HARVARD UKRAINIAN STUDIES - See also - Harvard University

404 THOMAS S. NOONANdeposited around the mid-eleventh century, had two long silver ingotsweighing 198.2g and 194. lg. 92 The 1910 hoard from Polotsk, deposited ca.1060, included four long silver ingots weighing 190.8g, 173.8g, 24.4g, and? as well as three pieces of round silver ingots. 93 The 1882 Biliarsk hoardhad one long silver ingot of 55.5g and 17 round silver ingots weighing atotal of 426g. 94 The 1897 Orlovka hoard contained a long silver ingot of43.7g in addition to 234 whole and 4 fragments of round silver ingots thatweighed a total of 21.7kg. 95 And the 1885 hoard from Buzhisk had five longsilver ingots weighing 184g, 130.8g, 97.5g, 93.7g, and 76.8g. 96 Thus, thecirculation of tangible wealth in the form of silver and gold ingots had along history in Rus'. These ingots, like the many blank silver flans, had areal monetary value, although it was not authenticated by kufic inscriptionsor western legends and pictures.By the twelfth century, however, new circumstances altered the place ofthe silver ingot in the monetary and economic history of Rus'. It was nolonger one of several forms of tangible, metallic wealth. The influx of dirhamsinto Rus' had ceased by 1025 or so, and the import of deniers came toan end during the early twelfth century From this time on, no appreciablequantity of silver coins was imported into pre-Mongol Rus'. This is oftenconsidered the onset of the coinless period in medieval Rus' history. Infact, what seems to have happened is that the scarcity of silver put an end tothe circulation of small quantities of the metal, i.e., silver coins. Silver hadbecome too valuable to be used for small transactions. Instead, silver wasmelted down and cast in the form of heavier ingots, designed for majortransactions. The term "coinless period" is thus somewhat misleading.Silver ingots became, in effect, very big and highly valuable coins.The ingots struck in growing quantities from the eleventh century on hadvarious shapes. Those with a hexagonal shape have traditionally beencalled ingots of the Kiev type. As Spasskii remarks, "The name of the'Kievan ingots' is very likely associated with their main place of manufacture,yet variations in shape... enable us to suppose that their casting couldhave taken place at other centers in Southern Russia." 97 Furthermore, thecirculation of the hexagonal, Kiev-type ingots is associated particularly92Bauer, "Die Silber-," p. 84, no. 10; Korzukhina, Klady, p. 93, no. 38.93Bauer, "Die Silber-," p. 84, no. 11, and p. 92, no. 25; Korzukhina, Klady, p. 97, no. 48.94Bauer, "Die Silber-," p. 85, no. 14, and p. 94, no. 28.95Bauer, "Die Silber-," p. 85, no. 15, and p. 94, no. 27.96Bauer, "Die Silber-," p. 86, no. 17; Korzukhina, Klady, p. 95, no. 43.97I. G. Spassky, The Russian Monetary System, trans. Z. I. Gorishina, rev. ed. (Amsterdam,1967), p. 66; see Tolochko, Drevnii Kiev, p. 175, fig. 85, for illustrations of ingots of the Kievtype.