Pecks – new findings and future perspectives

M U I N A S A J A T E A D U S 3 0 From Hoard to Archive Numismatic Discoveries from the Baltic Rim and Beyond Studies in Honour of Ivar Leimus Edited by Erki Russow, Viktors Dabolinš , and Valter Lang Joint publication of the Institute of History and Archaeology, University of Tartu and Archaeological Research Collection of Tallinn University Muinasaja teadus (published since 1991) Editor in chief: Valter Lang Editorial board: Aivar Kriiska Lembi Lõugas Marika Mägi Jüri Peets Jussi-Pekka Taavitsainen Heiki Valk Tartu Ülikooli ajaloo ja arheoloogia instituut Tallinna Ülikooli arheoloogia teaduskogu Tallinna Ülikooli ajaloo, arheoloogia ja kunstiajaloo keskus Tallinna Ülikooli arheoloogia teaduskogu Turu Ülikooli ajaloo, kultuuri ja kunstide uurimise instituut Tartu Ülikooli ajaloo ja arheoloogia instituut Muinasaja teadus 30 From Hoard to Archive. Numismatic Discoveries from the Baltic Rim and Beyond Editors: Erki Russow, Viktors Dāboliņš and Valter Lang Abstracts and summaries translated by Erki Russow Estonian language revision by Külli Pärtel, University of Tartu Press Cover design and layout: Kersti Siitan Cover photo: The Årstad hoard (tpq ca 1029), Egersund, Vest-Agder, Norway. UMK find no. 95. Photo: Ellen C. Holte. Raamatu väljaandmist toetasid: Eesti Kultuurkapital, Tartu Ülikooli ajaloo ja arheoloogia instituut, Tallinna Ülikooli ajaloo, arheoloogia ja kunstiajaloo keskus, SA Haapsalu ja Läänemaa Muuseumid, Muinsuskaitseamet ja MTÜ Arheoloogiakeskus © The Authors 2023 ISSN 1406-3867 ISBN 978-9916-27-205-3 Printed by AS Pakett Ivar Leimus (photo: Vahur Lõhmus). Content / Sisukord Erki RUSSOW The man with many talents. Ivar Leimus 70 ........................................ 9 Laia haardega mees – Ivar Leimus 70 ................................................... 15 Viktors DABOLINŠ , New footprints of Eduard Philipp Körber’s (1770–1850) numismatic research ............................................................................. 17 Uusi andmeid Eduard Philipp Körberi (1770–1850) numismaatilistest teadmistest ............................................................... 35 Risto P. KOOVIT and Mauri KIUDSOO Roman coins in Estonia ........................................................................ 37 Rooma mündid Eestis ........................................................................... 58 Kenneth JONSSON When did Viking-Age coin hoards start to be found in northern Europe? .................................................................................. 61 Millal algas viikingiaegsete aarete avastamine Põhja-Euroopas? .......... 78 Helle W. HORSNÆS The chosen few – Sasanian, Arabo-Sasanian and Tabaristani coins found in Denmark ................................................................................ 79 Vähesed valitud – Taanist leitud Sassaniidi, araabia-sassaniidi ja Tabaristani mündid ............................................................................... 104 Eeva JONSSON The Viking-Age Edånger hoard and a numismatic connection between northern Sweden and Estonia ................................................. 105 Viikingiaegne Edångeri aare ning Põhja-Rootsi ja Eesti numismaatiline seos .............................................................................. 113 7 Jens Christian MOESGAARD Pecks – new findings and future perspectives ...................................... 115 Täkked – uued avastused ja tulevikuväljavaated ................................. 144 Svein Harald GULLBEKK and Murray ANDREWS Was Norway rich or poor in the year 1000? ......................................... 145 Kas Norra oli 1000. aastal rikas või vaene? .......................................... 157 Bo GUNNARSSON Moneyers, die-cutters, and interaction between mints – a reflection on the ‘Everlöv’ hoard ........................................................ 159 Müntmeistrid, münditemplilõikajad ja müntlate koostöö ‘Everlövi’ aarde heiastuses .................................................................................... 188 Kent BENGTSSON Two 11th-century memorial coins from Sven Estridsen ..................... 189 Kaks Sven Estridseni mälestusmünti 11. sajandist .............................. 196 Frida EHRNSTEN Coin finds in Finland from the last quarter of the 11th century .......... 197 Soome 11. sajandi viimase veerandi mündileiud ................................. 209 Borys PASZKIEWICZ An uncertain late medieval penny (Dannenberg 477) from the deserted village of Grabianowo on the Vistula. Some remarks on finch-eyes of Pomerania ....................................................................... 211 Tuvastamata hiliskeskaegne penn (Dannenberg 477) Visla-äärsest mahajäetud Grabianowo külast. Mõningaid tähelepanekuid Pommeri finkenaugen’ite kohta ........................................................... 228 Kristīne DUCMANE Characterisation of the weights in the Rembate manor park hoard (second half of 16th century) .............................................................. 229 Rembate mõisapargi 16. sajandi teise poole aardest leitud kaaluvihid .. 248 Andres TVAURI and Ragnar SAAGE Late 18th-century tin token pendants from Estonia ........................... 249 Tinast kaelarahad 18. sajandi lõpust .................................................... 268 Tuukka TALVIO The study of numismatics in Finland, with special reference to medieval coins ..................................................................................... 269 Soome numismaatikateadus, põhirõhuga keskaegsetel müntidel ....... 285 Abbreviations / Lühendid 8 ............................................................................... 287 Peck s – new find ings and fut ure p ers p ect ives Pecks – new findings and future perspectives Jens Christian MOESGA ARD Stockholm Numismatic Institute/Gunnar Ekström Chair, Department of Archaeology and Classical Studies, Stockholm University, Lilla Frescativägen 7, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden; jens.christian.moesgaard@ark.su.se During the Viking Age, silver coins, jewellery and ingots were used at weight as a means of payment in Northern and Eastern Europe. The quality of the silver was important, and various procedures of testing were applied. Among them is pecking. A peck is a small impact of a knife on the surface of a metal artefact. This paper briefly surveys research in this field, which had its heyday in the last quarter of the 20th century. Studies were conducted parallelly on early pecking in Viking England and on the heyday of pecking in the late Viking Age Baltic area. Leading figures in the research were Brita Malmer in Sweden and Marion Archibald in England. Subsequently, the paper highlights new findings after the turn of the millennium. It now seems that pecking started in the Viking milieu in northern France as early as the 880s or 890s, approximately at the same time as in Viking England. The apparent chronological gap between the early pecking in England and the later pecking in the Baltic area is now filled through a series of Danish 10th-century hoards. Most of the studies of pecks have been quantitative. Some twenty years ago, Christoph Kilger called for a more qualitative approach that may reveal some of the gestures behind the pecking. Indeed, there are differences between for instance serial pecking on the binding ridge of a coin and more random pecking directly at the surface. However, this path is hitherto largely unexplored, probably because studies of this kind are extremely time-consuming. Key words: silver economy, weight economy, testing, pecks, Viking Age 115 J ens Ch ri sti an M O ES G A A RD Viikingiajal kasutati