A Tour Of The Oldest Existing Mint In Europe

Recently, I visited the site of one of the oldest mints in Norway. It was uncovered in 1991-95 during excavations underneath the archbishop's palace in Nidaros, within the city of Trondheim. The oldest coin attributed to Nidaros dates to the reign of Harald III Hardrada, c. 1047--1066. However, this particular mint dates to c. 1500, and was in use until 1532. It is the oldest intact mint located in Europe. Here is more info on the Nidaros mint.

Below is the excavated mint site. The furnace is at the far left, where coin metal was alloyed and forged into coin blanks. In the foreground are three workstations where coins were struck. This picture is best interpreted by the next photo.



This is a model reconstruction of the site, showing the position of the furnace, the three workstations, and the administrator's desk.
I wonder how many coins were struck each day?



The low lighting at the museum made photography rather difficult, but I did manage to capture images of a few coins struck at this mint:



Here is a depiction of a die set used to strike a Hvid



Here is another Hvid, probably recovered on site. The coppery color suggests these silver coins were debased, possibly less than 50% silver.



Following are a group of diagrams showing the complete process to strike a coin at Nidaros mint: