Coining values: bronze between money and scrap in late Roman and early medieval Europe

[Authors and titles are listed at the end of the review]

This volume is the outcome of a conference, “Coining Values. Bronze between money and scrap in Late Roman and early medieval Europe”, held in Bonn, October 26-28, 2023. The editors, Anna Flückiger and Jan Bemmann, set the scene for the volume in a short, two-page  preface, addressing the topic under investigation: the presence of base metal coins in the archaeological record in the European northwest, their origin, circulation, use and reuse, as well as loss. They add that four conference contributions were unable to make it into the publication, which would have further framed the book’s subject matter. The remainder of the volume is divided into two parts: five overview chapters, and nine thematic study chapters.

The five overview chapters act as a series of introductory chapters, helping contextualize the thematic study chapters, which are better understood as case studies. The absence of a fuller introduction is a missed opportunity from the editors to capitalize on the excellent individual chapters, to drive the research agenda, and to situate bronze recycling within the larger discourse of recent research on recycling (see p. 73 for five such studies cited). The reader is therefore largely left to their own devices to understand the connections between the individual case studies and the conceptual framework chapters.  One example is Fraser Hunter’s contribution on hacksilver which stands at odds with the focus of the volume on scrap bronze (per the book title and introduction). Hunter himself notes “bringing the topic of silver to a conference focused on bronze might seem a curious choice” (p. 62), although it is in fact a very helpful example of “how the meaning and use of a metal changed and transformed” (p. 62). Another benefit of an introductory or concluding chapter would have been the ability to tie together case studies, several of which also seem peculiar for their inclusion; several chapters pertain to bronze (finds) in Italy, which hardly can be ascribed as belonging to the European northwest (the focus of the book per the introduction). It is important to note that the absence of an introduction does not detract from the interesting and strong individual contributions, which jointly are better understood as a collection of essays. While it is impossible within the word limit to discuss the entirety of the volume to the extent it merits, a brief account is provided, as a means to help underscore the value of the publication to the discipline.

Ambitious in its coverage, Fleur Kemmers’ contribution usefully focuses on the concept of money and its definition, to very briefly consider the monied role of uncoined bronze (aes rude) of Iron Age Italy and to draw a connection to the Late Medieval world. In the subsequent chapter, Ralph Mathisen provides a short but impressively helpful overview of base metals, as testified in ancient sources. The key takeaway is that the state did care about bronze, and it was obviously important enough to warrant legislation and government attention. Readers should pay attention to this because most studies have focused on gold and silver, for obvious reasons, but aes (or bronze) is equally significant in understanding monetary and societal aspects of the ancient world. In Anna Flückiger’s overview chapter, the new term “hackbronze” is put alongside the well-known concept of Hacksilber (it is unclear whether the German is used to make a point). A detailed synthesis of the subject from an economic, commodity, and currency perspective is provided, to put forward the case of bronze functioning as bullion and money in the late Roman world. Thereafter, David Wigg-Wolf’s contribution points to the connection between the end of Roman bronze coin supply and the withdrawal of the Roman military and administrative rule along the Rhine. The lack of late fourth century imitations together with the melting and cutting of coins is used as evidence of a society in transition. Fraser Hunter closes the overview chapter section with a generalized paper on hacksilver. The very convenient summary of recent scholarship, taken together with the bibliography, offers an instructive introduction for those unfamiliar with the concept of hacksilver (a descriptive term for cutting silver in regularized weights).

Giulia Bison’s attention to recycling copper alloy in Rome is the first thematic chapter of the book. The chapter brings to light archaeological evidence for the recycling of various forms of metal, but most notably, coins. Coins (dating between mid-fourth and the early sixth century AD) that were “once of paramount importance for the economic life of a city” (p. 73) are recycled in Late Antiquity, reflecting changing values of objects. Some of these coins may still have been in circulation when they were recycled, but their material qualities outweighed their monetary value. The practice is evocative of still-current silver culling of half dollars today (pre-1964 half dollars have 90% silver; 1965-1970 have 40% silver whereby they can be traded in for their bullion value, ca. $5-15 per coin). Bison astutely calls attention to the actors involved and the necessary operational chains although much remains unclear. Alessandro Bona’s lengthy data-rich chapter on Mediolanum pairs nicely with the preceding one. Bona assesses coin finds from the late fourth to early sixth century to conclude that coins continued to circulate in Milan without being replaced by “hackbronze”. The limited number of cut coins and imitations are understood as demand for small change/coinage. How and why Milan and Rome differed is not addressed by either author or by the editors. It remains puzzling but is a tantalizing opportunity to understand the dynamics of metal and coin use in Late Antique Italy. Bona does draw attention to Aquileia so a basis for further exploration is in one’s grasp.