hõbemünte, -ehteid ja -kange Põhja- ja Ida-Euroopas kaalurahana. Hõbeda kvaliteet oli oluline ja selle kontrollimiseks rakendati mitmesuguseid viise, nende seas ka täkkimist. Käesolev artikkel annab põgusa ülevaate selle valdkonna uuringutest, mis olid intensiivseimad 20. sajandi viimasel veerandil: korraga uuriti varast täkkimist viikingiaegsel Inglismaal ja täkkimise kõrgaega Läänemere piirkonnas hilisviikingiajal. Juhtivad uurijad olid toona Brita Malmer Rootsis ja Marion Archibald Inglismaal. Lisaks pööratakse artiklis tähelepanu uue aastatuhande alguses tehtud avastustele. Praeguseks paistab, et hõbeda täkkimine algas juba 880. või 890. aastatel Prantsusmaa põhjaosas, enam-vähem samal ajal kui viikingite Inglismaal. Samuti on nüüdseks tänu arvukaile Taani 10. sajandi aardeile täidetud ajaline tühimik, mis senini valitses Inglise varase ja Läänemere alade hilise hõbedatäkkimise traditsiooni vahel. Suurem osa täkkimisele keskendunud uurimistöödest on olnud kvantitatiivsed. Ligi 20 aastat tagasi tegi Christoph Kilger üleskutse suuremaks kvalitatiivseks uurimiseks, sest see võib selgitada täkkimisliigutusi. Tõepoolest, painutatud mündi servale tehtud saritäkkimisel ja suvalisel hõbedapinna kriimustamisel on vahe sees. Siiski on see uurimissuund senini vähe tähelepanu leidnud, ilmselt väga suure ajamahukuse tõttu. Võtmesõnad: hõbedamajandus, kaalurahandus, testimine, täkked, viikingiaeg Estonia is rich in hoards from the Viking Age (9th to 12th centuries numismatically speaking), especially when the size of the country is considered. During the last generation, Ivar Leimus has been the leading scholar studying this fabulous treasure. It is truly impressive how he manages to keep up with the publication of the numerous new hoards without neglecting to put coins and hoards into their larger historical, social and cultural context. In this paper dedicated to Ivar, I will take a fresh look at pecks. Indeed, in dealing with coin finds from the Viking Age, pecks constitute a major feature. Ivar has himself contributed to the study of this subject (Leimus 1990). Even though this field of study was much more active a generation ago, important new observations have been made during the last two decades. I will survey some of them as well as offer some general reflections on the subject and outline some possible directions for future research. What is a peck? A peck is a minor carving with a knife on the surface of a metal artefact (Fig. 1). Under the direction of Brita Malmer, the project ‘Corpus Nummorum saeculorum IX–XI qui in Suecia reperti sunt’ (abbreviated CNS) that aims at publishing the rich Swedish coin finds of the Viking Age developed the scientific 116 Peck s – new find ings and fut ure p ers p ect ives definition of pecks, which took its final form in 1982 in volume 1.4 (CNS 1.4, p. XVIII–XIX, fig. 10, pl. 26: 9; cf. Berg 1980; Sperber 1982; Malmer 1985a, 51; Kilger 2006) (Figs 2–3). Pecks are frequently seen on coins and other silver items from the Viking Age found in Scandinavia and the larger Baltic region, as well as in the Viking colonies in the West. Pecks are not only found on coins, but also Fig. 1. Bohemian coin struck under Boleslaw II (972–999), from the Danish Grågård hoard (Moesgaard 2015a, cat. 11.094). Obverse with one peck on the hand, see enlargement. Photo: John Lee, National Museum of Denmark. Not to scale. Jn 1. Boleslaw II (972–999) valitsemisajal löödud Böömi münt Taani Grågårdi aardest. Esiküljel üks täke käe peal, vt suurendust. Fig. 2. The drawing and photo from CNS 1.4, XIX, fig. 10, pl. 26: 9, defining pecks. Reprophoto: Ylva Öd, Stockholm Numismatic Institute. Jn 2. Täkkeid kirjeldav joonis ja foto väljaandest CNS 1.4, XIX, fig. 10, pl. 26: 9. on other silver artefacts such as ingots (e.g. Cardon et al. 2008). Two alternative explanations have been suggested for this phenomenon. British and Scandinavian scholars have in general seen pecking as a way of testing the quality of the silver (e.g. Hatz 1974, 101; Archibald 2011; Malmer 1985b, 190–191 (cf. 1985a, 51); Galster 1980, 136; Gullbekk 1992, 64). Some researchers have suggested – in accordance with the passage from Harald Gråfeld’s saga quoted 117 J ens Ch ri sti an M O ES G A A RD below – that the purpose was to check whether the core of the coin was made of silver, and not of lead or copper or some other less valuable material (e.g. Galster 1959, 80; Sperber 1982, 66). Others think that the aim was simply to test the resistance of the metal (e.g. Archibald 2011, 54). Indeed, contrary to copper-alloyed silver, good silver is quite soft, and an experienced merchant was probably able to feel the difference through pecking. The bullion economy was prevailing in Scandinavia and the Baltic area in the Viking Age. Coins were not counted at face value as in a managed currency, but by weight as any other piece of silver, like jewellery, ingots and hack-silver. The coins had left their home regions, and their new Fig. 3. Coin collector Kenneth Agehed took the initiative to test bending and pecking modern silver discs of similar size and metal as the Viking-Age coins while he attended Brita Malmer’s seminars in Stockholm in 1980. Photo: Jens Christian Moesgaard. Jn 3. Mündikoguja Kenneth Agehed võttis 1980. aastal Stockholmis Brita Malmeri seminaridel ette painutamis- ja täkkimiskatsed viikingiaegsete müntide suurusele ja materjalile vastavate tänapäevaste hõbeketastega. owners did not know their silver content. This is why testing was so important. In quite another line of thought, many scholars, first and foremost from Poland, interpret pecking as a ritual practice. Just to quote one recent article, Łukasz Czwojda argues that pecking, as well as other procedures of mistreating such as bending, nicking and hammering, was intended as deliberate destruction in order 118 Peck s – new find ings and fut ure p ers p ect ives to guard the coin user against negative influence from the silver (Czwojda 2007). Halfway between testing for a practical purpose and ritual is Christoph Kilger’s suggestion that pecking eventually became a convention between traders, and the repetitive pecking of coins was part of concluding a deal (Kilger 2006, 464–465). As we will see below, it is quite clear that pecks originated in a situation of joint circulation of coins of varying and often debased alloy. In this light, it is more plausible that the reason for pecking, at least at the outset, was to check the quality of the metal rather than some sort of ritual. Indeed, the quality of the silver seems to have been an important issue. Testing by pecks (‘skor’ = cut) is mentioned explicitly in the old Icelandic law Grágás, which was supposedly valid from ca 930 and was written down in 1117: ‘[…] logsilfr et forna […] meiri se silfrs litr á en messingar oc þole skor oc se iafnt utan sem inan’ (Grágás, ch. 113, ed. Finsen 1852, 204) = ‘[…] the ancient legal silver [… ] looking more like silver than brass, standing up to the test of a cut and of one quality inside and out’ (translation Dennis et al. 1980, 183, quoted after Kilger 2008, 282). Moreover, in the sagas, we see careful instances of evaluating the silver, e.g. the story of Charles of Møre’s tax collecting in the Faroes on behalf of the Norwegian king Olav the Holy (1015–1028) (Óláfs Saga Helga, ch. 143), and conflicts between the King Harold the Severe (1047–1066) and the Icelandic aristocrat Haldur Snorreson about the silver quality of the king’s coins (Halldors þáttr Snorrasonar, ch. 2–3). We also hear about ‘silfpeningr […] huítr í skor’ (silver pennies white to the cut/in the facture/when notched) paid by the people of Iceland to the Thing (Haralds saga gráfeldar, ch. 