Units of Account in Gold and Silver in Seventh-Century England:<i>Scillingas, Sceattas</i>and<i>Pæningas</i>
John Hines
Abstract The seventh-century vernacular laws from the kingdoms of Kent and Wessex specify fines or compensation payments using units account that have given us familiar terms in numismatics this period: scillingas (shillings), sceattas pæningas (pennies). In light use cognate words Gothic Old High German, comparative values English law-codes themselves fifth-century Theodosian Code, it is suggested these represent a regular durable bimetallic system correlating gold silver. This proposition examined further against evidence weighing-sets sixth- early Anglo-Saxon graves, argued results give greater more precise meaning to silver Early artefacts, such as great buckle Mound 1 at Sutton Hoo, Suffolk.
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