a new coin type for offa / c.e. blunt, g. van der meer

8/9/2019 A new coin type for Offa / C.E. Blunt, G. van der Meer

1/11

Berichten

van de

Rijksdienst

voor

het

Oudheidkundig Bodemonderzoek


2/11

A F K O R T I N G E N

AE

L'Anne'e

Epigraphique

Ant.

Class, UAntiquiU Classique

Ant.

Journ.

Antiquaries

Journal

APL

Analec ta Praehistorica

Leidemia

Arch. Journ. Archaeological

Journal

AWN Archeologische

Werkgemeenschap voor

Nederland

BAI

Biologisch-Archaeologisch Inst ituu t,

Groningen

BJ

Banner Jahrbiicher

BMC

H. Mattingly

1965:

Coins

of the Roman

Empire

in the British Museum, i, London

BomM Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht

BRGK Bericht der Romisch-Germanischen

Komrnission

BROB

Berichten van de Rijksdienst

voor

het


CIL

Corpus Inscriptionum

Latinarum

D H.

Dessau 1892-916:

Inscriptiones

Latinae

selectae, i—in,

Berolini

EE

Ephemeris epigraphica

ER A.W.

Byvanck

1931-47: Excerpta Romana; de

brannen der Romeinsdw geschiedenis van

.Nederland, i—in, s-Gravenhage

HKC

P.V. Hill, J.P.C.

Kent/R.A.G,

Carson 1965:

Late Roman B ronze Coinage, London

IPEK

J

ahrbuch

fur

prfihistorische

un d ethnographische

Kunst

IPP Instituut

voor

Prae- en

Protohistorie,

Amsterdam

JM P

Jaarboek voor Munt-

en Penningkunde

JRS

Journal of

Roman Studies

JVT

Jaanerslag

van de

Vereeniging

voor

Terpenonderzoek

MA Medieval Archaeology

NAP

Nieuw

Amsterdams

Peil (Dutch Datum

Level)

NDV Nieuwe Drents(ch)e Volksalmanak

NKNOB Nieuwsbulletin van de Koninklijke

Nederlandse

Oudheidkundige Bond

OML N.R.

Oudheidkundige Mededelingen

uit he t

Rijksmuseum

van

Oudheden

te

Leiden, Nieuwe Reeks

PIR

1 Prosopographia imperil

Romani

saec.

I. II. Ill

Mil, Berolini 1897-8

PIR® Prosopographia imperil Romani saec, I. II.

Ill

a,

AufL,

Berolini 1933-66

PPS Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society

P

Praehistorische

^eitschrift

RB.N Revue Beige

de .Numismatique

RE Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen

Altertumswissenschaft,

Neue Bearbeitung

von

G. Wissowa, W. Kroll, K. Mittelhaus,

K,

Ziegler

RIB R.G. Collingwood/R.P. Wright

1965:

The

Roman

Inscriptions

of Britain

i; Inscriptions

on

Stone, Oxford

RIG

J.W.E. Pearce

1951: The

Roman

Imperial

Coinage,

ix,

London

RMO Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden

RN

Revue Numismatique

RNB

Revue Numismatique Beige

ROB Rijksdienst voor het Oudheidkundig

Bodemonderzoek

(State

Archeological Servi

TAG

Tijdschrift

van het Koninklijk Nederlands(ch)

Aardrijkskundig

Genootschap

N O O T

Het aardewerk is op

schaal

i : 4 afgebeeld, tenzij

anders

aan

geven;

de

profielen

van het handgevormde aardewerk

zijn

w

die van gedraaid aardewerk zijn zwart getekend.

Unless

otherwise stated, the pottery is drawn to a scale of

1

the

profiles

of hand-made pottery are represented in white

wheel-made

pottery

in

black.

