Breaking news: 22 pieces (945 gr in total) dating from the 5th century including late Roman Solidi and Medallions discovered by metal detectorist near Vejle in Denmark.
This is a very cool and significant find. Some of the medallions/brakteates carry runic inscriptions making them particularly valuable as historical sources.
Well that is certainly cool. Does he get to keep it, or get a reward for it? Or does it automatically go to a museum like in the UK?
There's some better pictures on the Vejle museum (where it will be dispayed next year) website here: https://www.vejlemuseerne.dk/viden-og-forskning/artikler/kaempe-guldskat-fundet-naer-jelling/ I wish they'd show the other side of this Constantine medallion! From the scale on the photo the medallion itself is about 40mm (50mm with bezel), which makes it something large - 6 solidi perhaps. From the style, long hair, and diadem it's from an eastern mint (Antioch or Nicomedia, perhaps) late in his reign c.330-335AD.
Here's the Valentinian medallion (reverse grabbed from museum facebook video). From the group shot the size looks similar to the Constantine one around 40mm, so it may be RIC IX 19 (6 solidi), same as this one from the ANS. http://numismatics.org/collection/1967.153.76
I've seen this in my newsfeed today and am utterly fascinated. This find will likely change the understanding of migration age bracteates dramatically. I'm eagerly awaiting the publication and scholarly analysis of this hoard. In short words, there is an ongoing and unresolved debate on whether 5th and 6th century bracteates reflect indigenous northern European religious beliefs and thus must be read in relation to (much later) Eddic sources, or whether they simply adapt images from Roman coins and medallions to fit local aesthetics and customs. For example, type C bracteates (human head and horse) have been interpreted either as showing the deity Odin, or as descendants of adventus-reverses showing the emperor on horseback. The Vejle hoard on first sight contains both numerous type A, C, and F bracteates, Roman gold coins made into pendants, and gold bracteates more closely copying Roman models. It thus might constitute a missing link between Roman coins and Scandinavian bracteates that supports the second (i.e. Roman) interpretation, which until now has been mostly overshadowed by the first (i.e. autochthonous religious iconography) interpretation. This might also have consequences for the interpretation of Runic inscriptions on migration age bracteates. These are typically decipherable but not interpretable. Some words of unclear meaning (e.g. laþu, laukaʀ, alu) are found on most known examples. Scholarship has mostly speculated that these series of letters each constitute a sort of incantation. An alternative interpretation that proposes to read these words as Scandinavian equivalents of titles on late Roman coins (like CAES, AVG, PF, DN, etc.) has so far received only little support. The discovery of the Vejle hoard might change this.
Here are the two most spectacular bracteates from the hoard. I think the depictions are both, inspired by Roman coin and genuinely Germanic. Even if the rider was inspired by an adventus-type, note the bird (raven) in from of the rider on the second piece and the swastika on the first piece.
I wouldn't doubt the Germanic influence on bracteate iconography per se, but in many cases it comes down to interpretations involving a good deal of speculation. The bird on the second bracteate you posted, which is closely related and maybe even a die match to the type C bracteate Fünen (I) (IK 58), is a good example. Do we see a raven accompanying Odin, as Karl Hauck influentially argued in the 1970s, or should this bird be regarded an eagle deriving from, for example, the eagle-tipped sceptres shown on late Roman coins? And again, the Roman influence might help to understand the Runic legend. For example, the bracteate from the Vejle hoard you posted above and Fünen (I) (IK 58) share the same inscription, which can be transliterated roughly as houaz laþu aaduaaaliia alu. Hauck proposed in a philologically sound manner that houaz probably means "the highest," interpolated that it refers to the Germanic chief deity Odin, and read the rather cryptic rest of the legend as a sort of incantation or an apotropaic formula. But if we take the link to Roman models serious, houaz, laþu, and alu could be read as abbreviated titles and aaduaaaliia as a personal name. We would thus see not a religious formula but a (ruler's?) name with accompanying titles analogous to emperors' names on late Roman coin legends.
I agree, reading and interpreting these runic inscriptions is to a large extent guesswork, which may quickly be influenced by wishful thinking The website below is from the University of Kiel in Germany. It includes all known runic inscriptions, with all sorts of information, including interpretations. For the Fünen I C-type bracteat a whole range of completely different readings have been proposed: http://www.runenprojekt.uni-kiel.de/abfragen/default.htm I suppose that the two lines of thinking are not mutually exclusive. Titles and names may have become incantations over time.
Below is an imitation, which I own and which I like to interpret as the earliest depiction of Sleipnir, Odin's eight-legged horse (since the coin is probably an East Germanic (Gothic) product, Odin would have been called Wodans) Argenteus-Imitation (?) The obverse may be based on an Argenteus of the Tetrachy (perhaps Maximianus or Constantius Chlorus). The reverse shows an eight-legged horse, which may be a representation of Odin/Wodan's horse Sleipnir, which is known only from much later Nordic sources. IIHEHEH - HE (inverse)HH // HEHN - HHE (inverse)H Date: Fourth century Found in Chernovitskaya Oblast (Ukraine) (Chernyakhovskaya culture) Metal: Silver Weight 3.46 gr. Diameter: 18mm.
I rewatched the video and realized they did show the Constantine reverse for about a second, with a caption emblazoned all over it ... it took a few attempts, but I was finally able to do a screen grab at the right time to get it (pausing the video doesn't work, since the player obscures the picture if you pause it). Anyways, it turns out I was right about the date and denomination, but dead wrong about the mint. It's from Trier, specifically RIC VII Trier 571. Reverse type is CONSTANTINI AVG with two victories holding a wreath with VOT XXX in it. Struck in Trier (mintmark TR) for Constantine's tricennalia in 335 AD. It seems to have been double-struck since you can see some doubling of the mintmark and exergual line on the reverse.
It's interesting to note the difference in wear between obverse and reverse of the Constantine medallion. I'm guessing this may be due to having been worn around the neck for a good amount of time, with the bust facing out and the reverse getting all the wear by rubbing against the wearer. Probably some fairly abrasive clothing back in the day! Given that this find has been dated to 6thC, it's possible that this was worn long after it was issued, perhaps even by whoever had owned it in Denmark. It's interesting to speculate the route it took from original recipient to Denmark ... was it at some point use to pay for something (i.e. a peaceful transfer), or was it spoils of war after the western empire was overrun?