Marcus Zagermann, in one of three German chapters in the volume, considers the use of coins and scrap bronze in various post-Roman (or ‘barbaric’) contexts in the hillside settlement of San Martino (in the region of Trentino). At this Italian site, Late Antique coins have been found in later contexts, sometimes cut or clipped, which is interpreted as an indication for a shortage of coinage. Thinly hammered fibulae and bronze crosses could also point toward a “hackbronze” society, but no detailed weight analysis is available to make such a case. In the next chapter, Eckhard Wirbelauer presents a case study of very lightweight silver (coin) imitations in graves at Niedernai (France), before contextualizing the phenomenon across northern France, Belgium, and Germany. Although this is an interesting contribution, the reader must deduce why a chapter on silver imitations, which were contemporaneous to the graves, is included in a volume focused on bronze. The subsequent chapter by Rahel Otte’s lines up well with that by Wigg-Wolf by considering the end of monetization in the Rhineland. In a seemingly paradoxical situation, Roman fortresses and cities stop using coins earlier than Germanic settlements, where Roman coins remained in use until the 420s. Otte concludes that a possible reason for differing circulation patterns is that Theodosian coins lay between money and scrap, and thus formed an important part of an economy in transition from a monetary one to a system of barter.

Holger Komnick’s chapter presents coin and bullion finds in the Barbaricum (modern-day Brandenburg, Berlin, and Saxony) to conclude that coins did not serve a monetary purpose in the region and there was no concept of “hackbronze”. Rather, everything was destined for the melting pot. Anna Zapolska’s contribution considers bronze (and orichalcum) coins in the nearby western Baltics during the late Roman period. The chapter title suitably indicates the focus of bronze functioning as gold (i.e. a social status marker) by studying coins and artefacts in graves.

Ellen Swift’s article assesses copper alloy artefacts in the late to post-Roman transition period in Britain. The author argues that the value and function of copper alloy objects transitioned due to political and economic developments, leading to the repurposing of objects; the fate of coins was to be melted down, or transformed for ritual purposes (as testified by piercing), but they also served as iconographic inspiration for copper rings. In the volume’s final chapter, Peter Bray introduces the ambitious REMADE project (the Roman and Early Medieval Defined project) which seeks to chemically analyze metal objects in use in Britain across the first millennium AD. Only a general overview of copper alloys is provided but it seems probable that the project will study melted coins, “hackbronze” and other recycled and repurposed metal objects in the future, with its funding secured until 2029.

The editors must have worked at a breakneck speed to ensure a more than timely turnaround for the conference proceedings (from 2023 to 2024!), although the publication would have benefited from closer editorial attention. Superficial inconsistencies across the volume are easily noted: inconsistent citation styles (some chapters use footnotes and others in-text references), varying methods of acknowledgement (some in footnote, some as a sub-chapter section), and different opening styles to a chapter (some appear to have a short preface, others a short preface serving as an introduction followed by an introduction heading, and one with an abstract). The book is beautifully illustrated and printed in color on glossy paper and hard bound. The publishers, Reichert Verlag, are to be commended for the masterful production which helps mask these nitpicking editorial discrepancies.

It should be clear that the substance of this volume  is important: aes (bronze) has been ignored too long in archaeological reports and understudied vis-à-vis precious metals. This volume offers an up-to-date introduction to consider the transition between the Late Roman and early Medieval period (largely focused in northwest Europe), through the lens of bronze objects and coins. It highlights the opportunity for more research and, most importantly, the need for a holistic approach to the subject, but fortunately a basis for future scientific inquiry is provided here.

Authors and Titles

Introduction: Anna Flückiger and Jan Bemmann

Overviews

1. Money, Metal, and the Social Construction of Value: Fleur Kemmers
2. The Value of Base Metals in Late Roman Law, Administration, and Economies: Ralph W. Mathisen
3. Hackbronze – Coining a Term for Late Antiquity: Anna Flückiger
4. What Happened after Coins? The Collapse of a Coin-Using Economy in the Late-Roman Northwest: David Wigg-Wolf
5. ‘Scrap Silver’? Changing Perspectives on Silver’s Transformation in the Late Roman and Early Medieval Periods: Fraser Hunter

Thematic Studies

6. The View from the City: the Social Aspects and Value of Copper Alloy Recycling in Late Antique Rome: Giulia Bison
7. Traces of Complexity. Monetary Circulation in Mediolanum during the Fifth Century AD: Persistence and Change: Alessandro Bona
8. Die spätantike Höhensiedlung von San Martino (Lomaso, Trentino) als sicherer Aufbewahrungsort von Metallen: Marcus Zagermann
9. Argentei minuti aus dem elsässischen Niedernai: Überlegungen zur Interpretation einer Fundmünzengruppe: Eckhard Wirbelauer
10. Coins without Value? The Hoard from Rheindahlen and the End of Monetisation in the Rhineland: Rahel Otte
11. Kein Geld oder Kleingeld? Römische Bronzemünzen des 4. Jahrhunderts n. Chr. und fragmentierte Bronzeobjekte aus Brandenburg, Berlin und Sachsen: Holger Komnick
12. Is Bronze the “New Gold”? The Rome of Roman Bronze among the West Balts’ Societies in the Late Roman Period: Anna Zapolska
13. The Uses and Values of Copper Alloy Artefacts in the Late to Post-Roman Transition Period in Britain: Ellen Swift
14. Chemical Eddies: An Introduction to the REMADE Project’s Approach to Coins, Chemistry and Recycling: Peter Bray