Novgorod Merchant Pouch 11th century

From the excavations of the Novgorod Kremlin

The wallet was discovered by archaeologists during the clearing of the 14th flooring of the Episcopal Street pavement during excavations of the Novgorod Kremlin in 1938 in the layer of the first half of the 11th century.

The find was named “merchant wallet”.

Cattle leather 1.5 mm thick
Dimensions: 17 x 11 cm x 0.4 cm
Leather ties. Linen thread.

According to the publication by A.A. Strokov, V.A. Bogusevich, B.K. Manteifel (1939), the contents were:

“two bronze cups from a small scale, a fragment of a scale beam, a bronze dirham with an eyelet, 20 bronze weights, 5 small pebbles, a part of a bronze needle, a bronze buckle, a bead, a flattened bronze ringlet and a cherry pit”.

“Very important for dating the wallet and the cultural layer in which it was found is the Arabic bronze coin (dirham). By definition of specialists, it refers to the 10th century and is a fake of silver Arabic coins of this time. Thus, the time when the wallet was lost can relate no later than the 1st half of the 11th century.”

– For modern use, this is a convenient everyday accessory for the safe storage of all kinds of small items: money (both coins and banknotes), glasses, mobile phone or documents.
– At LARP games, this Merchant Pouch can be useful for performing the same functions and storing various LARP items.
– It can become an historically verified accessory of any medieval or fantasy trader or merchant.
– Put this wallet in a bag of any size, from a belt sabretache to a bread bag or a large backpack and be sure that the items inside this wallet will be much safer than if you had shoved them into a bag without this pouch
– Also, this wallet can be stylish gift packaging for valuable gifts of small size.