Northern Europe, Norse/Viking culture, ca. 8th to 12th century CE. Among the rarer artifacts of Viking metalsmithery - a nearly pure silver (90%) belt buckle with a gorgeous gilded silver crest-shaped section that is beauifully adorned with repeated stylized avian motifs as well as a band of spirals decorating the pointed end. Additional bird heads embellish the loop. The tang is present but no longer articulates. A stunning example of the Viking luxury arts. Silver quality: 90%. Gold is high quality but difficult to measure as it is gilding over the silver. Size: 1.3" L x 1.1" W (3.3 cm x 2.8 cm); weight: 6.6 grams
The important Viking metalworking shops correspond to their great trading ports and proto-urban centers - Birka, Helgo, Sigtuna, and Lund in Sweden, Ribe, Haithabu (Hedeby), and Fyrkat in Denmark, and Kaupang and Trondheim in Norway. Gold objects were rare and are only found in graves of the highest status. Silver was the principal currency of the Viking world, which stretched from Russia to northern Canada at the height of their influence. In many places, the Vikings kept silver not as coins, but as jewelry, a wearable currency form that was not subject to the authority of a monarch or mint. One of the most common archaeological finds from the Viking period is a hoard of metal objects, often buried in the earth or deposited in bodies of water, like river beds. These are found in great quantities throughout the British Isles and the Nordic countries.
Provenance: ex Estate of Eldert Bontekoe, Pegasi Numismatics, Ann Arbor, Michigan USA acquired before 2000
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#160468
Condition
Minute loss to corner of granuleted section on verso of decorated crest-shaped section.