16). There are many instances of rejection of debased foreign coins by people living in regions without a national coinage. Thus, the import of silver denarii of the Roman Empire to the North suddenly stopped when the late 2nd century AD debasement of the denarius occurred. Many old pre-debasement coins continued to circulate for centuries afterwards as demonstrated by their occurrence in later hoards and their state of extreme wear (e.g. Horsnæs 2010; 2013). It is a long-standing mystery for scholars why so few English and Frankish 9th-century coins are found in Scandinavia despite numerous mentions of payments of huge tributes to the Vikings (most recent survey, see Moesgaard 2015b). Maybe the reason was that the Vikings simply did not want these coins, which were of varying alloy and often quite debased, as in West Francia ca 840–864 (Coupland 1991; Metcalf & Northover 1989, 114–120) and in England from the 850s to the late 870s (Metcalf & Northover 1985). The astonishing scarcity in Scandinavia of coins struck in the Viking colony of Normandy (Moesgaard 2014b) may be explained in the same way, because the Norman coinage followed the general West Frankish trend of declining silver content, ending at ca 60% silver around 119 J ens Ch ri sti an M O ES G A A RD the year 1000 (Moesgaard et al. 2018, 27). It has also been suggested that the end of the import of Central Asian dirhams to Scandinavia and the Baltic area in the middle of the 10th century – a topic that Ivar Leimus has also considered – should be seen in connection with the debasement that occurred at that time, making the dirhams less desirable to the Vikings (e.g. Noonan 1988, 435–439). Finally, the debasement of the Frisian penny also led to its rejection in Scandinavia. Kenneth Jonsson has suggested that this decline in coin import may explain the success of Sweyn Estrithsson (1047–1074) in establishing a national Danish coinage (Jonsson 2004, 55). The quality of the silver clearly mattered. Pecking is just one method of testing silver. Nicks (scratches on the surface towards the rim of the coin) are frequent on Islamic dirhams in 9th–10th-century hoards (CNS 1.4, p. XVIII, fig. 11). Notching consists in carving with a knife at the edge of the coin (Rispling 2004, 4–5). It has been suggested that biting may have been used as a test method (e.g. Galster 1959, 80; Holt 2017, 16–17). Bending can have several purposes. One of them is testing because the softness of the silver can be judged by bending (e.g. Ingvardson 2020, 134). Other purposes would be to break a coin to obtain a fragment (Moesgaard 2015a, 142–143) or to prepare a coin for serial pecking (see below, cf. Kilger 2006). Pecks in the West Pecks originated during the Viking expansion to the West. Half a generation ago, Marion Archibald summarized current thinking in her work on pecking in the huge Cuerdale hoard (Archibald 2011, finalizing work undertaken more than a decade before, cf. Archibald 1990). She pointed out that the earliest documented occurrences are from the Viking territories in England in the 890s. However, she convincingly argued that the habit most likely started a decade or two earlier, though the absence of hoards from Viking-held areas dating to the relevant time span prevents us from being certain. Indeed, the late 870s and the 880s witnessed monetary confusion in England caused by periods of debasement followed by the restoration of sound money, leading to a new period of debasement and so forth. In this situation, it would be appropriate to test the coins by pecking (Archibald 2011, 63–64). Since the publication of Archibald’s paper, several pieces of evidence of early pecking have surfaced. The most spectacular is the Watlington hoard (Oxfordshire), found 2015 and published 2022. The composition of this hoard links it to the Great Viking Army in the late 870s. None of the 203 coins were pecked, thus confirming that pecking of coins was not yet practised at that moment (Naylor & Standley 2022, 98). Nevertheless, six ingots are tested by ‘nicks’ (ibid., 120–122, 120 Peck s – new find ings and fut ure p ers p ect ives 171–174), which is the term that archaeologists use for what numismatists call ‘pecks’. This predates – or is contemporary to – the earliest instances of pecking of coins presented below. The collection of the late Tony Merson contained a pecked specimen of a Frankish penny in the name of Charles the Bald (840–877) struck at the Rouen mint after 864 (Moesgaard 2007, 107–108; 2014a, cat. 12.1; Dix Noonan Webb, auction 147, 12–14 June 2018, lot 1926) (Fig. 4). Circumstantial evidence suggests that this specimen derives from the Laxfield (Suffolk) hoard (pers. comm. T. Merson). The exact date of the burial of this hoard is uncertain: no earlier than 876 and maybe after 882 and no later than 888 (Moesgaard 2014a, 453). This would Fig. 4. An immobilized Charles the Bald (840–877) penny struck in Rouen, probably from the English Laxfield hoard (Moesgaard 2014a, cat. 12.1). Three pecks on the reverse. Photo: Dix Noonan Webb. Not to scale. Jn 4. Charles II Paljaspea (840–877) Rouenis löödud penn, arvatavasti pärit Inglismaalt Laxfieldi aardest. Tagaküljel kolm täket. make it the oldest known instance of pecking of a coin in England. It is remarkable that it is a Frankish and not an Anglo-Saxon penny that may be the first instance of pecking in England. Not that Frankish pennies were not pecked in England. Frankish coins from the hoards of Cuerdale (Lancs, ca 905/910) (Archibald 2011, 57, 60) and Ashdon (Essex, ca 895) (Blackburn 1989, 35–36) are indeed pecked. It is important to note that, contrary to the usual pattern, the older Frankish coins in Cuerdale are not more pecked than the younger ones. This made Archibald think that the bulk of the Frankish coins came to England as one single parcel, and, significantly, that the pecking happened after their arrival in England (Archibald 2011, 60). But contrary to the coins of the period 840–864 (Coupland 1991; Metcalf & Northover 1989, 114–120), the post121 J ens Ch ri sti an M O ES G A A RD 864 West Frankish pennies are consistently of good silver, and one would think that testing was not needed. Maybe it was just the ambient uncertainty about the contemporary English coins that made people test Frankish coins as well. Another explanation could be that the weight standard was varying in West Francia at that time under the pressure of the Viking attacks (Moesgaard 2014a), and this may have made coin users suspicious of the alloy too. Surprisingly, Frankish pennies were also pecked in West Francia itself. The important hoards of Ablaincourt (dép. Somme) and Féchain (dép. Nord) have unfortunately not yet been published. Their dates of concealment are debated. A date of ca 879/887 is accepted by most scholars for Ablaincourt, but Lafaurie dated it to ca 891. As for Féchain, most scholars agree to a date post 887, and it may be later (Moesgaard 2014a, 439, 446–447, 454–455, with references). The hoards have not been checked systematically for pecks, but some years ago the parcels of Rouen coins in both hoards were written up. Ablaincourt contains 47 Rouen coins of which photographs of 28 pennies and 4 obols were available for study. Féchain contains 23 pennies minted in Rouen. Four specimens from Ablaincourt and one from Féchain were pecked (Moesgaard 2014a, cat. 8.1, 8.2, 8.10, 8.11, 16.22) (Fig. 5). The former were also bent in the Viking manner. An unprovenanced specimen with a peck in the collection of the Musée des Antiquités in Rouen may be a stray from one of these hoards (inv. 94.5.2, Moesgaard 2014a, fig. 20.3d). Apart from these features, the hoards have nothing Viking