Exploring and understanding the use of currency in the Anglo-Saxon era and how the economy ran at the time.

1. Focus:
To assess the following in 9th
century
England:
-Agriculture
-Coinage
-European Trade
-Towns and Markets
-Resources

2.  A majority of the population was engaged in agriculture
 Each member of the community had his own strip of
fertile land and the right to its holding.
 The Anglo-Saxons would usually use a crop-rotation
method
 Fields were alternated between wheat, root, and
livestock.
 An Ard was used to plough the soil before the invention
of a plough.
 Scythes and sickles were used for harvesting

3.  Economy was not cash based
 Coins existed, but were not commonly used
 Most goods were bartered.
 550/650 AD – coins were first used in Anglo
Saxon England. However, a number of
these coins ended up as decorative
pendants and were not truly circulated
 785 – Offa of Mercia mints coins, which bore
a portrait of him and his name “Offa Rex”
meaning King Offa
 Coins were mainly used by professional
Merchants and not the common people

4.  Trade markets were most successful
near rivers
 Danish settlers increased the amount of
foreign trade
 London was one of the greatest trading
centers.
-Imports included:
Wine
 Copper
 Tin
 Spices
 Sulfur
 Glass
 Silk
 Precious Garments
 Furs
 Exports included:
Wool
Hides
Cheese
Cloth
Cloaks
Embroideries
Gold work

5.  All trade needs an outlet, and this would have been in the markets
of the burhs [a fortified town]. Everyone visited a burh at some time,
usually to dispose of excess grain, livestock or dairy produce. By
choosing his route carefully a merchant could be in a different burgh
every few days. Most markets were set up by the king or earl in
whose lands the burh lay, and there was usually some form of tax
on the merchants' transactions. This tax would either be a daily
charge (like hiring a stall at a car boot sale), or a charge
proportional to the profits made (like an early VAT).
 Most successful markets were on, or near rivers, because water
was the preferred method of transport, being quicker, less
physically exhausting, and cheaper than roads.

6.  All trade needs an outlet, and this would have been in the markets
of the burhs [a fortified town]. Everyone visited a burh at some time,
usually to dispose of excess grain, livestock or dairy produce. By
choosing his route carefully a merchant could be in a different burgh
every few days. Most markets were set up by the king or earl in
whose lands the burh lay, and there was usually some form of tax
on the merchants' transactions. This tax would either be a daily
charge (like hiring a stall at a car boot sale), or a charge
proportional to the profits made (like an early VAT).
 Most successful markets were on, or near rivers, because water
was the preferred method of transport, being quicker, less
physically exhausting, and cheaper than roads.