Articles

Circulation of Roman Coinage in Northern Europe in Late Antiquity

5th century Roman coinsCirculation of Roman Coinage in Northern Europe in Late Antiquity

Aleksander Bursche

Histoire et mesure: Vol.17:3/4 (2002)

Abstract

Coins, excepting perhaps glass beads, are the most frequent category of Roman imports encountered in Barbaricum, i.e. the territory north of the Danube and east of the Rhine. A quantitative comparison of four main categories of Roman imports discovered in Poland (Table 1) – terra sigillata, glass and bronze vessels and coins — gives an idea about the possible proportions. What is extraordinary is that in most parts of Northern Europe Roman coin finds greatly outnumber early medieval issues. And this brings us to the vital question — how did Roman coins circulate within native societies in the Barbaricum and what was their function among these peoples.



Circumstances and directions of the influx of Roman coins into Barbaricum are considerably differentiated and depend on the period, denomination and territory settled by a given tribe. After a brief episode under Augustus , mass export of coins from the Empire to the North resumed during the reign of Marcus Aurelius and continued — with varying intensity and many interruptions — until the late 5th, in some regions, even into A.D. 6th century. The influx of imperial gold and silver coinage was regulated by political reasons, the influx of bronze denominations — senatorial sestertii in particular — by exchange. It is possible to distinguish short-period streams of coins connected with tributes, donativa, annual or military payments made to Barbarians, and more long-lived waves associated in general with contact of an economic nature.

 

Click here to read this article from Histoire et mesure

Sponsored Content