From a modern perspective it is hard to imagine a world without regulated all-purpose currency. Yet, what is now commonplace was a novelty in many parts of Europe during the 11th and 12th centuries. The introduction of regulated coinage was part of a comprehensive change in society, culture, religion and politics in the societies at the peripheries of Europe in the High Middle Ages. Given the scarcity of other types of extant contemporary sources, especially written ones, the large corpus of coins and coin finds from this period forms an invaluable resource of information about these socio-political transformations.
Drawing upon a catalogue of more than 3100 coin finds (≈c. 167500 coins), the thesis employs a combination of quantitative find-pattern analyses and qualitative interpretation of metrology and iconography to discuss aspects of coin production and use in medieval Norway, Poland and Austria. The comparison of three different entities thereby allows more general conclusions to be drawn about the processes of introducing and implementing regulated coinage in this period.
The analysis revealed not only certain similarities and patterns the introduction of regional coinage developed shared by all three case studies, but also significant differences in timing and modality. The interpretation of these patterns and modalities in turn sheds light on other transformations of society and politics of the period, such as legitimisation and centralisation of power, and ultimately the consolidation of sovereign authority and institutionalised state structures.
Mika Boros successfully defended her thesis on 28 May 2026.
Trial lecture
Designated topic: The potential of die studies in Medieval Numismatics: How can this methodological tool help us understand minting practices, institutional frameworks, and the economic conditions of coin production?
Evaluation committee
- Associate Professor Christoph Kilger, Uppsala universitet (first opponent)
- Professor Jens Christian Moesgaard, Stockholms universitet (second opponent)
- Associate Professor Caitlin Ellis, University of Oslo (committee administrator)
Chair of the defence
- Associate Professor Erika Graham-Goering, University of Oslo
Supervisors
- Professor Svein Harald Gullbekk, Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo
- Professor Hans Jacob Orning, University of Oslo
- Mateusz Bogucki, University of Warsaw
- Murray Andrews, University College London