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Solidus Cross on Steps type
| Issuer | Early Anglo-Saxon |
|---|---|
| Year | 600-650 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Solidus |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Diademed and cuirassed bust facing right, derived from late Roman imperial prototypes of the 4th century. The effigy is rendered in a degenerate style characteristic of early Anglo-Saxon gold coinage, retaining the broad outlines of Roman imperial portraiture while exhibiting increasingly stylized facial features and drapery. A diadem is discernible across the brow, and the cuirass is suggested by schematic chest detailing. The surrounding legend, retrograde and garbled, reflects the gradual loss of literacy among die-cutters copying Roman or Byzantine prototypes. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
These solidi were not struck by an English authority at all — they are Continental Merovingian tremisses or their close derivatives, circulating in southeast England during the conversion period when no native Anglo-Saxon gold coinage had yet developed its own coherent type. The cross on steps motif originated in Byzantine imperial coinage and migrated westward through Frankish dies, arriving in Kent and East Anglia through trade and gift exchange across the Channel.
The ecclesiastical connections are difficult to ignore: the peak period of this type's circulation coincides almost exactly with Augustine's mission and the Kentish court's formal adoption of Christianity after 597.