Imitation of a Late Roman solidus from Northern Jutland - research data

Article and dataset concern a late Roman solidus imitation found in Års, in northern Jutland. My work analyzes a very unusual artifact for its place of discovery, namely western Scandinavia. Late Roman solidus imitations, apart from the analyzed specimen, are not found in this region. 

In the work, I posed questions about (I) what the prototype for the imitation was, (II) in what technique it was made, (III) what could have been the reason for making it in a mirrored image, (IV) why the coin is cracked. The next question concerned (V) iconography. Then I attempted to establish (VI) the chronology of the imitation. 

To conduct the analysis of the imitation coin itself, I compared it to the original solidus that served as a model. Given that the original Roman coin is a very rare specimen, I could conclude that even such solidi found their way into the hands of Germanic tribes. To answer the question of why the imitation was made in a mirrored image was analyzed in the context of the occurrence of bracteates in this region, which, although reproduced motifs known from Roman coins, did not maintain the direction of representation, as coins and bracteates were made using different techniques. Because the coin is cracked, I pointed out that it would be worthwhile to conduct metallographic analyses to determine the alloy from which the imitation was made, as pure gold should not crack. During the analysis, I managed to decipher the legend of the imitation, which had hitherto been considered a collection of symbols/graphemes without any meaning. Furthermore, I proved that the goldsmith who made the imitation was inspired by two different types of original Roman solidi, because he placed additional elements on the reverse that do not appear on the original Roman coins. 

To reconstruct the chronology of the coin, I relied on the one hand on the time of minting of the original, Roman model, and on the other hand on the dating of the deposit in which the imitation was found and the chronology of Scandinavian bracteates. I thus proposed time frames in which the discussed imitation was made. Additionally, I analyzed the specimen from Jutland against similar imitations known from Scandinavian and Polish finds. These imitations were probably produced on Gotland.