EARLY MEDIEVAL HOOKED TAG

Description: Cut fragment of an Islamic dirham converted into a dress fitting.The object in question is a cut fragment of an Islamic dirham, probably of the Abbasid or Samanid dynasty, although the inscription is too fragmentary and too worn to provide a more detailed attribution. Coins of both dynasties circulated in small numbers in Yorkshire and the East Midlands in the first half of the tenth century, generally in contexts relating to Viking activity. The fragment has been deliberately cut, forming a segment of the coin with a tang projecting towards what would have been the centre of the coin. This was probably originally somewhat longer, forming a hook, but seems to have been broken short in antiquity, or in any case long enough before discovery for the edge of the break to become patinated. The opposite edge of the object (the original outside edge of the coin) has been pierced repeatedly, close to the edge, presumably to permit it to be sewn onto textiles.Although the hook is missing, it seems likely that this object represents the conversion of a coin into a hooked-tag, a common form of dress accessory in late Anglo-Saxon England. This would also be consistent with the dat