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Description: | A gold-plated imitation of a Merovingian solidus from the mint of Marseilles, probably from the very late sixth or seventh century, which has been pierced for suspension, and subsequently broken.The obverse shows a crude diademed bust, facing to the right. There are traces of lettering in the field in front of the bust but only the edges of the letters are visible, as the letters were mostly beyond the break line. The design is very similar to a coin in the Fitzwilliam Museum, attributed to Sigebert III (639-56), also pierced for suspension. The reverse has a typical cross on globe design with the letters M and trace of A in field (goes across break-line) for Massilia, and possibly an A in the inscription underneath cross, although this is too worn to be properly legible. The weight is 1.8g.The original nature of the object is uncertain. Coins in this period were often re-used as pendants, but imitation coins were sometimes created specifically for use in jewellery. Since this is an imitation rather than an official issue, it is not certain whether it should be considered as an imitation coin which was subsequently used as jewellery, or an item which was always intended to be jewellery. Normally two coins are required to constitute Treasure, whereas a single item of jewellery would constitute Treasure. However, recent finds of Anglo-Saxon coins which have been converted into jewellery have been found to be treasure, establishing a precedent for single items of coin jewellery to be considered as jewellery rather than as coins for the purposes of Treasure.Gareth Williams, Dept of Coins and Medals, British Museum
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/r... | Go to resource |
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