Omslagtekening: Badorf-pot uit Dorestad

Cover

drawing: Badorf jug from Dorestad


3/11

B E R I G H T E N

V AN DE

R I J KSDIENST

VOOR HET

O U D H E I D K U N D I G

B O D E M O N D E R Z O E K


4/11

Staatsuitgeverij —

s-Gravenhage

1970


5/11

Berichten van de Rijksdienst

voor het Oudheidkundig Bodemonderzoek

Proceedings of the State Service

for Archeological Investigations

in the Netherlands

jaargang 19,

1969


6/11

R E D A G T I E

W.A. van Es, H. Halbertsma, J.F. van Regteren

Altena en W.G. Mank

Adres:

Rijksdienst

voor

he t

Oudheidkundig Bodem-

onderzoek, Kleine

Haag

2, A mersfoort, Nederland

Grafische

verzorging:

Aart Verhoeven, s-Gravenhage,

en

H.J. Bloklander, ROB Amersfoort


7/11

INHOUD

Artikelen

J.A.

Brongers, Ancient Old-World Trepanning

Instruments

7

G.

J.

Verwers,

The

Beginning

of the

Late Bronze

Age

in the

Lower Rhine Area

17

J.E. Bogaers, Cohortes Breucorum

27

W.

J.T. Peters,

Mural

Painting Fragments Found

in

the Roman Legionary Fortress at

Nijmegen u 51

J.H.F. Bloemers, Ein

spatromischer

Goldmunzen-

fund aus

Obbicht,

Prov. Limburg 73

P.E. van Schie-Herweijer,

Solidi

of

Valens, Anasta-

sius, and

Maurice Tiberius

from

Scharnegoutum,

Prov. Friesland

81

J. Ypey, Zur Tragweise

fruhfrankischer

Giirtelgar-

nituren auf Grund

niederlandischer Befunde

89

W.A. van Es, Early-Medieval Hand-made Pottery

from Den

Burg, Texel, Prov. North Holland

129

P. Schmid, Die Siedlungskeramik von Mucking

(Essex) un d

Feddersen Wierde (Kr. Wesermunde)

Ein

Formenvergleich 135

M.U. Jones, Saxon Pottery

from a Hut at

Mucking,

Essex;

with contributions by J.N.L. Myres and

Vera I. Evison

145

Vera

I.

Evison, Five Anglo-Saxon Inhumation

Graves Containing Pots at Great

Ghesterford,

Essex;

with a contribution by J.N.L. Myres 157

S.E. West,

Pagan

Saxon Pottery

from

West Stow,

Suffolk

175

W.A. van Es, Excavations at Dorestad; a Pre-

preliminary Report: 1967-1968 183

W. van Zeist, Agriculture in Early-Medieval

Dorestad; a Preliminary Report 209

G.E.

Blunt and G. van der Meer, A New Coin

Type

f o r O f f a 2 1

H.H. van Regteren Altena and H.

Sarfatij,

A Late-

Medieval Site at Diernen, Prov. North

Holland;

with

contributions

by A.

Voorrips

215

H.H. van Regteren Altena and H.J. Zantkuyl, A

Medieval House Site in Amsterdam; with contribu-

tions by W. Groenman-van Waateringe,

J P

Pals,

A.T. Glason, and L.H. van Wijngaarden-Bakker 233

Korte berichten

A.D. Verlinde,

Three

New

Bell-Beakers from

the

Netherlands

269

L.Th. Lehmann, Urn or Food Vessel 27

R.S.

Hulst,

A Bronze Age Settlement at

Elst,

Prov.

