Many Questions, Few Answers About Coins
A Byzantine Emperor Justinian I solidus similar to this example was recently discovered in the ruins of a burned-out building in Bulgaria.
Five gold Byzantine coins discovered in the ruins of a house in northern Bulgaria are leaving archeologists with more questions than answers. Normally, coins found at such a dig site serve the same function as index fossils at a paleontological site—the coins give an idea of the age of the ruins.
The five coins date from the time of Byzantine Emperor Justinian I, who ruled between 527 and 565. Based on two iron sickles, iron tools, a belt buckle, three bronze rings, and various-sized ceramic vessels found with the coins, archaeologists are positive the building in which the coins were discovered dates from the 10th century, several hundred years after the coins were minted.
Adding to the mystery is that there appears to have been a fire, which is likely why the building was abandoned.
Associate Dr. Stiliyan Ivanov from the National Historical Institute, who is also associated with a museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, oversees the study. The primary area of interest is the Kaleto fortress above Debnevo, the largest village in the municipality of Troyan, Bulgaria. A monastery and folk art museum is in the area.
The Kaleto fortress is believed to have been initially built by the Romans, taking advantage of rock formations that were used as fortified walls. Kaleto was used primarily for surveillance rather than for defense. The fortress was extended and improved upon after its 1396 capture by the Ottoman Turks as they conquered what had been an independent Bulgarian kingdom. Kaleto was used as late as 1885 during the Serbo-Bulgarian War.
Ivanov said there are traces at the site of a large Thracian settlement from the 4th-3rd centuries B.C., three phases of habitation from Late Antiquity (4th-6th centuries), the First Bulgarian Kingdom, a necropolis from the Second Bulgarian Kingdom, and the Ottoman period.
According to Ivanov, “During this year [2024], the most interesting archaeological situation is an early medieval dwelling that was burned down. In other cases, similar dwellings are found without remains of the internal structure, while here, we have the rare opportunity to see the wooden lining of the dwelling, which, although charred, is clearly discernible. It must be related somewhere to the 10th century, to the time of the rule of the Bulgarian kings Simeon and Peter.”
The archaeologist continued, “The most interesting find from the apartment is the discovery of five gold coins scattered on the floor. Two of them were badly damaged by fire. What is interesting about the coins is that they are much older than the early medieval dwelling where they were found. They date from the 6th century, from the time of Emperor Justinian I. They were most likely discovered by those who built the dwelling and who subsequently preserved them.”
Considering the tools found in the ruins suggest the occupants were farmers, and it is unlikely the coins were kept as mementos or due to an interest in coin collecting. Ivanov added, “Although not in circulation, these coins were valuable enough because they were made of gold – a material that was quite valuable even in the Middle Ages.”
It is challenging to put a value on the coins at the time they were stored in the now ruined building. In his book Byzantium, the Empire of New Rome, author Cyril Mango notes local inflation, culture, and other factors impacted the purchasing values of contemporary coins. While written sources exist, Mango acknowledges many of these written sources are inaccurate or have been “tainted by translation.”
The solidus was introduced as the successor to the aureus during the early fourth century. The Byzantine solidus or nomisma was struck of good purity gold until the 11th century. The by-then greatly debased denomination was replaced with the hyperpyron or bezant in 1092.
According to Mango, in sixth-century Jerusalem, a building worker was paid 21 folles or 1/20 of a solidus per day.
In seventh-century Alexandria, a pound of fish cost six folles, while a loaf of bread was three folles. A donkey cost between three and four solidi. A laborer earned 1/23 of a solidus daily. This means it would have cost between 69- and 92-days wages to purchase a donkey.
In general, by the time of Byzantine Emperor Theodosius III (715-717), a single gold solidus could be worth as much as 2,000 nummi and could purchase 30 to 40 modii of wheat. A cavalryman earned 180 bronze composition nummi a day or a gold solidus as his wage for a month and a half.
The Eastern Roman Empire, remembered today as the Byzantine Empire, continued to use Latin rather than Greek legends on its coins well into the eighth century despite the culture having evolved to be primarily of Greek influence.
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