British Coins and Tokens

Early Anglo-Saxon Period, MEROVINGIANS, Childebertus Adoptivus (656-662), Solidus, Marseilles, diademed and draped bust right, large b before face, mas-iγia around, rev. xnildebertvs rxi, cross on globe, flanked by m-a, 3.55g/5h (BMC 1865,0323.18, same dies; Belfort 2566-7). Striking split at 11 o’clock, minor stress marks and some peripheral weakness, otherwise very fine with a strong royal portrait, extremely rare £4,000-£5,000

found near Southfleet, Kent, on 17 October 2022 (EMC 2022.0377)

Examined and tested by Arent Pol, the coin produced a specific gravity figure of 12.58, which translates to a fineness of approximately 35%.

Childebert the Adopted’s short reign was borne of scheming and intrigue. As Grierson summarises in the introduction to MEC 1, ‘[f]rom 642 onwards to his death in 656 [the Frankish king Sigebert III] reigned in the shadow of his Mayor of the Palace, Grimoald… Having for long been childless, Sigebert adopted Grimoald’s son and gave him the royal name of Childebert. Subsequently he had a son of his own, the future Dagobert II. When Sigebert died, Grimoald set aside Dagobert and installed his own son as king, a usurpation which came to an abrupt end when a Neustrian conspiracy led to the seizure and death of them both.'

Merovingian minting appears to have been a hugely complex enterprise. Variation was the rule; thousands of moneyers and hundreds of different locations are recorded upon the coins, revealing a decentralised system of urban political culture. Curiously, the name of the ruling Frankish sovereign was hardly ever employed, and this seems even more surprising when we consider the primacy attached to the imperial name and title on the late Roman coinage. The vast majority of Merovingian coinage looks, at face value, totally disconnected from royal authority. Only at the faraway mint of Marseilles do we find a sustained attempt to produce a coinage on the Roman mould - one which employs the royal name and systematically retains the use of the large gold Solidus. This series was produced throughout much of the seventh century, beginning under Chlothar II (c. 613) and ending under Dagobert II (c. 679). However, examples remain very rare, particularly in comparison to the relatively plentiful ‘National’ coinage, with the coinage of Childebertus Adoptivus being especially elusive.

It is notable feature of the Frankish ‘Royal’ issues - and indeed Merovingian coinage as a whole - that a considerable proportion of the known specimens have been recovered from Britain. While Metcalf may have proven that the majority of these Merovingian imports circulated as money upon their arrival upon these shores, this need not be the case for the ‘Royal’ Solidi. Their absence from contemporary hoards such as Sutton Hoo and (more conspicuously) Crondall suggests a marginal function. A similar conclusion might be reached when we consider that the majority of the ‘Royal’ Solidi found in Britain show signs off having been converted into jewellery, either through piercing or the attachment of a loop (EMC 1982.9016; EMC 1990.0166; EMC 2005.0212; EMC 2011.0256; PAS KENT-4A1EA1; PAS SUR-09EA44; BMC 1865,0323.18 [presumably British found]; EMC 1, 406 [presumably British found]; Prou 1934). Clearly, these large gold coins did not circulate widely, and they were largely retained for use as personal adornment. In one case, a mounted Solidus of Dagobert I, a context of royal gift exchange has been proposed (Metcalf 2014, p. 55). Is it possible that all of these extremely rare coins (including the piece presented here) can be attributed to similar mechanisms of aristocratic exchange? One recalls the passage in Bede where the historian describes a dream experienced by the Kentish princess Eorcengota; a crowd of men had come to escort her away, and declared their intention to ‘take back with them the golden coin’. Such a metaphor suggests that these objects could be imbued with great personal meaning and significance.