ANCIENT COINS AND THEIR FUNCTIONS DURING THE MIDDLE AGES AND EARLY MODERN ERA IN THE TERRITORY OF EASTERN GERMANY / MONETY ANTYCZNE I ICH FUNKCJE W ŚREDNIOWIECZU I WCZESNEJ EPOCE NOWOŻYTNEJ NA TERYTORIUM NIEMIEC WSCHODNICH
ANCIENT COINS AND THEIR FUNCTIONS DURING THE MIDDLE AGES AND EARLY MODERN ERA IN THE TERRITORY OF EASTERN GERMANY

Author(s): Felix Biermann
Subject(s): Anthropology, Archaeology, Cultural Anthropology / Ethnology
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: Ancient coins; Middle Ages; early modern era; eastern Germany; re-use of Roman and Byzantine coins
Summary/Abstract: The paper deals with the question of the re-use of ancient (mainly Roman) coins during the Middle Ages and the early modern era in the former Slavic-settled parts of Eastern (and Northern) Germany. From the 10th/11th century, there is evidence for the re-use of Roman coins, best recognizable with single Roman coins in early medieval silver hoards and with Roman coins probably used as foundation offerings under buildings in the early Modern Era. In view of the few and often not certainly contextualised finds, however, it seems that the re-use of ancient coins was not a distinct phenomenon and was based mainly on incidental finds that were appreciated because of their metal value.

• Details
• Contents