From Inspiration to Imitation – the Unusual Imitation of a Solidus of Honorius from Års (Vesthimmerlands Komm. / DK)

Abstract

From Inspiration to Imitation – the Unusual Imitation of a Solidus of Honorius from Års (Vesthimmerlands Komm. / DK)
An imitation of a Honorius solidus produced locally has been found in a deposit of bracteates from Års, in Northern Jutland. This is the first and only known Scandinavian imitation of a Late Roman solidus, minted on both sides, found in the western part of Scandinavia to date. In fact, analogous imitations are typical of the eastern part, i. e. Gotland (where they were probably produced), Öland, southern Sweden and Bornholm. Two finds also originate from Pomerania. Due to the fact that the imitation in question was minted in a mirror image, it can be assumed that it was made by an untrained craftsman, perhaps one who was engaged in the daily production of matrices for the manufacture of bracteates. Since the technique of producing bracteates differs from that of preparing dies and minting coins, the result of the experiment was a coin struck reversed to the original solidus of Honorius, which served as a model.