Money and Coinage in the Middle Ages ed. by Rory Naismith

Abstract

Reviewed by: Money and Coinage in the Middle Ages ed. by Rory Naismith Judy Bailey Naismith, Rory, ed, Money and Coinage in the Middle Ages (Reading Medieval Sources, 1), Leiden, Brill, 2018; hardback; pp. xi, 362; R.R.P. €149.00; ISBN 9789004372467. This edited volume on the role of money in the Middle Ages is an interdisciplinary study. Twelve authors cover various aspects of the use of money and the production of coins, from c. 400 to c. 1500. The impetus behind the publication is to 'show ways in which money can be incorporated into the analysis of the Middle Ages more broadly, both for particular periods and in specific thematic contexts such as art, literature, and economic analysis' (p. 1). The first two chapters set the scene. They discuss two key aspects of money—money as a unit of value and as a means of payment. The second section comprises four chapters and covers the chronological phases of money and coinage. The origin of money is discussed by Alessia Rovelli. She also outlines the transition from gold to silver coin from the fifth to the ninth century. Andrew R. Woods continues the narrative. The period c. 800 to c. 1150 saw the emergence of the silver penny, which became the norm across Europe. At the beginning of the period, only the king had the right to strike coinage, but by the end many institutions were granted rights to administer the production or to strike coins. An increase in the quantity and variety of material objects is a feature of the next two centuries. The number of hoards of coins that have been discovered in Europe, coupled with the surge of surviving records, means that the period from c. 1150 to c. 1350 is rich with comparable data. Richard Kelleher takes us through these two centuries and also reminds us that his work builds on the seminal work [End Page 275] by Peter Spufford. Spufford's key study, Money and Its Use in Medieval Europe (Cambridge University Press, 1988), is mentioned by more than one author in this edited work. Spufford outlined the history of money, including an analysis of credit and barter. Kelleher takes a similar approach by documenting medieval exchange rates and the emergence of gold currencies, or florins, in the mid-thirteenth century. Philip Robinson Rössner completes the chronological study by examining the period after the Black Death to c. 1500. He notes that 'neither the pound nor the shilling, actually existed physically, i.e. as coins' (p. 161). He suggests that this is akin to the modern concept of 'virtual money'. The final section outlines various methods of analysing medieval money and coinage. Rory Naismith sets the historical context in this section. He argues that recent discoveries of coins in sites such as towns, churches, and rural villages, have opened up new avenues for researching the role of money in medieval society. He notes that in the late twelfth century, in order to circumvent the lack of ready cash, bills of exchange were used by merchants to transfer large sums of money remotely. Small coins were also often in short supply. Nick Mayhew examines the importance of silver coins in the later medieval economy. He argues that the extreme shortage of silver at this time could have been a factor in the recession of the fifteenth century. The lowest value gold coin, a half angel, which was worth 3s 4d, was worth far more than the average daily wage of 4d. This meant that many people in the late medieval economy were unable to readily access coins for everyday uses. The last four chapters examine money and coins from archaeological, literary, and iconographic perspectives. Although authors in the earlier chapters in this book include evidence from hoards of coins that have recently been discovered, Nanouschka Myberg Burström concentrates on the use of coins as archaeological material. She asserts that coins are not easily falsified and can be of great assistance when dating other archaeological material. Anna Gannon and Lucia Travaini examine the creative aspects of minting a coin in the last two chapters. Gannon studies Anglo-Saxon creativity, whereas Travaini analyses the iconography...