about them. On the contrary, they are typical managed-currency hoards as one would expect in West Francia, and pecking and bending only affect a minority of the coins. Consequently, the last owners of these two hoards were probably Fig. 5. An immobilized Charles the Bald (840-877) penny struck in Rouen, from the French Ablaincourt hoard (Moesgaard 2014a, cat. 8.2). Slightly bent and pecked once at the reverse. Photo: doc. Michel Dhénin. Not to scale. Jn 5. Charles II Paljaspea (840–877) Rouenis löödud penn Prantsuse Ablaincourti aardest. Kergelt painutatud, tagaküljel üks täke. 122 Peck s – new find ings and fut ure p ers p ect ives not Vikings, but Franks. The small number of coins tested in Viking manner by bending and pecking had probably passed through Viking hands at one stage before re-entering general circulation (Moesgaard 2014a, 436–438). This would be important indirect evidence of trade between Viking invaders and local people, in the same way as the three St Edmund pennies in the Rennes (dép. Ille-et-Vilaine) hoard from the 920s (Moesgaard 2006b, 132–133). Given the number of pecked specimens and their place of production as well as the fact that they occur in two different hoards, it is likely that the pecking took place in Francia rather than in Viking England. The 880s was a period of intense activity in northern Francia by Vikings that crossed back and forth over the Channel between the British Isles and Francia. They may have picked up the habit of pecking in England and brought it to France. It is worth noting that, along with Laxfield, the hoards from Féchain and Ablaincourt would be the oldest documented occurrences of pecking. But there is more to the history of pecking in France. The Saint-Pierre-desFleurs (dép. Eure) hoard, buried in the 890s near the Seine Valley a little upstream from Rouen, contains several pecked East Anglian Viking imitations of coins of Alfred of Wessex as well as pecked silver ingots (Cardon et al. 2008) (Fig. 6). The hoard is almost an exact smaller version of the Ashdon (Essex) hoard (Blackburn 1989), and it clearly represents a sum brought from the southern Danelaw directly to Francia. This hoard thus reflects the Danelaw currency, not the Frankish one, and the pecking probably took place in England. According to the hypothesis of Jacques Le Maho (2005), Vikings started to settle in the Seine Valley as early as the 890s, a half generation before the official creation of Normandy in 911, and Fig. 6. A Viking imitation of Alfred’s (871–899) two-line penny from the French SaintPierre-des-Fleurs hoard (Cardon et al. 2008, cat. 10). Four pecks at obverse and five at the reverse. Bent. Photo: Philippe Schiesser. Not to scale. Jn 6. Alfred Suure (871–899) kaherealise penni viikingiimitatsioon Prantsuse Saint-Pierredes-Fleursi aardest. Esiküljel neli, tagaküljel viis täket. Painutatud. 123 J ens Ch ri sti an M O ES G A A RD this hoard probably belonged to one of these newcomers. A bullion economy never developed in the Viking colony of Normandy. Nevertheless, the hoard of ‘North of Caen’, buried 942 or shortly after, contained one pecked and four bent coins, even though the composition clearly shows that it is a managed-currency hoard (Moesgaard 2018a, nos 10, 12 (pecked at upper arm of cross), 18, 20) (Fig. 7). Is there a connection with the Viking army that according to the hypothesis of Lucien Musset arrived in the Bayeux region in 918 from England and proved hard to control for the central power in Rouen that took over the region in 924 (Musset 1989, 98–99)? True, this was more than half a generation before the burial of the hoard, but maybe some Vikings still remembered the old ways of the Danelaw. At any event, this instance of testing remains an isolated example, and no other signs of a bullion economy have been Fig. 7. A Norman penny in the name of Saint-Ouen from the French ‘North of Caen’ hoard (Moesgaard 2018a, cat. 12). A single peck at the upper arm of the obverse cross. The coin has been bent. Photo: doc. Moesgaard. Not to scale. Jn 7. Saint-Oueni normannide penn Prantsusmaalt Caenist põhja pool leitud aardest. Esiküljel risti ülaosas üksik täke. Painutatud. recorded from Normandy. A final isolated occurrence of pecks in France should be mentioned. An English Helmet penny struck ca 1003–1009 in Lincoln by the moneyer Ketilbjørn and found at Molinons (dép. Yonne) in Burgundy carried four pecks at each side. At that time, pecking had almost disappeared in England, but it was at its highest in Scandinavia and in the Baltic region. No Viking raids are recorded in Burgundy in the early 11th century, so this coin was probably brought to France by a voyager from the North (Buthod-Ruffier et al. 2010). The existence of pecking in Francia was completely unknown a generation ago, but today it is well established. However, it clearly remained a marginal and sporadic phenomenon. The 880s seem to have been the main period, and future 124 Peck s – new find ings and fut ure p ers p ect ives research, e.g. a systematic scrutiny of not only Rouen coins, but also coins from other mints in the Ablaincourt and Féchain hoards, as well as other contemporary hoards, like the parcel from the Glisy (dép. Somme) hoard kept at the Museum of Amiens (Moesgaard 2014a, 451; cf. Bazot 1867), will probably reveal more instances of pecking and allow us to gain a more complete picture. Although the increasing number of metal detector finds shows that a bullion economy was practised in the Viking settlements in the Netherlands, no pecks have been observed so far (Archibald 2011, 61–62). This colony ended ca 885, so in principle, some early pecking could have taken place here. Pecking occurred in the Irish Sea region, but regrettably, most hoards have been dispersed without the recording of secondary treatment, and no detailed picture can be drawn (Archibald 1990; 2011, 62). Viking England remains the core region for pecking in the late 9th – early 10th centuries. Along with the already mentioned hoards of Cuerdale, ca 905/910 and Ashdon, ca 895, the Stamford hoard (Lincs., ca 895), is among the most pecked hoards. According to Archibald’s survey, pecking slowly faded out. In the hoard of Morley-Saint-Peter (Norfolk), ca 925, only the older coins were pecked (Archibald 1990, 20, 23). A single find of a Sword-Saint-Peter penny from Louth (Lincs.) (Blackburn & Bonser 1986, 90, no. 113; Blackburn 1989, 24) marks the end of pecking in England in our present state of knowledge. It is of the cross sub-type from York that was formerly considered to be struck early in the minting period ca 921–927, but recently Gareth Williams (2014, 34) has convincingly argued that it must be the latest sub-type within the issue. The precise date of its introduction is not known. In the Danelaw, a bullion economy existed in parallel with a managed currency, the so-called ‘dual economy’ (Graham-Campbell 2001; Blackburn 2001, 134–135). It was previously thought that the bullion economy disappeared when the Vikings were expelled by the kings of Wessex in stages from ca 917 to ca 927. Recently, however, the growing corpus of metal detector finds in England has provided evidence that the bullion economy persisted longer than this (Kershaw 2017, 185). Indeed, a fragment of a dirham struck 928–932 found at Cottam, Yorkshire (PAS YORYM-E5EB37) and a complete one struck 927/8 from Buxton with Lammas, Norfolk (EMC 2006.0091) both postdate Viking rule. Allowing for some travel time from Central Asia to England (but not necessarily the 10 or so years that is often suggested), they demonstrate a bullion economy in operation in the 930s. Judging from the available low-quality photos of