Utrecht

27

S.L. Wynia, EinTerra-sigillata-BodenmitGemmen-

stempel aus

Vechten

279

R.S. Hulst

and

Marianne Maaskant-Kleibrink,

A

2nd-Century

Grave with Iron Intaglio Ring

from

Wijchen, Prov. Gelderland 28

W.A.

van Es,

Another Late-Roman Gold

and

Silver Pin 28

E.H.P. Gordfunke, Roman and Early-Medieval

Pottery

from

Limmen, Prov. North Holland

29


8/11

AUTEUR S

J.H.F. Bloemers,

ROB Kleine Haag 2,

Am ersfoort

C.E. Blunt, Ramsbury Hill, Ramsbury, near

Marlborough,

Wilts.,

England

J.E. Bogaers, Instituut voor Oude Geschiedenis

en

Archeologie, Begijnenstraat

29 ,

Nijmegen

J.A. Brongers, ROB Kleine

Haag

2,

Amersfoort

A.T. Clason, BAI Poststraat 6, Groningen

E.H.P. Cordfunke,

Hobbemalaan

14,

Alkmaar

W.A.

van Es,

ROB Kleine

Haag 2,

Amersfoort

Vera

I.

Evison, Birkbeck

College, Malet

Street,

London

w.c.i,

England

W.

Groenman-van Waateringe,

IPP,

Nieuwe

Prinsengracht

39-41,

Amsterdam

R.S. Hulst,

ROB

Kleine Haag

2, Amersfoort

M.U.Jones, 51 ,

St Stephen s H ouse, Victoria

Embankment, London s.w.i, England

L.Th.

Lehmann,

Amstel

9,

Amsterdam

Marianne

Maaskant-Kleibrink, Koninklijk

Penningkabinet, Zeestraat 7ib, s-Gravenhage

G. van. d er

Meer, Koninklijk Penningkabinet,

Zeestraat 7ib, s-Gravenhage

J.N.L. Myres, Manor House, Kennington, Oxford,

England

J.P.

Pals, IPP , Nieuwe Prinsengracht

39-41,

Amsterdam

W.J.T.

Peters, Instituut voor Oude Geschiedenis

en

Archeologie, Begijnenstraat 29, Nijmegen

H.H. van Regteren A ltena, IPP, Nieuwe Prinsengracht 19,

Amsterdam

H. Sarfatij, ROB

Kleine

Haag 2, Amersfoort

P.E. van Schie-Herweijer, Keetberglaan 222, IJmuid

(Zeewijk)

P. Schmid, Nieders achs. Landesinstitut fur

Marsche

un d

Wurtenforschung,

Viktoriastrafie

26-28,

Willemshaven,

Deutschland

A.D. V erlinde,

ROB

Kleine Haag 2, Amersfoort

G.J. Verwers, Instituut voor

Prehistoric,

Breestraat

Leiden

A.

Voorrips, IPP, Nieuwe Prinsengracht

19,

Amsterd

S.E. West,

2, The

Street, Woolpit, Bury

St

Edmund

Suffolk, England

L.H. van Wijngaarden-B akker, IPP, Nieuwe

Prinsengracht

39-41,

Amsterdam

S.L. Wynia, Archeologisch Instituut

de r

Vrije

Universiteit, D e Boelelaan 1105, Amsterdam-

Buitenveldert

J.

Ypey,

ROB

Kleine

Haag 2, Amersfoort

H.J. Z antku yl, Gemeentelijk Bureau Monum entenz

Dirk van Hasseltsteeg 51-53, Amsterdam

W. van

Zeist,

BAI

Poststraat

6,

Groningen


9/11

C.E.

B L U N T / G .

V A N D E R

M E E R

A N e w Coin

Type

for

Offa

fig. i; pi.xxv

Tho ugh there is good reason to believe that we still have

mu ch to learn about Offa s coinage

1

, th e appearance of a

new type by a hitherto unrecorded moneyer is something

exceptional.

It is,

therefore, with

a

very

real

sense

of

gratitude that we acknowledge the courtesy of the

Koninklijk

Penningkabinet a t The Hague and of the

Rijksdienst voor

het


in

allowing us to record the coin illustrated above, and we

are part icularly indebted to the Director of the latter,

Professor W.A. van Es, and to Mr. R.I. Page, of Cam-

bridge, who has carefully studied the runic inscription

and given us the benefit of his views on it.

