[gothic-l] Re: Trailing the Eruli in the North - solidi

Wed Jan 9 11:30:29 UTC 2002

--- In gothic-l at y..., "troels_brandt" <trbrandt at p...> wrote:
> Dirk,
>
> The map you mentioned below was realy a help showing that
> Constantinople probably was the mint of the Empire with the easiest
> access to the Danube except for the Ostrogothic mints - especially
as
> the smaller one in Thessalonica first opened in 498 AD.
>
> I also looked at other pages at that site (Smithsonian Museums)
> finding this statement:
>
> "Constantinople was by far the most prolific and longest lasting of
> Byzantine mints.  The mint mark CONOB had become fixed on gold
solidi
> as gold was only struck at Constantinople during the reigns of
> Anastasius I and Justin I;

it appears on most subsequent Byzantine
> gold coins regardless of whether or not they were actually struck
at
> the capital. This was not the case with the subsidiary denomintions
> in bronze. Variations of the mint mark include CON, CONOB, CONOS
and
> COB."
>
> Is all this correct?

Troels,

yes, but the text is refering to the Eastern Empire. Gold was minted
by several mints during the reign of Anastasius I and Justing I. In
fact, all gold coins of Theoderic the Great, minted at Rome and
Ravenna are in the names of these two emperors. The mint-mark CONOB
was indeed used by other East Roman and Byzantine mints other than
Constantinople. Rome used the mint mark COMOB, and more rarely ROMOB,
COMOR etc.

> If we then assume, that golden solidi from around 500AD and the
> previus two decennies brought to Sweden from the Danube area were
not
> Ostrogothic, we should in my opinion expect them to be stamped with
> the mark from Constantinopel - which you actually told they are.
>
> This is also what I understand from your more cautious text below,
> but to be sure, as I have not studied this area: Do you agree, if
my
> assumption regarding payments from the Ostrogoths is correct?

The fact that all solidi found in Sweden (with Gotland) are from
Constantinopel underscores that Scandinavia had some form of contact
with the East Roman empire. The complete absence of Ostrogothic gold
coins and coins minted under Odoaker should be indicative of the fact
that they had no or little contact with Italy. In fact, no western
coins (Visigothic, Frankish, Frisian etc) have come to light in
Scandinavia in general, which may point to a general east-ward
orientation.

> As the solidi in Scandinavia are all from Constantinopel and none
> from the Ostrogoths it is in my opinion indicated that this is not
> due to various trade routes, but due to one or more specific
> connections/reasons.

I think the fact that all Scandinavian solidi are from Constantinopel
partly reflects the fact that Constantinopel produced by far the
largest amounts of such coins. To determine why and how these coins
reached Scandinavia, I suppose it would be necessary to study the
exact composition and nature of the finds. Tore told us that solidi
hoards on Gotland presented accumulations of raw-materials for gold-
smiths. I think that the solidi hoards should also be seen in
relation to other metal hoard, such as the big Skoevde hoard, which
contained 7 kilos of gold bars and rods.

One reason why a 5th/6th century trader might have prefered
Constantinopel coins over the west European coins made by Franks,
Visigoths and Burgundians, is the high level of stability in gold
content. Visigothic and Frankish coins were often underweight. The
same is however not true for Ostrogothic (i.e. Italian) gold coins.
They also maintained full weight and purity. However, I simply think
that Scandinavians had better access to East Roman coins than to
coins of western mints.

One example of different trade links may be Britain. Here, many
Frankish trientes, some Ostrogothic and even some Visigothic coins
have been found, which obviously reflects Britain's geographic
proximity to these areas and the corresponding trade links. Gold
coins from the Constantinopel mints on the hand have hardly ever come
to Britain.

Dirk+

>
> Troels
>
> --- In gothic-l at y..., "faltin2001" <dirk at s...> wrote:
> >
> > Troels,
> >
> > the following link takes you to a map of the Byzantine/East Roman
> > mints.
> >
> > http://americanhistory.si.edu/csr/nnc/byzant/imapmint.htm
> >
> > The map states a timeframe from 498 to 1453. However, the main
> mints
> > were the same in the period 450 to 500. Of course, Carthage was
> ruled
> > by the Vandals at that time and the Italian mints were under
> > Ostrogothic control from 488 or so. Also, the mints of Sirmium in
> > Pannonia is omitted on the map. But it was a very minor mint and
> > operative only from about 504 after closing at the end of the 4th
> > century. Also, missing are most of the western mints of greater
> > significance, like Arles and Lyon, but especially Milan. Trier,
> which
> > was a major mint in the 4th century seized operations in the
early
> > 5th century. Also missing are all the Frankish and Visigothic
mints
> > like Toulouse, Bordeaux, Cologne, Marseille etc.
> >
> > I think it it fair to say that the vast majority of gold coins
> minted
> > in the 5th century would have been produced by Constantinopel,
> > Ravenna, Rome and Milan. Of these Milan and Ravenna would have
been
> > the northern-most.
> >
> > cheers,
> > Dirk

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