stackyFACTSForget gold coins; the real Viking economy ran on mutilated silver fragments weighed out on tiny, portable scales.
Forget gold coins; the real Viking economy ran on mutilated silver fragments weighed out on tiny, portable scales. Known as 'hack-silver,' Norse merchants and raiders cared absolutely nothing for the face value or the kings stamped on the currency they stole. If a pristine Islamic dirham was worth more than a loaf of bread, a Viking would simply pull out an axe, chop the coin into unrecognizable geometric shards, and weigh the exact amount needed for the transaction.
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