I wonder if those Germanic tribes ever minted coins, and I don't mean the barbarous imitations of Roman coinages, and neither the coins from kingdoms like the gothic, Vandal, and the Odoacer's Kingdom of Italy. But, actual native coins produced alongside the Romans, similar to the Celtic coinages.
Could you specify which Germanic tribes? For example, this coin was minted by Western German tribes, and though scarce, are usually found in the Southern to Eastern parts of the Netherlands.
That's a good question. My initial response is to say, no. they did not, at least none that I am aware of. I would guess that the Germanics, until they occupied and had to rule conquered Roman lands, had no need for coins as currency within their tribal settings. Sure, they wanted coinage, good silver coins but only as a source of metal for objects they valued such as jewelry, votive offerings, etc, but not as part of a monetary economy. The equivalent of taxes to their own rulers could be rendered in goods and services. If they needed to trade for Roman goods they had products to trade in return, slaves, amber, furs, etc. and if they did need cash for dealing with Roman merchants, their occasional barbarous knock-offs might pass muster as bullion. It sometimes comes as a surprise to us, but in the Ancient World, the Medieval world and today in some developing countries, barter has worked out just fine.
There is no one simple answer to this question, so here are a few remarks: 1. The Germanic tribes had no monetarized currency system but probably relied mostly on barter. This doesn't mean they didn't use traded or looted Roman coin, either to store wealth, as bullion for producing jewelry etc., or for trade. Many native hoards of Roman coins have been discovered in "Germania magna," including this 4th century northern German hoard of gold jewelry and mostly Antonine denarii that I was able to admire in the Landesmuseum Hannover two years ago: 2. "Barbarous radiates" have been produced and used by Germanic tribes. Their exact role for local economy remains up for debate. 3. Starting in the 3rd century, eastern Germanic tribes (e.g. Goths) started striking gold coins more or less loosely imitating Roman originals. These are usually holed or have attached loops, indicating they were mostly used for jewelry and not as currency. Since many such finds from Eastern Europe have been published only in the last few years, there is comparatively much recent research on this topic. This article (in German) gives a good overview of what we know at this point. 4. In the “Migration Age,” the eastern Germanic tribes started striking regular coinage. There are other forum members specializing in this extremely complex field of "barbarous" 5th century coinage (@Tejas comes to mind). Maybe they'll chime in. 5. It is not always possible to draw a clear line between "Celtic" and "Germanic" tribes. Therefore, some coins usually called "Celtic" could also be considered "Germanic." This applies e.g. to the Regenbogenschüsselchen shown by @Roerbakmix above as well as to the coin below, provided the tentative attribution to the Bastarnae tribe is correct. Eastern Celts: Bastarnae? (interpretation Topalov), AE 18 overstruck on Greek coin, 2nd–1st century BC, southeastern Bulgaria. Obv: primitive head of Strymon, die almost worn blank. Rev: ornamented trident. 18mm, 5.70g. Ref: imitating SNG Copenhagen 1298; see Pannov: Koine (2013), pp. 191–2; Macdonald: Overstruck (2009), pp. 99–114.
The German tribes used to have coins in Gold, Silver and Copper, even before the Romans occupied the land up to the river Rhine. Look into: http://docplayer.org/54245008-North-gaul-and-raetia-david-wigg-wolf-1-the-arrival-of-roman-coin.html. As far as I understand, it have been Celtic coins, which are found all over Europe but there are also local issues. And Celtic tribes have been in Germany at least in the southern part (like Bavaria). The Boier in today's Bohemia minted gold coins based on the Greek model for a long time. This was taken over by the Vindelikern in Manching (Bavaria) Based on a Boi coin with a type of "dragon snake" (roller animal) as the archetype, the Boier continued to produce coins with only one hump (shell)
Fraid that is not really the way I see it Kevin. Within 20th century archaeological parlance what was going on back then in Germany was to a large extent a “custom and command economy”. (Early gold issues would not much change that). But that too seems to me a clumsy way to put the matter. Ancient Chinese texts put the matter more accessibly when they dictate that “money should travel down not up”. What I judge the Chinese were saying is that rulers/states should get their taxes (and that would be primarily food grains) somewhat covertly – that is - generally under some religious pretext – so its “upward” progress was hidden. The goodies could then be distributed by the emperor/pharaoh/clan chief as if he was the font of all wealth. So goodies were openly only seen to travel “down” - as a kind of largess. That was at the heart of how power was exercised in pre-coinage economies. Its no coincidence that coin first appeared used alongside forms of atheism in Europe, India and China. But that too risks an over-simplification. I learned something getting up at 5 am this morning. BBC Radio 4 prayer for the day was from a Scottish minister who claimed that at the time of John Knox the Catholic church was taking 18 times more from the Scottish economy that the Scottish king (!) – and that that lay at the root of the protestant shift. Fascinating. The move from a “custom and command economy” to one driven by taxing coin driven market activity was not a one time event, the two systems dovetailed. They still do really – Keynsianisms are not that far from the “down not up” ancient philosophies. (Keynes himself hated coins and claimed the ancient Egyptians got on perfectly well without them!) All this is not to deny that barter happened in pre-coinage societies. Of course it did. But it operated at the fringes of the system, a bit like a kind of black market, taking up the slack where the state failed to provide. The simpler story about coinage merely replacing barter started with Aristotle so has been doing the rounds for more than 2 millennia. Not likely then that little old me pointing out its wrong is going to have much effect. Sigh. Rob PS – I think you were right earlier to say Roman inflation probably did not much track debasement prior to Aurelian. But I suspect that would be on an index of the denarius against bread etc. I tend to doubt your claim that base denariii/ants freely changed at fixed rate against gold. Do you have evidence to back the claim? Thanks anyhow for moving the discussion onto these important issues!
JayAg47, Orielensis presented an excellent outline of coinage from the Germanic tribes, & his opening statement is right on target "There is no simple answer to this question". About 10 years ago I noticed a gold solidus from an old German collection that appeared more German than Celtic, that kept popping up at auctions in Europe. That coin finally made an appearance at CNG Triton XXI, where I ended up winning it, see photo below. The coin is a copy of a Roman solidus, however, the portrait side isn't as well engraved as the Gothic solidi of Theodoric, as can be seen in the coin below it.
