FINDS OF ANCIENT COINS FROM THE VIKING AGE TO MODERN PERIODS IN THE TERRITORIES OF DENMARK / ZNALEZISKA MONET ANTYCZNYCH OD OKRESU WIKIŃSKIEGO DO CZASÓW WSPÓŁCZESNYCH Z TERENÓW DANII
FINDS OF ANCIENT COINS FROM THE VIKING AGE TO MODERN PERIODS IN THE TERRITORIES OF DENMARK

Author(s): Halle W. Horsnæs
Subject(s): Anthropology, Archaeology, Cultural Anthropology / Ethnology
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: roman coins; coin finds; Viking context; medieval context; modern context
Summary/Abstract: The article presents examples of finds of ancient coins from Medieval and later contexts in Denmark. It shows that a low number of Roman bronze coins appear in Early Medieval (Viking Age) contexts, notably in and around the Early Medieval emporium at Ribe, while Roman denarii in slightly later silver hoards seems to be a phenomenon so far restricted to the area around the Baltic coast. There is so far little archaeological evidence for the use of Roman coins in medieval religious contexts, and the well documented evidence for the presence of large numbers of Roman coins in Renaissance and later collections is not reflected by unambiguous traces in the archaeological record. Examples of ‘hoards’ of ancient coins that must have been deposited (or lost) recently highlight the problem of dating the deposition (or loss) of Roman coins from fids without a context. Two recent, and so far unique finds, of Roman gold coins from a Viking Age hoard, and the possible use of a sestertius for a Viking Age/medieval brooch are presented.

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