Small Change in the Early Middle Ages

New Perspectives on Coined Money c. 400-1100

Edited by Rory Naismith

Book cover: Small Change in the Early Middle Ages

Extent: 265 pages

Publisher: Brepols Publishers

Subjects: Business & Economics, Medieval Studies, Numismatics

Series: Studies in the Early Middle Ages

Series volume number: 35

Language: English

Hardback (Published)

(May 2025)

ISBN: 9782503615370

Price: $107.00

In stock

How did coined money vary across early medieval Europe, and what effect did it have on different societies?


Coined money is a familiar part of day-to-day life, and has been for millennia in many societies. In the early Middle Ages, however, it worked rather differently. People across the former Roman Empire and beyond continued to think in terms of monetary units of account, but the supply and use of actual coin became highly uneven. Access to low-value coinage, small change, was particularly attenuated in western Europe, where gold and silver pieces predominated. This volume explores how people and societies dealt with changes to monetary systems. It looks at the experiences of different groups in society, from those who struggled with regimes that used only high value coins, to the elites who tended to benefit from those same conditions. The ten contributions to this volume consider diverse geographical areas from Byzantine Egypt to Italy, Francia, and Britain, identifying parallels and divergences among them. The chapters draw on cutting-edge archaeological and historical research to give a panorama of the latest thinking on early medieval money and coinage.

  • Edited by Rory Naismith