Learnings: Bartering and Hacksilver

Three different steps of making bullion: a piece of hacked silver, a mold, and he resulting bullion / c. Viking Age

For example, a trader could have negotiated how many hens he could get in exchange for three walrus tusks.

Alongside bartering came the practice of "silver hacking." When Vikings got their hands on silver items, they used to chop (hack) them up. These silver hacks were more convenient to carry and easier to use in value-weighted transactions.

Hacked silver could eventually be melted and molded to form bullion such as the example depicted here.