Forged coins from early medieval settlement centre in Pawłówek on southern border of East Pomerania (northern Poland)

Abstract

Abstract In the course of explorations of an early medieval fortified centre in Pawłówek on the periphery of East Pomerania and Kuyavia, as many as 49 coins and one planchet were found deposited within cultural layers dated back from the turn of the 1070s to the beginning of the 1100s. Nearly half of them showed characteristics typical of coin counterfeiting. Physical-chemical studies proved that they were manufactured using mainly copper with a small addition of silver, tin, zinc, or lead. It is the most numerous series of this kind of coins ever unearthed in the area of Poland, second only to the hoard of Włynkowo in East Pomerania. The variety of these finds in terms of manufacturing technique and technology suggests that they come from different sources. Due to the nature of the examined centre that served for treasurial and fiscal purposes (customs chamber), it was concluded that a considerable number of the counterfeit coins in this place can be linked to an intentional selection of such coins from the ore mass that constituted customs duties and/or local manufacturing of forged coins.