only one side of these two coins, they are not pecked, but we should be aware of the possibility that pecking may have lasted in England after the end of the first period of Viking rule. For the moment there is no evidence for pecking during the second 125 J ens Ch ri sti an M O ES G A A RD period of Viking rule in Northumbria ca 939–954. Pecking is recorded from the 11th century, but it is on a very low level, and clearly a marginal phenomenon at that stage (Archibald 1990, 20–21, 24). As for the North Atlantic, pecking in the Icelandic Gaulverjabær hoard, buried after 1010, has been recently studied by Anton Holt. It turns out that the degree of pecking was the same as in Scandinavia. The composition of the hoard is similar to that of Norwegian hoards, and this indicates that the deposit was constituted in Norway and then exported to Iceland. This of course raises the question of whether the pecking was done in Iceland itself or at one or several of the former locations through which the coins passed. In accordance with the usual pattern, older coins were more pecked than younger ones, suggesting the pecking happened on several instances during the lifetime of the coin. The pecking thus most likely took place in Norway (Holt 2017). Jørgen Steen Jensen’s re-examination of the extant part of the late 11th-century Sand hoard from the Faroes revealed pecking there as well (Jensen 2004a). The hoard consists of two distinct groups: a large parcel composed of German, English and a few Danish, Norwegian, Irish and Hungarian coins, assembled shortly before 1060 and a smaller parcel consisting solely of new Norwegian coins from ca 1100. Only the former were tested by bending and pecking. The absence of pecking on the late parcel may be due to the trust people had in the national coinage, as the Faroes gradually became part of Norway. It may also be due to the disappearance of pecking from the habits of the region at some moment between ca 1060 and ca 1100. The two explanations do not exclude each other. The pecking on the coins of the old parcel may have happened long before the burial of the hoard. A similar example (the Danish Egelev hoard) is discussed below. The preserved parcel of the Sand hoard (held since 2002 at the National Museum of the Faroes) consists of 36 coins out of the original 98. The rest were considered duplicates and thus not kept by the National Museum in Copenhagen when the hoard was discovered in 1863. The entire hoard was fully documented in the register of the Museum before the dispersal of the duplicates and subsequently published. This recording of the entire hoard was exemplary according to the standards of the day. However, it did not include pecking and bending, which was not a research issue at the time. These features can only be studied on the preserved specimens. The selection was not representative of the hoard. Almost all of the Norwegian coins (15 of 18), many of the English (13 of 23), but only a few of the German (4 of 50) are still available. This means that we can be confident about the absence of pecking of the Norwegian ca 1100 parcel, but sadly, we cannot compare the patterns of testing between English and German coins. This 126 Peck s – new find ings and fut ure p ers p ect ives demonstrates the importance of keeping hoards intact in public collections. Pecks in Scandinavia Traditionally scholars in Scandinavia focus on the heyday of pecks in the 11th century. The preceding century has attracted much less attention. It was commonplace knowledge that pecking began at the end of the 10th century (e.g. Malmer 1985a, 51; Kilger 2006, 456–257). This impression was based on the preparatory work for CNS, but no systematic study of the early stages had been carried out except for Hatz’s work on German coins found in Sweden. He noted sporadic pecking starting in the 980s (Hatz 1974, 100). This left a gap of a generation or two between the end of pecking in Viking England and the presumed revival of the habit in Scandinavia. However, a closer scrutiny of the Danish finds, substantiated by the discovery in 1993 of the hoard from Grisebjerggård, south-west Zealand, buried after 942, made it clear that sporadic pecking occurred in Denmark continuously at least from the 930s (Fig. 8). Among the earliest instances are the hoards from Ramløse, north Zealand, buried after 932, and Terslev, south Zealand, buried after 940 (Moesgaard 2011) (Fig. 9). The recently discovered Bjerndrup hoard, from southern Jutland, demonstrates pecking already in the 910s (unpublished, cf. Brøgger og Hartvig 2021; Coupland 2020, 262, 266, 272, note 46) (Fig. 10). The pecking at the hoards of Bjerndrup and Grisebjerggård occurred on English coins, but also Continental coins that would never have circulated in numbers in the Danelaw. This indicates beyond doubt that at least some of and probably all of the tested coins in these early hoards had not been pecked in England before the export, but that the pecking Fig. 8. A Tournai penny from the Danish Grisebjerggård hoard, buried after 942 (KMMS FP 12314; AMK 1993 015x573). It has three pecks on the reverse. Photo: National Museum of Denmark. Not to scale. Jn 8. Tournai penn Taani Grisebjerggårdi aardest, peidetud pärast 942. aastat. Tagaküljel kolm täket. 127 J ens Ch ri sti an M O ES G A A RD really took place in Denmark or somewhere on the route to Denmark. The gap between pecking in England and in Scandinavia has thus been filled. The habit most likely crossed the North Sea through direct contacts between the Danelaw and Denmark while it was still active in England. It would subsequently have 1 cm Fig. 9. A Cologne penny struck under Otto I (936–973) from the Danish Terslev hoard, buried after 940 (KMMS FP 1233.33). Pecked several times and heavily bent. Photo: Kenneth Jonsson. Jn 9. Otto I (936–973) valitsemisajal löödud Kölni penn Taani Terlevi aardest, peidetud pärast 940. aastat. Korduvalt täkitud ja tugevalt painutatud. 1 cm Fig. 10. A Strasbourg penny from the Danish Bjerndrup hoard, buried after 910 (HAM 5980x29). Two pecks at the obverse and one or two at the reverse. Bent. Photo: Museum Sønderjylland. Jn 10. Strasbourgi penn Taani Bjerndrupi aardest, peidetud pärast 910. aastat. Esiküljel kaks, tagaküljel üks või kaks täket. Painutatud. spread from Denmark to the rest of Scandinavia and the larger Baltic zone. Pecking in 10th-century Denmark was however clearly less intensive than in the Danelaw, and indeed in 11th-century Scandinavia. This is clear from the selection of early finds mentioned above. As for the finds from the reign of Harold 128 Peck s – new find ings and fut ure p ers p ect ives Bluetooth (ca 958 – before 987), they have been examined in a more systematic way (Ingvardson 2015). Only a minority of the coins were pecked. Moreover, individual coins usually only received one or at most a few pecks. Pecking is predominantly found on the relatively rare European coins (44 pecked coins out of 107 examined) (Fig. 1). The dirhams that made up the bulk of the currency up to the 970s were occasionally pecked (41 pecked coins out of 299 examined) (Figs 11–12). Having said that, dirhams were more frequently tested than the European coins, but methods other than pecking were used, such as notching (a peck at the edge of the coin) or bending. Danish coins that dominated the currency of the late 970s and the 980s were less subject to pecking than foreign ones (8 coins out of 447 examined). As local coins, their value was probably known, and testing was not necessary to the same degree as foreign 1 cm Fig. 11. Dirham struck in Balkh 903/904 from the Danish Tarup hoard, buried after 971 (Moesgaard 2015a, 6.018). One peck at the obverse. Photo: Jens Christian Moesgaard. Jn 11. Balkhis 903/904. aastal löödud dirhem Taani Tarupi aardest, peidetud pärast 971. aastat. Esiküljel üks täke. 1 cm Fig. 12. Dirham struck in Balkh 954/955, from the Danish Tarup hoard, buried after 971 (Moesgaard 2015a 6.063). Two pecks at the reverse. Photo: Jens Christian Moesgaard. Jn 12. Balkhis 954/955. aastal löödud dirhem Taani Tarupi aardest, peidetud pärast 971. aastat. Tagaküljel kaks täket. 