EARLY MEDIEVAL COIN

600

A broken lead disc with decoration on both sides. The disc measures 18mm in diameter and is as thin as a silver hammered coin; much thinner than the range of post-medieval tokens.One side appears to have a star or cross in the centre, with lines extending from the angles to form triple stranded terminals. Between each line is a worn crescent motif. The other side is worn but also contains decoration.Its size, thinness and decoration somewhat recall the portrait type coins of Offa. However, it may alternatively be an earlier 7th-century forgery based on either Merovingian or Anglo-Saxon prototypes- a find made in the 1980s 'near Louth', Lincolnshire (see EMC 1987.0034) is of similar design and proportions, and was assigned to this earlier period.It is possible that this is a contemporary copy or trial piece.