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Printed Auction 42 Lot 228
190 Barbarous radiates and 4 Claudian copies.
A Window into the Dark Ages
Patrick Zabel pursued “barbarous radiates” with passion and intensity for several decades.
His collection, each numbered and with gram weight to three decimal points, diameter, an epsilon value (? any insight appreciated) and many with a brief descriptive notation on the front of the holder, notes about find locations, design characteristics, regular issues imitated, metal, etc.— constitutes a meticulous research project on this extensive “local coinage” of the late Roman Empire in Britain and the Continent. (190 pieces plus four Claudian copies.) (His copy of the 1949 ANS , by Philip V. Hill, is included with this lot.)
Small and often seemingly insignificant knock-offs of regular Roman coinage fueled day-to-day life in Britain and the European continent in the late days of the Roman Empire. “Barbarous radiates” is the somewhat derogatory term applied to these small bits of local coinage that show up in hoards from the fourth and fifth centuries. With Roman control over its empire declining, the imperial coinage that had served day-to-day life became increasingly scarce and local efforts to provide small change filled in for the lack of official currency.
According to Philip Hill, author of the 1949 ANS monograph on the topic, these pieces were often considered of marginal interest in hoard finds and frequently “thrown aside as useless for the purpose of dating hoards and sites.” But he contends that the design elements of these hastily produced pieces reflected the period in which they were produced. So, despite their crudeness and irregularity, they provide valuable hoard dating information as well as unofficial insight into a period of political disarray.
A single paragraph in the one volume work on Roman coins by David Sear describe these pieces as sometimes “almost as good as the originals, but most are very crude productions with badly blundered legends and almost unrecognizable types.” Hill talks about the many ways they were made—flans made by “flattening hot globules of metal, by overstriking complete coins, orthodox or barbarous, without first erasing the original types, by filing away types of regular coins, or by cutting them into quarters, or roughly rounded fragments…and by hammering out and cutting up coins of still larger module prior to restriking.”
This collection generally emphasizes high grade pieces with more recognizable designs on flans that tend to be round. The holders have notations about purchase sources, find locations, design characteristics, regular issues imitated, metal, and occasional other observations. The writing on the holders represents many hours of work and the overall quality makes this a fascinating and highly desirable group of pieces from an era full of uncertainty and mystery.
Scans of all pieces included in the lot can be viewed here:
Patrick Zabel's documentation, including metallic composition assays, can be viewed here:
All documentation will be included with the lot.
The Zabel Collection.