129 J ens Ch ri sti an M O ES G A A RD coins (Ingvardson 2015, 134–135). The Västergårde hoard (Sundre parish, Island of Gotland), buried after 961, is for the moment the oldest documented instance of pecking in Sweden. Among the 1378 coins, only two were pecked: an Islamic dirham (Fig. 13) and a Byzantine 1 cm Fig. 13. Byzantine miliaresion struck 945–959, from the Swedish Västergårde hoard, buried after 961. Pecked once on the obverse. Photo: Kenneth Jonsson. Jn 13. 945.–959. aasta Bütsantsi milrees Rootsi Västergårde aardest, peidetud pärast 961. aastat. Esiküljel üks täke. 1 cm Fig. 14. Dirham struck 912/913 in Tashkent, from the Swedish Västergårde hoard, buried after 961. Pecked once on the obverse. Photo: Kenneth Jonsson. Jn 14. Taškendis 912/913. aastal löödud dirhem Rootsi Västergårde aardest, peidetud pärast 961. aastat. Esiküljel üks täke. miliaresion (Fig. 14), both with one peck each (Moesgaard 2011, 303, 305). Pecking really took off in the 11th century, when European coins replaced the dirhams. The last quarter of the 20th century saw a whole series of studies of pecking in various countries in the Baltic region and Scandinavia. The habit developed quickly, and by the turn of the millennium hoards in which the majority 130 Peck s – new find ings and fut ure p ers p ect ives of coins were pecked became common, and at the same time, pecks appeared in numbers on individual coins. These features are evident in studies of Gotlandic and Norwegian hoards, among others (e.g. Malmer 1981, 400; Gullbekk 1992, 71). However, a few hoards stand out by the absence or low intensity of pecking. For instance, none of the 60 extant coins (of 82 originally) from the Tyskegård hoard (Bornholm), buried after 997, are pecked and only a few are slightly bent (Fig. 15). This hoard is in many respects very unusual, as it is exclusively composed of freshly struck English coins, in marked contrast to the ‘normal’ mixed hoard containing coins or other artefacts from a variety of regions and decades. It is clearly a sum brought directly from England, possibly a parcel of Danegeld. Just arrived in Bornholm, it was buried before it had the time to be mixed up with other coins in circulation, and, significantly for our purpose, before it was tested Fig. 15. Untested coins from the Danish Tyskegård hoard, buried after 997. Photo: National Museum of Denmark. Jn 15. Taani Tyskegårdi aarde proovimärkideta mündid, peidetud pärast 997. aastat. to any extent (Moesgaard 2006a, 394–396, 405–410). If anybody should still doubt it, the example of the Tyskegård hoard is strong indirect negative evidence that pecking happened after the arrival of coins in the Northern Lands. This conclusion is confirmed by a series of detailed studies of individual hoards. They demonstrated that generally speaking, older coins were more pecked than more recent ones (e.g. Malmer 1981, 398–399; 1993; 131 J ens Ch ri sti an M O ES G A A RD Metcalf 1985; Gullbekk 1992, 66–69). This is however a broad trend with many exceptions, but it nevertheless indicates that pecking occurred on several successive occasions over time. It is the same pattern as the one in the Danelaw a century before (Archibald 2011, 57). This can be interpreted as a sign that new pecks were added when the coins changed hands. Pecking is thus for us potentially a means of measuring the intensity of circulation (e.g. Metcalf 1985, 91; Gullbekk 1992, 64; Malmer 2000, 26). Largely inspired by Brita Malmer, numerous comparisons of pecking between individual hoards, regions and countries were carried out during the last decades of the last century. Malmer herself conducted comparisons between Gotland, mainland Sweden, Poland and Russia (e.g. Malmer 1985a; 1985b). Other regional studies were added to the picture, e.g. Norway (Gullbekk 1992) and Estonia (Leimus 1990). It became clear that there were regional and chronological differences in the patterns of pecking. Also, within one and the same hoard and within a region, different groups of coins were not being pecked to the same extent. Most prominently, German coins were often pecked more heavily than English ones (e.g. Svensson 1986). It also became apparent that not all coins were pecked. These findings led to a discussion about different export and import patterns and varying circulation intensity for different regions. An all-embracing synthesis of all these findings was never done and would be a significant step forward. The studies of pecking built on the systematic and consistent recording of pecks on every single coin, along with other secondary treatments like fragmenting and bending, following the principles that had been developed and standardized by the CNS project. This work required a lot of time, which was not always available. Moreover, Brita Malmer was aware that different persons would not count pecks in the same way and would probably not get the same result (Malmer 1993). As a consequence, in 2011 CNS stopped recording the secondary data of individual coins. Instead, all surviving coins were illustrated in high resolution. At the same time, the publication became digital, and the readers could enlarge the photos and thus themselves study the pecks and other secondary features (e.g. CNS 1.42, 1.58, 3.2). The aforementioned studies marked the heyday of studies in the pecking. These classical studies of the 1980s and 1990s are predominantly based on counting the number of pecks, as outlined in the influential CNS project. In other words, the focus was quantitative. As already said above, the intuitive assumption was that the number of pecks reflected the number of transactions when the coin changed hands. Nevertheless, Brita Malmer was aware of the possibility of several pecks being applied to a coin simultaneously, especially when the 132 Peck s – new find ings and fut ure p ers p ect ives coin was bent and the pecks were made on the bending ridge (Malmer 2000, 24, 26) (Figs 16–17). In a ground-breaking paper, Christoph Kilger drew the consequence of these observations and called for a more qualitative approach to pecking (Kilger 2006). We should for example distinguish between pecks on a ridge, the direction of the pecks, isolated pecks and so forth. Kilger suggested a revised method of recording pecks taking these features into consideration, and tested it on specimens from the Norwegian hoards of Sandsaunet, buried after 1011, and Trondheim, Dronningens gate, buried after 1029 (Kilger 2006, 462–463). This would provide us with a better understanding of how pecking was conducted, and thus nuance the interpretations of why pecking happened. However, one problem concerning this method is, that it would be even more subject to individual subjective judgement by the researcher than the simple counting of peckings. It is clear that if quantitative counting of pecks is in itself time-consuming, qualitative counting would be even more so. This may be why Kilger’s approach has not been followed to any significant extent. Quite on the contrary, the number of studies of pecks and thus the interest in the subject has declined markedly since the turn of the millennium. An exception is Gitte Ingvardson’s thesis on the extremely rich finds from the