The Earliest Coins of Norway

The question of the first to issue an inscribed currency has long been the subject Mr. C. A. Holmboe, writing in 1846, attributed coins to Jarl Hakon the Bad, who was slain in 995 A.D. (see 'Das älteste Münzwesen Norwegens bis gegen Ende des 14 Jahrhunderts'), but Mr. C. I. Schive in 'Norges Mynter i Middelalderen', 1865, transferred the coins to Hakon Ericson, Jarl in 1015. Schive therefore commenced his series with King Olaf Trygveson, 995 to 1000, Mr. H. E. Hildebrand in an article entitled 'Nordens äldsta mynt' 1887, was inclined to consider that the coins hitherto attributed to Olaf Trygveson belonged to Olaf the Stout, afterwards called the Saint, 1016 to 1028 A. D. For the settlement of this question of the earliest Norwegian coinage, regard must be given
to the approximate time of issue of the prototype Anglo-Saxon issue, and the historical probabilities of the case.