The coinage of the Lombards refers to the autonomous productions of coins by the Lombards. It constitutes part of the coinage produced by

Germanic peoples The Germanic peoples were historical groups of people that once occupied Central Europe and Scandinavia during antiquity and into the early Middle Ages. Since the 19th century, they have traditionally been defined by the use of ancient and e ...

occupying the former territory of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...

during the Migration Period. All known Lombard coinage was produced after their settlement of Italy. The coinage originates from two distinct areas, in

Langobardia Major Langobardia Major was the name that, in the Early Middle Ages, was given to the domains of the Lombard Kingdom in Northern Italy. It comprised Lombardy proper with its capital Pavia, the Duchies of Friuli and Trent as well as the Tuscany region. ...

between the last decades of the sixth century and 774, and in Langobardia Minor, in the duchy of Benevento, between approximately 680 and the end of the 9th century. The earliest Lombard coins imitated contemporary

Byzantine coinage Byzantine currency, money used in the Eastern Roman Empire after the fall of the West, consisted of mainly two types of coins: the gold solidus and a variety of clearly valued bronze coins. By the end of the empire the currency was issued only in ...

, and coinage under the names of the

Lombard kings The Kings of the Lombards or ''reges Langobardorum'' (singular ''rex Langobardorum'') were the monarchs of the Lombards, Lombard people from the early 6th century until the Lombardic identity became lost in the 9th and 10th centuries. After 568, ...

was a later development. In the north the coinage consisted almost exclusively of tremisses, while

solidi The ''solidus'' (Latin 'solid'; ''solidi'') or nomisma ( grc-gre, νόμισμα, ''nómisma'', 'coin') was a highly pure gold coin issued in the Late Roman Empire and Byzantine Empire. Constantine introduced the coin, and its weig ...

were also minted in Benevento. The southern coinage of Benevento and Salerno, although distinguished from that of the north by various stylistic and typological characteristics, also took inspiration from Byzantine models until new types bearing regal titles were issued by

Cunipert Cunincpert (also Cunibert or Cunipert) was king of the Lombards from 688 to 700. He succeeded his father Perctarit, though he was associated with the throne from 680. Life Soon after his assumption of the sole kingship, Cunincpert was ousted b ...

towards the end of the 7th century. After Lombard rule was superseded by that of the

Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...

in 774, Lombard-style coinage was produced for some time afterwards. In Langobardia Minor, the coinage was continued for around a hundred years. While the coinage is largely in gold, silver coinage appears under the influence of the Franks in the end of the 8th century, alongside tremisses and solidi. Silver becomes the more prevalent metal only for the latest coinages, of the 9th century.

Catalogues and sources

Lombard coinage

For the coinage minted by the Lombards, the most recent reference work is the first volume of ''Medieval European Coinage'', by Philip Grierson and Mark Blackburn. In the catalogues one therefore often finds a reference of type "MEC 1, 274", where MEC indicates the initials of this work, 1, the first volume, and 274, the index number of the coin in MEC. Coins of Lombard mints are catalogued between 274 and 331 in the first volume of ''MEC''. The illustrations show coins of the collection of the

Fitzwilliam Museum The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities museum of the University of Cambridge. It is located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge. It was founded in 1816 under the will of Richard FitzWilliam, 7th Vis ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

. A slightly more recent study, but more specialised, is that of Ernesto Bernareggi, published in Milan in 1983, under the title ''Montea Langobardorum''. In particular, it collects the various studies of the same author published since 1960. Reference to this work is made by "Bernareggi", followed by the index number. Other catalogues in common use include the "BMC ''Vand''", which covers the coinage of the Vandals and other migration periods groups present in the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

, in 1911. An important collection of Lombard coinages is found in the civic collections of

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, at the

Sforza Castle The Castello Sforzesco (Italian for "Sforza's Castle") is a medieval fortification located in Milan, northern Italy. It was built in the 15th century by Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, on the remnants of a 14th-century fortification. Later reno ...

, and a catalogue of this collection was published in 1978 by Ermanno Arslan. This work is generally referenced as "Arslan", followed by the index number. Less commonly used internationally, but equally relevant, is CNI (''Corpus Nummorum Italicorum''), which illustrates the collection of

Victor Emmanuel III of Italy Victor Emmanuel III (Vittorio Emanuele Ferdinando Maria Gennaro di Savoia; 11 November 1869 – 28 December 1947) was King of Italy from 29 July 1900 until his abdication on 9 May 1946. He also reigned as Emperor of Ethiopia (1936–1941) and ...

. Lombard coins are covered by volumes IV (Pavia and other minor mints of Lombardy), V (Milan) and XI (

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

Byzantine coinage

The first coins issued by the Lombards were imitations of those coined in the

Eastern Roman Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantin ...

; the models used were those of Maurice (582-602), Heraclius (610-641) and Constans II (641-668). There are various recent catalogues which covers these issues; most important are the catalogue of the collection of

Dumbarton Oaks Dumbarton Oaks, formally the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, is a historic estate in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It was the residence and garden of wealthy U.S. diplomat Robert Woods Bliss and his wife, ...

, abbreviated DOC, and ''Moneta Imperii Byzantini'' by Wolfgang Hahn, abbreviated as MIB. Maurice's coinage is catalogued in the first volume of DOC, and the second volume of MIB; the issues of Heraclius and Constans II are in the second volume of DOC and the third of MIB.

Finds and hoards

Only five hoards have been found which contain non-pseudo-imperial coinage of the Lombards. Of these, only two have been published in any detail. * A hoard found at Ossi, Sardinia was described by Vincenzo Dessì in 1908. * A hoard found at

Ilanz Ilanz ( rm, Glion) is a former municipality in the district of Surselva in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. The former municipality of Ilanz was congruent with the town of Ilanz. On 1 January 1978, the former municipality of Strada merged into ...

