Where Did The Silver In Mediaeval Coins Come From? New Study Decodes Old Money Mystery

The study, led by researchers at University of Cambridge, is important because it can change the world's understanding of economic and political development in Europe. 

There was increased use of silver coins for trade in Anglo-Saxon England (Early Mediaeval England) between 660 and 750 AD. The use of around 7,000 silver pennies has been recorded during this period. Scientists have always wondered where the silver in these coins came from.  ( Image Source :University of Cambridge/ABP Live )

Did you know that European countries in the beginning of the mediaeval era traded in bullion, which refers to bars and ingots of gold and silver, rather than coins? In the mid-seventh century, bullion from the Byzantine Empire fuelled the adoption of silver coins in northern Europe. The Byzantine Empire was the eastern half of the Roman Empire, and included parts of Europe and western Asia. The eastern Roman Empire survived the conditions that caused the fall of the western Roman Empire in 476