“The afterlife” of money. The coins found in the necropolis of Brad (Negri Commune, Bacău County)

Abstract

The medieval necropolis of Brad overlaps the fortified section of the Geto-Dacian fortress of Zargidava, located on the left bank of the Siret River. Altogether, 962 graves were researched here during the years 1963-2004. The numismatic material consists of 158 coins that were discovered in 146 graves. The coins are small silver and bronze
denominations that belong to various issuers and date back to an extremely generous chronological range (14th-19th centuries). More than half of the coin finds from Brad were issued by the Ottoman Empire (86 pcs.). Those originating in the Christian world came mainly from German (34 pcs.), Polish (21 pcs.) and Austrian territories (9 pcs.). Besides these, there are also small amounts of Russian (3 pcs.), Swedish (2 pcs.), Moldavian (1 pc.) and Hungarian (1 pc.) coins. Based on the numismatic discoveries, the commencement of the necropolis of Brad can be dated at the beginning of the 15th century. But the site starts to be used intensively only from the second half of the 16th century and the beginning of the next one. Immediately after the church was rebuilt (in 1697), the burial place attained its maximum level of use, which extended throughout the 18th century, reaching the peak of exploit to its end and continuing at the beginning of the next century. In these times the Ottoman paras and the Austrian small denominations of silver (late denars and duarii) and bronze (Kreuzer) have been deposited inside the graves. The coins from the studied batch can be interpreted as having a special status since they were part of grave inventories. Only hypotheses can be assumed in regard to the  possible meanings of these coins in the funerary practices of the epoch. A significant part of the coins from Brad are pierced (66 pcs.). We believe that the perforations are not connected to funeral customs, but rather had a practical role, facilitating the activity of the usurers, who used to gather the small change into a certain unit of account, using a thin wire or thread.