pot in which they were found. [423]

PROVENANCE:
Property of a lady living in Kent, UK; formerly part of her grandfather's collection; acquired in Germany after WWII; thence by descent 2006.

LITERATURE:
See Hårdh, B. Silver in the Viking Age. A Regional-Economic Study, Acta Archaeologica Lundensia no.25, Stockholm, 1996 for discussion.

FOOTNOTES:
Hoards associated with the Vikings, dating from the ninth to eleventh centuries, frequently comprise a mixture of silver coins, silver jewellery and hacksilver that has been taken in loot, and attest to the activities of the Vikings abroad, with some coins originating from as far away as the Middle East. The majority of hoards were buried in times of crisis, usually warfare, with an intention that the owner would return to retrieve it. However, some hoards were buried as votive offerings to the gods.This metal was the real currency of the Viking Age. Goods were paid for in silver by weight and in a transaction the required amount of silver was simply cut off - hence the presence of hacksilver.