Date: c. 1075-1080

Hiberno-Norse, Phase V, Class (Ringerike obv. & Jewel Cross rev. type) Silver Penny

Description:

An Hiberno-Norse / Hiberno-Scandinavian, Phase V, Class ? (Ringerike obverse & Jewel Cross reverse type) Silver Penny. Obv: pelleted annulet at centre of saltire of four croziers, reversed S to left, scourge (?) and trefoil of pellets to right. Rev: pellet-in-annulet at centre of cross with rounded ends, pellet in each angle. This “Ringerike” design is one of the most original in the Hiberno-Norse series, as it does not appear to copy a contemporary Anglo-Saxon or Anglo-Norman coin design.

• Weight:  0.91 g
• References:
  • SCBI BM 199-201, same obv. die; SCBI Copenhagen –; SCBI Ulster –;
  • O’Sullivan –; Roth –; S 6184; DF 30
• Nicely toned. Very Fine (VF)
• Extremely rare

Obverse:

• Ringerike design – pelleted annulet at centre of saltire of four croziers, reversed S to left, scourge (?) and trefoil of pellets to right
• Blundered legend

Reverse:

• Pellet-in-annulet at centre of cross with rounded ends, pellet in each angle
• Blundered legend

Country:

• Ireland

Category:

• Hiberno-Norse
  • Phase 5
    • Class A
• Hammered

Additional Information:

These coins are named after a hoard found at Stein in Hole in Ringerike (Norway) in 1924. This hoard contained 46 intact coins and 26 fragments of coins and they were hidden beneath the floor of a ruined medieval church. The coins were sorted into 4 groups:

1. Norwegian coins. 3 of Olav the Holy
2. Anglo-Saxon coins; 4 of Aethelred II and 15 of Cnut
3. German coins; mostly Otto III and Henry II (24 coins in total)
4. Unidentified fragments (17)

The “ringerike style” is artistic innovation that can be clearly seen when a Scandinavian influence on the design of weapons, personal dress items, and stone carvings decorated with a set of animal and plant motifs. This style is known as the “Ringerike” style. This imagery was the height of fashion in Scandinavia during Cnut’s reign, and it is in the early 11th century that it seems to have spread to the English side of the North Sea.

Recent excavations in Cork, conducted ahead of construction at the former Beamish & Crawford Brewery in the city’s historic center have uncovered the remains of 19 eleventh- and twelfth-century Viking houses and more than 50 wooden artifacts. The objects, found among the house foundations, are carved in Ireland’s Viking Age Ringerike style, a fusion of Norse and native Irish cultural elements. They include a 12-inch-long weaver’s “sword” used for hammering threads and making patterns on textiles woven on a loom, as well as a decorated wooden thread winder. Contemporary Irish art was thenceforward strongly influenced by the later Viking Ringerike and Urnes styles.

Other Coins in this Series:

• The Old Currency Exchange: Checklist (Hiberno-Norse)

Further Reading:

• O’Brien Coin Guide: Anglo-Saxon Coins & Their Links to Ireland
• O’Brien Coin Guide: Who Introduced Anglo-Saxon Coins to Ireland and why ?
• O’Brien Coin Guide: Introduction to the Hiberno-Norse Coinages of the Late 10th & Early 11th C