, Grisons was described by Fritz Jecklin in 1906,Fritz Jecklin, "Der langobardisch-karolingische Münzfund bei Ilanz", ''MBNG'' (Mitteilungen der Bayerischen Numismatischen Gesellschaft) 25 (1906-07) pagg. 28-79. and was further studied by Bernareggi in 1977.Ernesto Bernareggi, "I tremissi longobardi e carolingi del ripostiglio di Ilanz nei Grigioni", ''Quaderni ticinesi di numismatica...'', 6 (1977) pagg. 341-364. We know little of the other hoards: * A hoard of

Landriano Landriano is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Pavia in the Italian region Lombardy, located about southeast of Milan and about northeast of Pavia. Landriano borders the following municipalities: Bascapè, Carpiano, Siziano, Torrev ...

included tremisses of Ratchis and

Aistulf Aistulf (also Ahistulf, Aistulfus, Haistulfus, Astolf etc.; it, Astolfo; died December 756) was the Duke of Friuli from 744, King of the Lombards from 749, and Duke of Spoleto from 751. His reign was characterized by ruthless and ambitious ef ...

. * That of

Mezzomerico Mezzomerico is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Novara in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about north of Novara. Mezzomerico borders the following municipalities: Agrate Conturbia, Divignano, Mar ...

contained between fifty and a hundred tremisses of

Desiderius Desiderius, also known as Daufer or Dauferius (born – died ), was king of the Lombards in northern Italy, ruling from 756 to 774. The Frankish king of renown, Charlemagne, married Desiderius's daughter and subsequently conquered his realm. Des ...

. * The treasure of

Biella Biella (; pms, Biela; la, Bugella) is a city and ''comune'' in the northern Italian region of Piedmont, the capital of the province of the same name, with a population of 44,324 as of 31 December 2017. It is located about northeast of Turin a ...

included various silver coins and 28 tremisses of Liutprand. While the composition of the hoard is known, the exact provenance and mode of discovery are not. There also was a hoard found at

Lucca Lucca ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its province has a population of 383,957. Lucca is known as one ...

in 1840, which included, beyond many local coins, a few of

and

, but the coins were dispersed immediately, and there is little reliable information regarding the location or circumstances of the discovery or the exact composition.Giulio Cordero di San Quintino, ''Della zecca e delle monete di Lucca nei secoli di mezzo''. Lucca, 1844.

Bibliography

Primary sources

* (LA) Paul the Deacon, ''Historia Langobardorum'', in Georg Waitz (editor), ''Monumenta Germaniae Historica'', Hanover, 1878, ''Scriptores rerum Langobardicarum et Italicarum saec. VI–IX'', 12–219. * (LA) ''Leges Langobardorum'', in Friedrich Bluhme (editor), ''Monumenta Germaniae Historica'', Hanover, 1868, Vol. IV.

Lombard coinage

* Ernesto Bernareggi, ''Moneta Langobardorum'', Milan, Cisalpino Goliardica, 1983. * CNI (''Corpus Nummorum Italicorum''), vol. IV, V and XI. * Enrico Catemario di Quadri, "Considerazioni sulle monete di Benevento" in ''Bollettino del Circolo Numismatico Napoletano'', 38 (1953), 3-7 * Giulio Cordèro di San Quintino, "Discorsi sopra la zecca e le monete di Lucca", in ''Memorie e documenti per servire alla storia di Lucca'', Lucca, Accademia lucchese di scienze, lettere ed arti, 1860
online version
* Giuseppe Gavazzi, "Congetture sull’attribuzione di alcuni tremissi longobardi", in ''Rivista italiana di numismatica'', Milano, 1890 * Domenico Massagli, "Introduzione alla storia della zecca e delle monete lucchesi", Lucca, 1870. (reprinted by Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca, 1976) * Giulio Sambon, Repertorio generale delle monete coniate in Italia e da Italiani all'estero dal secolo V al XX. vol. I Periodo dal 476 al 1566. Paris, 1912. (reprinted as )

Catalogues

* Philip Grierson, Mark Blackburn Medieval European Coinage (MEC) - Volume 1, The Early Middle Ages (5th–10th Centuries), Cambridge University Press, 2007, (Lombard coinage is covered in pages 55 to 66 and covered in plates 15 and 16) * Ermanno Arslan, Le monete di Ostrogoti, Longobardi e Vandali. Catalogo delle Civiche Raccolte Numismatiche di Milano, Milano, Comune di Milano, 1978. * Warwick William Wroth: ''Catalogue of the coins of the Vandals, Ostrogoths and Lombards, and of the empires of Thessalonica, Nicaea and Trebizond in the British museum'', Londra, 1911. (cited as "BMC ''Vand''"; Lombard coinage is covered in pages lv-lx and 123-154, and illustrated in plates XVIII-XX
online version
available)

Byzantine coinage

* Alfred Bellinger, ''Catalogue of the Byzantine Coins in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection and in the Whittemore Collection'': Vol. 1, Anastasius I to Maurice, 491-602, cited as "DOC" (Dumbarton Oaks Collection), 5 volumes in 9 books. * Wolfgang Hahn, Moneta Imperii Byzantini (MIB), Vienna, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1973-1981, . * Pierre Justin Sabatier, ''Description générale des monnaies byzantines frappées sous les Empereurs d'Orient'', in 2 vols., Paris, 1862

Footnotes

{{Reflist, 30em Numismatics Kingdom of the Lombards Coins of Italy Medieval currencies