Numismatics - Peter's true passion
In recent years, interest in numismatics has increased among the Russian population, which is both exciting and quite profitable. Following this trend, many shops selling antiques open stores for coin…

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How to search for coins with a metal detector
A pot of gold coins hiding not only leprechauns on the poppy field, such finds of Ukrainian treasure hunters happen in our not at all fairy-tale state. Of course, it…

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Interesting facts from the history of collecting
The origins of collecting lead in antiquity. Notable people collected antiques and art objects and decorated them at home. In the I-II century BC in ancient Rome, the market of…

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COIN NOT ON POCKET
This coin really can not afford neither in size nor in weight. She appeared in the reign of Catherine I. True, her institution was not original. In the first half…

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The Great Migration of Nations (4th-6th centuries AD)

The prevailing idea that the hordes of barbarian peoples invaded the borders of the Roman Empire and thus caused its fall is outdated and no longer corresponds to the findings of modern historical science. First, a large number of Germans were in the (military) service of the Roman Empire even before the so-called. the migration of peoples, and, secondly, it is not a question of homogeneous ethnic tribes, but rather of mixed alliances concluded for specific purposes. These alliances and opposed the troops of the late ancient states.
In this regard, the concept of the Great Migration of Peoples, which has become part of the speech cycle since the 18th century, is increasingly being criticized by modern historians. From the point of view of numismatics, the era of the migration of peoples means all the chased coins of Germanic tribes (gentes), starting with the first “pseudo-imperial” copies of Roman coins and ending with their own “nationalized” coins of the German kingdoms (regna).
The first stage of the development of monetary business in the era of the migration of peoples was the so-called “pseudo-imperial” coins, “barbaric imitations”, which are more or less successful imitations of imperial gold and silver coins. By their style, you can determine in which tribe they were minted. Coins of copper (follis) and silver (silicium) were “nationalized” already from the end of the 5th century, which means that they were minted by decree of the German rulers. Coins of gold (solid and triense) were still Eastern Roman, Byzantine specimens. Only sometimes the image was supplemented with a small monogram of a local sovereign (for example, “GVB” – the monogram of the King of Burgundy Gundobald, 473-516). The King of the Franks Theodebert of Metz (534–548) was the first king to strike his own name on a coin and thus violate the Byzantine emperor’s monopoly on minting gold coins.
For collectors of coins of the Great Migration, such collectible areas as vandals (North Africa), Ostrogoths (Italy), Visigoths (France and Spain), Svets (Spain) and Lombards (Italy) are opened. However, it should be noted that to determine the origin and identify the coin is not always easy, it requires a good knowledge of special literature.
Relive the times of the invasion of the barbarians and the beginning of the European Middle Ages, represented in the images and inscriptions on the coins! Discover the Great Migration and delve into the fascinating literature on the coinage of this time.

On the fate of coin stamps of the St. Petersburg Mint
Mikhail Ivanovich Smirnov, the archivist of the St. Petersburg Mint, published an interesting article in the 6th issue of the Old Coin: “The Mints Cabinet and the Museum of the…

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Medieval coins (ca. 500-1500)
Medieval coins (ca. 500-1500)The Middle Ages spanned 1,000 years of European history, starting with the earliest chased coins of the German successor states of the Roman Empire during the Great…

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