Silver treasure in Stendal: Storing pig coins reveal trade secrets!

Silver treasure in Stendal: Storing pig coins reveal trade secrets!

Altenzaun, Deutschland - Stendal (dpa/sa) - A sensational find from the district of Stendal throws a new light on early medieval trade with Friesland! A treasure of seven silver porcupine coins, which were discovered by a volunteer monument preserve between 2005 and 2014, is the treasure of this kind so far. Archaeologist Anika Exchange from the State Office for Monument Conservation and Archeology Saxony-Anhalt explains: "The silver content of the coins is over 80 percent. It was probably not that they were lost." These coins, known as Scattas, are proof of the lively trade that once flourished on the trade routes along the Elbe.

insights into trade history

The region around Altenzaun was an important trading center, where the long -distance trade routes of the Merovingian Empire crossed. "With these coins, we have the evidence that trading was carried out here," says archaeologist Georg Schafferer. At the time when Charlemagne subordinated the Saxons and integrating the Altmark into the Franconian Empire, bartering was widespread. These coins, which were shaped between the second half of the 7th century and the first half of the 8th century in East Frisia, served in particular to trade in England and probably come from the Frisian town of Dorestad.

The coins are not only a fascinating relic of the past, but also a key to our understanding of trade relationships in the early Middle Ages. Their design, which has developed from Roman and Byzantine models, shows a head in the profile with a radiation crown. Only the stylized radiation crown, which is reminiscent of a porcup pig. The back of the coins are decorated with a rectangle and central center, a sign of the commercial standards of the time.

The collection of the State Museum for Prehistory comprises around 25,000 find coins that are continuously digitized. The public can find out more about the fascinating objects at www.kenom.de, where the treasures of history are made accessible to everyone.