The coin was

found

on 26 Ma rch

1968,

in excavations

being carried

out by the

RO B

a t

Wijk

bi j

Duurstede.

It was

unea rthed in a disturbed layer in level 3 of trench 26, and

nothing

was

found

in association with it. The

obverse

bears the name of the great Anglo-Saxon

King

Offa

(757-

96), Charlemagne s contemporary, and the runic in-

scription

of the

reverse reveals

t he

n a me

of a new

moneyer

for this king.

It may be

described

as follows:

Obverse: Legend O F F A the o lozenge-shaped, the A

chevron-barred. The name is set in a concave panel with

three pellets in each corner. Above and below are two

arches of a similarly curved tressure with pellets inside.

Either side of the pa nel is what appears to be a leaf placed

vertically. The whole is contained within a linear circle.

Reverse: A

runic inscription, which

is

discussed below.

Design generally similar

to the

obverse,

but

there

are no

sides to the

centre panel.

O ne bar of the

runic d

is

con-

tinued

top and bottom, to

join

a linear circle which

contains

th e

design.

Weight: 1.17

g.

T he ru nic inscription is not entirely clear. M r. Page would

Fig.i Wijk bij

Duurstede: Coin

of Offa,

reverse

runic in-

scription

be inclined to read it Ednoth, but is puzzled by the two

seemingly

quite

deliberate

hooks

at the

foot

of the first

letter. These are abnormal and their

significance

is not

clear. H owever, it is jus t possible that the first element in

th e

name might

be

intended

to

combine

th e

rune

for the

letter e with runic ea th e latter inverted.

This would produce the name Eadnoth.

T he absence of the royal title on the obverse will b e

noted.

This, though exceptional on

Offa s

coins, is occasionally

found

2

.

The

possibility that

the

coin might

be a

continental

imitation of a coin of O ffa s was first considered, but was

rejected on two

grounds. First, there

is no

known prototype

for

obverse or reverse

from

which it could have been

copied (not, however,

a

conclusive argument, because,

as

already explained, ou r knowledge of Offa s

coinage

is

manifestly

incomplete);

th e

second,

that th e

runic letter

d

is of a type much more common in England than

outside it.

i See C.E. Blunt, The

Coinage

of

Of fa ,

in: R.H.M. Dolley

(ed.) ,

Anglo-Saxon Coins Studies

presented

to

P M

Stenton

London

1961, 46 .

2 E.g. on

nos.

7, 30, 38, 46, and 48,

illustrated

in

Anglo-Saxon

Coins

pis.

iv and v.

213


10/11

C . E . B L U N T AN D G. VAN DER M E E K / A New Coin

Type

fo r Offa

If it is

English,

th e

runic inscription associates

it

with

other coins of Offa w ith runic legends which are attributed

to

East Anglia

3

.

Of the five moneyers who, it has been suggested, worked

for Offa in an East Anglian m int, the nam es of two, Lul

and Wihtred, are found also on coins struck in the name

of

a historically unknow n King E adw ald, who may ha ve

occupied the East Anglian throne for a short period after

3 Ibid.

4g-so,

and 59.

4

Ibid.

50.

Offa s death

4

. Only one other moneyer is known to

worked for

this King

and his

n a me

is

Eadnoth.

Tw

possibly three) of his coins have survived

5

. The new

from Wijk bij Duurstede thus fits very neatly int

East Anglian group of

Offa s

coins and the f ac t th

obverse

is not of the three-line type suggests that it

of

hi s latest issue, introduced some four years befo

death.

5 C f.

Bri t ish Numismatic Journa l 1969, 182-3, where

a

s

modified

version of this

note

has been

published.

214


11/11

C E B L U N T

A N D G . V A N D E R

M E E R

A N e w Coin Type f or O f f a

W i j k bi j Du u r s te d e: Co in of O f f a w i th r e v e r se e n l a r ge d

a new coin type for offa / c.e. blunt, g. van der meer

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