A review of Tony Abramson's book Coinage in the Northumbrian Landscape and Economy

What is it about?

Tony Abramson published a Ph.D. in 2018 using statistical methods to draw new conclusions about settlement and economy in the north of England in the centuries between about 500 and about 870 on the basis of a new and huge database he had assembled of coins and coin finds. This review emphasises the worth of this study but also has to raise problems with some of the methods, dispute some of the conclusions (and draw alternative ones) and lament the standard of editing by the publisher. It explains both why this book is so difficult to use and why the difficulties might be worth overcoming.

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Why is it important?

Abramson's work has otherwise been reviewed in very general terms, perhaps because a detailed engagement with it requires time and effort above and beyond what is usually required. This review, which Northern History graciously let me expand above their usual limit, does that heavy lifting for you. By the end of it, you should know if you need to read the book, what you need to think about if you do, and which bits will be the most (or least) use.

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