island of Bornholm. It is symptomatic that even though she recognizes the potential of Kilger’s approach, she quite understandably (given the size of her dataset) chooses a more simplified and less time-consuming model recording four groupings, 0, 1, 2–5 or >5 pecks (Ingvardson 2020, 76–77 and volume 2, find lists). For the purpose of the overall analysis, she merges pecks, notches and nicks into a single category of ‘tests’ (Ingvardson 2020, 117–118, 121), but she also conducts an analysis of each category compared (Ingvardson 2020, 126, fig. 65). The novelty of Ingvardson’s study is the examination of testing on coins and non-monetary artefacts alike. Moreover, the size of her dataset (the 34 best-documented of the ca 100 Viking-Age hoards of Bornholm) provides a solid basis for her analysis. This allows her to examine among other things the question of whether jewellery lost its symbolic value when tested. The nuanced answer is ‘sometimes’ and leads to interesting thoughts on the distinction between the objects’ roles as prestige artefacts and as simple means of payment (Ingvardson 2020, 117–118, 121, 123–131). This is not the place to provide a full-scale study along the lines suggested by Kilger, but I will put forward a few observations that would be relevant in this respect. Reading the Swedish literature on pecks, one can easily get the impression that pecking on a bending ridge is the dominant type of pecking (e.g. Sperber 1982; Malmer 2000, 24–25; Kilger 2006, figs 1–3) (Figs 16–17), and that isolated pecks are the exceptions. This has however never been studied system133 J ens Ch ri sti an M O ES G A A RD atically. But it is clear that this is far from the case when looking at the Danish 11th-century finds (see however Ingvardson 2020, 77, fig. 23). No overall survey has been attempted, and my impression builds on my work with treasure trove 1 cm Fig. 16. Two examples of German coins with multiple pecking along a ridge. Photo: Christoph Kilger. Jn 16. Kaks näidet korduvate servatäketega Saksa müntidest. Fig. 17. Photo taken during Christoph Kilger’s work on pecks in Trondheim 2001–2002, showing how pecking on a ridge may have happened. Jon Anders Risvaag was present and assures that ‘no coin was harmed’. Photo: Christoph Kilger. Jn 17. Foto aastatest 2001–2002, mil Christoph Kilger töötas Trondheimis: nii võidi omal ajal serva täkkida. Pealtnägija Jon Anders Risvaag kinnitab, et ühtegi münti ei vigastatud. (Danefæ) during my 22 years at the National Museum of Denmark. Compared to the Swedish CNS-series, far fewer Danish finds have been published with systematic recording of the pecks. Thus Galster in his publication of the 1085 coins of the Store Frigård I hoard, buried after 1106, only mentions pecks 134 Peck s – new find ings and fut ure p ers p ect ives very briefly: he simply says in very broad terms, ‘Most of the coins were more or less scratched and bent. The owners had tested the flexibility and fineness of the silver by bending the coins, by biting them or by pricking them with the point of a knife in order to see whether they were silvery right through’ (Galster 1959, 80). When he republished the hoard in his general survey of hoards from Bornholm, he did not go any further (Galster 1980, 136). The corpus of Danish medieval hoards does not record pecks either (Jensen et al. 1992). It should however be noted that Jørgen Steen Jensen recorded pecks on individual coins quantitatively in his hoard publications (Jensen 2004a; 2014). Another exception to the rule is the publication of the small Freerslev hoard from the last years of Sweyn Estrithsson’s reign. Pecks have been recorded quantitatively, not qualitatively, but through the full photographic coverage of the hoard it is clear that pecks were not applied in lines on ridges but at scattered points on the surface of the coins (Moesgaard 2014c). In several cases, the pecks have been applied on flat coins that had never been bent (catalogue nos 13, 14, 26, 31, 32, 34, 39, 41). While pecks applied to a bending ridge were probably made with the blade of the knife (cf. fig. 17), pecks on a flat surface would have been made with the point of the knife (cf. Galster 1959, 80; Sperber 1982, 50, fig. 1; Archibald 2011, 54). Would this be a regional difference in the ways of pecking between Denmark and Sweden, or is it just the chance result of the selection of the few examples scrutinized here? More research is needed in order to give an answer. Another feature that would be of interest for future research is the successive stages of bending, pecking at the bending ridge and re-flattening, which could occur several times to the same coin. The result often is a flat coin with a very uneven surface. In the 1990s, a large mid-11th-century hoard, presumably from Zealand, was dispersed on the North European coin market without proper recording (Jensen 2004b). During the police investigation of this sad case, it was demonstrated that pecks on different coins were made by the same knife (pers. comm. J.S. Jensen). Only a small sample of the coins of the hoard was examined, and therefore we do not know whether this phenomenon concerns only a minor or a larger portion of the hoard. We certainly do not talk about all the pecking observed on the coins of the hoard. Nevertheless, this observation is of the utmost importance, because it tells us that the same person probably made pecks on several coins within a hoard. That implies that this pecking was most likely done by the last owner of the hoard and that he carried out serial pecking – to an undetermined extent – on several coins at the same time. This is extremely relevant evidence in relation to Christoph Kilger’s questions concerning the habits of pecking quoted above. It would be most desirable to conduct larger-scale investigations in this field in 135 J ens Ch ri sti an M O ES G A A RD order to be able to draw more general conclusions. A parallel to this could be the phenomenon that Gitte Ingvardson has called ‘signaturbøjning’, i.e. ‘signature bending’ – that is a very similar way of bending within a hoard, suggesting that it was done by the same person, but not necessarily at the same time. Ingvardson studied this aspect in the Bornholm hoards from Store Frigård 2, buried after 991, and Tyskegård, buried after 997. In both cases, a series of coins were bent only once at approximately the same angle (Ingvardson 2020, 133–134). To finish, a few words on the end of pecking, in Denmark and elsewhere. The later part of Sweyn Estrithsson’s reign witnessed a major and fairly rapid change in the Danish currency. Until then, it was dominated by foreign, mainly English and German, coins, but now Danish coins took over. This was a move from the Viking-Age bullion economy to a medieval managed currency (Ingvardson 2016; Moesgaard 2017). In principle, testing of coins was no longer necessary, because the coins circulated at a fixed face value guaranteed by the king. Nevertheless, pecking and bending did continue. No overall study of this phenomenon has been attempted yet, but preliminary observations on some recent hoards show that the picture is not uniform. The near-contemporary Zealandic hoards of Freerslev (Moesgaard 2014c) and Holløse (Langsted & Moesgaard 2017) from the last years of the reign of Sweyn both contain a minor component of foreign and older Danish coins that are heavily bent and pecked. In both hoards, the majority of the coins are the most recent Danish issues, but they are more tested in Holløse than in Freerslev. In the latter hoard, many recent Danish coins are untested, and the bulk of the ones that are tested are only slightly bent and pecked once or a few times. Clearly, the owner of the Freerslev hoard had more confidence in the new guaranteed currency than the owner of the Holløse hoard, who was more suspicious and preferred to double-check the quality of the coins (Fig. 18). The later hoard of Egelev from the island of Falster south of Zealand was deposited after 1086. In this hoard, only a few foreign coins and the Danish coins struck before ca 1070 are pecked. The newer Danish coins are not pecked (Moesgaard 2018b). Bending has not been examined in detail yet. Likewise, in the Lundby Krat hoard from Jutland, buried after ca 1098, only a few coins were pecked or bent (Jensen 2014, nos 170, 200 (pecks), 151, 198, 210, 212, 213 (bent)). At the other end of the Danish realm, at Bornholm and in Blekinge, the bullion economy lasted for several decades after the rest of Denmark had adopted a managed currency. Indeed, pecking is still intensive in the hoards of Store Frigård I, buried after 1106 (Galster 1980, 136), and Johannishus, buried after 1120 (CNS 4.1.5; Malmer 2000). But from the Smedegård/Østermarie hoard, the last 136 Peck s – new find ings and fut ure p ers p ect ives Viking-Age style hoard at Bornholm, buried after 1152, only one coin was pecked, and it was an old OAP that had probably been pecked decades or even a century before (Ingvardson 2020, vol. 2, coin list). Otherwise, the end of pecking has not attracted much attention in research. Estonia was the area where Viking-Age style bullion hoards lasted the longest, up to the end of the 12th century. Pecking was still very active at the hoard of Kose, buried after 1121 (Leimus 1990). Some years ago, Kenneth Jonsson published an English Henry II Cross-and-Crosslets/Tealby penny struck ca 1158–1161 with one peck at the obverse on a bending ridge. Unfortunately, the coin was unprovenanced, but Jonsson convincingly argues that it may come from the Estonian Padiküla hoard. At the present state of the research, this is the latest documented Fig. 18. An Aarhus penny from the Danish Holløse hoard (Langsted & Moesgaard 2017). The five pecks on the reverse are scattered without any system. Not to scale. Photo: Henrik Rasmussen. Jn 18. Aarhusi penn Taani Holløse aardest. Tagaküljel viis suvaliselt paiknevat täket. instance of pecking (Jonsson 2006, 27). As a last anecdote, I will draw attention to not the oldest peck, which was already dealt with above, but the oldest pecked coin. It is a third-century BC posthumous drachm of Alexander the Great struck at an uncertain mint in Greece or Macedonia. It comes from the Bornholm hoard of Lillegærde, buried after 1048. The pecking (and notching) was of course not done in ancient Greece but in Viking Bornholm, shortly before the hoard was deposited in the ground (Horsnæs 2013, 68). How it came to Scandinavia is unknown. Contrary to Roman denarii that are occasionally found in Viking-Age contexts, Greek coins are virtually unknown in the North during the Iron Age (Bogucki et al. 2020). It is thus more likely that it came here during the Viking Age, probably along the Eastern route with dirhams or Byzantine coins. 137 J ens Ch ri sti an M O ES G A A RD Conclusion Following the heyday of studies of pecks and other secondary treatments of Viking-Age coins in Northern and Eastern Europe during the last quarter of the 20th century, the intensity of studies has declined during the first decades of the 21st century. New finds and, even more, re-examination of old finds have however considerably modified our picture of the early chronology and geography of pecks. Scratching the surface of the vast amount of material has revealed that pecking took place in France as early as the 880s, and there is great potential for re-examining the existing material in light of these findings in order to understand the scope of this phenomenon. Likewise, pecking in Denmark from the 910s onwards is now a well-established fact. Thus, it began in Scandinavia while it was still performed in Viking England. However, these new results do not alter the fact that the main period and area of pecking is 11th-century Scandinavia, the Baltic region and Eastern Europe. Traditionally, studies have consisted of a quite time-consuming counting of pecks, and this quantitative approach has led to many results, including comparing regions and coin groups. A synthesis of these studies would probably give us a better grasp of the phenomenon. A call almost 20 years ago to study pecks more qualitatively, examining for instance if several pecks were done simultaneously, has not been followed by researchers, probably because this approach would be even more time-consuming for scholars. It would however most certainly give interesting results. The integration of non-numismatic artefacts in these studies has been attempted with success and may be promising in the future. Acknowledgements I wish to thank Kenneth Jonsson, Christoph Kilger and Gitte Ingvardson for inspiring discussions on this subject. Simon Coupland kindly revised my English. References Archibald, M. 1990. Pecking and bending: the evidence of the British finds. – Sigtuna Papers. Proceedings of the Sigtuna Symposium on Viking-Age Coinage 1–4 June 1989. Eds K. Jonsson & B. Malmer (Commentationes de nummis saeculorum IX–XI in Suecia repertis. Nova Series, 6.) Kungliga Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien & Spink, Stockholm, London, 11–24. 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Secondary elements in three finds from Gotland – a study of the circulation of coins in the first half of the 11th century. – Nordisk Numismatisk Unions Medlemsblad, 196–206. Williams, G. 2014. Coins and currency in Viking England, AD 865–954. – Early Medieval Monetary History. Studies in Memory of Mark Blackburn. Eds R. Naismith, M. Allen & E. Screen. (Studies in Early Medieval Britain and Ireland.) Ashgate, Farnham, 13–38. 143 J ens Ch ri sti an M O ES G A A RD Täkked – uued avastused ja tulevikuväljavaated Jens Christian MOESGA ARD Resümee Pärast viikingiaegsete müntide täkete ja kriimustuste ning teiste sekundaarsete jälgede uurimise kõrgaega Põhja- ja Ida-Euroopas 20. sajandi lõpuveerandil on selle uurimissuuna intensiivsus 21. sajandi esimestel kümnenditel vähenenud. Uued leiud ning – veelgi enam – vanade avastuste ülevaatus on aga märkimisväärselt muutnud meie teadmisi hõbedatäkkimise varasest kronoloogiast ja geograafilisest levikust. Nüüdseks on selge, et laialdasem hõbedaainese täkkimine algas Prantsusmaal juba 880. aastatel ehk peaaegu samal ajal kui Inglismaal ja leiukogumite taasuurimine annab suuri võimalusi selle nähtuse paremaks mõistmiseks. Lisaks teame nüüdseks, et Taanis algas hõbeda täkkimine 910. aastatel. Seega algas hõbedakvaliteedi kontroll Skandinaavias juba sel ajal, kui see oli kombeks viikingite võimu all olnud Inglismaal. Samal ajal ei muuda uued uurimistulemused tõika, et hõbedatäkkimise põhiline aeg ja ala oli 11. sajandi Skandinaavias, Läänemere maades ning IdaEuroopas. Tavaliselt keskendutakse täkete uurimisel aeganõudvale kriipimisjälgede loendamisele ning säärane kvantitatiivne meetod on olnud tulemusrikas, sealhulgas eri regioonide ja mündirühmade võrdlemisel. Nende uuringute süntees annaks meile kõnesolevast fenomenist ilmselt parema arusaamise. Samas pole juba 20 aastat tagasi tehtud üleskutse uurida seda teemat kvalitatiivselt – näiteks selgitamaks, kas ühe mündi täkked on samaaegsed – leidnud seni uurijate seas suuremat tähelepanu. Ilmselt on selle põhjuseks uurimistöö väga suur ajamahukus. Teisalt annaks selline lähenemine kahtlemata huvitavaid tulemusi. Numismaatikaväliste hõbeesemete asjakohane uurimine on juba toonud edukaid tulemusi ja tõotab neid ka tulevikus. 144