The New York Sale
Auction 50 16 Jan 2020
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Early Kievan. Torque (Hoop Necklace) Grivna.
Ca. Late 10th-11th century. 107.82 gm. 8 ½" diameter. Twist rod body, tapered ends. Broken or deliberately cut in half in antiquity. Extremely fine
Kievan Rus' Old Rus' Coinless Period, 11th-14th Century The long "coinless period" of Russia from the 11th to the first half of the 14th Century is evidenced by silver payment bars. With the lack of any coin issues, these bars became the only form of silver in circulation in Rus'. Because of their large size, they could be used only for large payments, tribute, ransom, in foreign trade or investments in convents and monasteries. Several varieties of silver bars exist, named for the place of their discovery and circulating region: Kievan, Chernigovian, Novgorodian, Lithuanian and Tartar bars. The inscriptions scratched on them by their owners – graffiti –are of great scientific interest. In written sources, the silver bars are called "grivnas of silver"; while from the second half of the 13th Century, Novgorodian bars were titled "Roubles" – later the title of the principal monetary unit of Russia.
Ca. Late 10th-11th century. 107.82 gm. 8 ½" diameter. Twist rod body, tapered ends. Broken or deliberately cut in half in antiquity. Extremely fine
Kievan Rus' Old Rus' Coinless Period, 11th-14th Century The long "coinless period" of Russia from the 11th to the first half of the 14th Century is evidenced by silver payment bars. With the lack of any coin issues, these bars became the only form of silver in circulation in Rus'. Because of their large size, they could be used only for large payments, tribute, ransom, in foreign trade or investments in convents and monasteries. Several varieties of silver bars exist, named for the place of their discovery and circulating region: Kievan, Chernigovian, Novgorodian, Lithuanian and Tartar bars. The inscriptions scratched on them by their owners – graffiti –are of great scientific interest. In written sources, the silver bars are called "grivnas of silver"; while from the second half of the 13th Century, Novgorodian bars were titled "Roubles" – later the title of the principal monetary unit of Russia.