XVI International Numismatic Congress

The Earliest Russian Coinage? Two Groups of Imitative Dirhams from the Late Ninth to the Mid-Tenth Century

Not scheduled

20m

Auditorium Maximum - Hall C

oral presentation S62. EARLY MIDDLE AGES 2. EAST-CENTRAL EUROPE

Speaker

Viacheslav Kuleshov (Stockholm Numismatic Institute )

Description

The paper will discuss two very distinct groups of imitative dirhams found in Middle Viking-age coin hoards in Eastern Europe and Scandinavia. The first group is datable to c.890-900 AD. The second group is datable to c. 950-960 AD. Both groups differ significantly in the design and techniques from earlier and contemporary imitative coinages of Khazaria and Volga Bulgaria, and are seen to represent tentative episodes of minting silver under the Riurikid rulers of Rus.