In present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden a coinage was initiated about AD 995, which imitated contemporary Anglo-Saxon coins. For more than 30 years the English and Scandinavian coinages were closely connected. Individuals (commissioners, moneyers, artisans) as well as objects (e.g. coin-dies) moved between the mints. Coinage is often perceived of as expressing sovereign rights in a certain area. Instead, the Anglo-Scandinavian coinage network was not limited by realms and borders, but cut across kingdoms from west (England) to east (Byzantium) through Scandinavia and the Southern Baltic. Despite the ongoing “state-formation processes” and competition between the areas, values like artisans and dies were shared within the network.

The material underlines how “social” technology is; dependent on choices, cooperative skills, talent, capital, etc. The coin images, inscriptions and links offer unique openings for a situated study of a process of change in the past, of different levels and actors in the network, of patterns of movement, and of ideological and historical contexts. Imitations are often depreciated out from our contemporary notions of authenticity. Here, the creative and hybrid character of the material is instead underlined, opening up for a deeper understanding of the wider connotations and meanings of the objects.