Code: 12288
This is a Viking-age silver Dirham from the Samanid dynasty (AD 892-1005), chopped for use in trade of a bullion economy. Similar coins had been found in a Viking-age hoard from Skaill, Orkney, and the Storr Rock Viking hoard. Most Dirhams were acquired through the Slave Trade, the Vikings delivering Europeans captured in raids to the Islamic emirates of central Asia, see "DIRHAMS FOR SLAVES". The Vikings had a bullion-based economy with trade in the weight of silver, sometimes gold using sophisticated scales and balances. This coin has been cut to a particular weight of silver. This is a nice example.
DENOMINATION: Dirham-cut
CULTURE: Samanid dynasty
DATE: 892 - 1005 A.D.
MATERIAL: Silver
SIZE: 19mm x 15mm
WEIGHT: 1.86 grams
PROVENANCE: Formerly in a European private collection, in Estonia.
