Greek and Roman Influence
Reverse of gold stater of Philip II of Macedonia
struck at the Pella mint in about 345 BC
The earliest coinage
which affected the North West of Europe was the
Macedonian coinage of Philip II and Alexander III (the
Great). This extensive coinage became the model for many
of the crude copies produced by the celts of Germany,
France and Southern England. There is no evidence that
the celts in Ireland struck their own copies of this
currency but the English and continental coins are
occasionally found in Ireland.
The Roman conquest of
Europe extended to England but not fully to Ireland
although an encampment north of Dublin was briefly
established in the first century AD. Roman coins are
found in an Irish context but mostly mixed with other
ornaments and hack silver indicating that the coinage was
not acknowledged as a medium of exchange at a set value
but rather as another piece of precious metal to be
assayed at every exchange. In support of this theory it
is interesting to note that the Roman coins found in
Ireland are most often of silver or gold and rarely the
copper pieces which are found in large quantities in the
rest of 'Roman Europe'.
During the 'Dark Ages' in
Europe, after the fall of the Roman empire, few coins
were in use in Ireland on the basis of the hoard evidence.
However, metalwork was at a very high level of skill and
quality and many hoards of silver and gold ornaments have
been found. It is normally assumed that any coin that
arrived in Ireland was quickly melted and used to
manufacture such ornaments.
To view larger images of the
gold stater (above) select the OBVERSE or REVERSE (about 70 Kb each) with a scale in
centimetres.
Coinage for
External Trade
Obverse of a silver dirham of Caliph Mansur
struck in Baghdad, dated 156 AH (773 AD)
From about 600 AD coins
do begin to turn up again in Irish hoards but mostly, as
in Roman times, in a context that suggests little
distinction is made between struck silver and other
worked precious metals.
Some hoards do occur of
English pennies and (occasionally) early Islamic dirhams
from about 800 AD. These hoards are usually in a context
that suggest that they were for use in trade across the
Irish Sea with England or Wales.
Even after the Viking
settlements were established in Dublin and Limerick and
when Danish and English coins were in use in these
settlements there is evidence that the coinage, when it
did get into Irish hands, was either melted or used in
return trade with the Vikings.
There is no evidence that
the native Irish made use of coins except for external
trade before the arrival of the Normans in 1169.
To view larger images of the
dirham above select the OBVERSE or REVERSE (about 70 Kb each)
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