Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
Sceat - Dorestad
| Issuer | Frisia |
|---|---|
| Year | 695-760 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Hammered |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Central design comprising a square beaded frame enclosing a prominent pointed annulet or ring motif at the center. Four small globules are placed symmetrically in each of the four corners of the square, creating a balanced geometric composition characteristic of the Dorestad sceat series. The design is entirely aniconic and decorative in character, executed within the confined flan of the hammered silver piece. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | ND (695-760) |
| Additional information |
Dorestad, situated at the confluence of the Rhine and Lek in what is now the Netherlands, was among the most significant emporia of the early medieval North Sea trading network. These sceats circulated as commercial currency through a port that processed Frankish wine, Frisian cloth, and Rhenish pottery at volumes unmatched in northern Europe during the seventh and eighth centuries. The site was effectively destroyed by repeated Viking raids beginning in 834.
Metcalf's classification of this type drew heavily on find-spot concentrations, which cluster along Rhine trade routes rather than in purely Frisian coastal zones — a distribution pattern that still generates debate about precise attribution of issuing authority.