The Buis hoard was a

hoard A hoard or "wealth deposit" is an archaeological term for a collection of valuable objects or artifacts, sometimes purposely buried in the ground, in which case it is sometimes also known as a cache. This would usually be with the intention of ...

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from around the middle of the 5th century until Pepin the Short in 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the ...

gold coins found in a vegetable patch at Buis (a hamlet in Chissey-en-Morvan) around 1855. There were about 300 to 400 coins in the hoard when local antiquary Anatole de Charmasse saw them in 1873, identified 55 types, took down legends and drew sketches. They have since been dispersed. Most recently, Jean Lafaurie has identified 76 coins from the hoard: 75 Merovingian ''

tremisses The tremissis or tremis (Greek: τριμίσιον, ''trimision'') was a small pure gold coin of Late Antiquity. Its name, meaning "a third of a unit", formed by analogy with semissis (half of a unit), indicated its value relative to the solidu ...

'' and one Arab-Byzantine ''dīnār'' from

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

. Eleven of the coins came from the mint of

Chalon-sur-Saône Chalon-sur-Saône (, literally ''Chalon on Saône'') is a city in the Saône-et-Loire Departments of France, department in the Regions of France, region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefectu ...

and the latest datable Merovingian issue was struck in the name of

Chlothar II Chlothar II, sometimes called "the Young" ( French: le Jeune), (May/June 584 – 18 October 629) was king of the Franks, ruling Neustria (584–629), Burgundy (613–629) and Austrasia (613–623). The son of Chilperic I and his third wife, Fred ...

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

between 612 and 629. Pierre Le Gentilhomme, who first published the find in 1938, concluded that it was most likely deposited in the 640s, based on the sequence of moneyers from Chalon. It may have been buried in connection with the battle of Autun and the death of

Willibad Willibad, also spelled Willebad or Willihad (died 642), was the Patrician of Burgundian Provence) in the first half of the seventh century. Willibad may have been a Frank or perhaps a Burgundian, one of the last representatives of the native nobi ...

in September 642 or 643, since according to the ''

Chronicle of Fredegar The ''Chronicle of Fredegar'' is the conventional title used for a 7th-century Frankish chronicle that was probably written in Burgundy. The author is unknown and the attribution to Fredegar dates only from the 16th century. The chronicle begi ...

'' this was followed by much unrest and plundering. The Arab-Byzantine ''dīnār'' first appeared on the market in 1862. According to Henri Lavoix's catalogue of 1887, it was found with two Merovingian coins. It portrays the emperors

Heraclius Heraclius (; 11 February 641) was Byzantine emperor from 610 to 641. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the Exarch of Africa, led a revolt against the unpopular emperor Phocas. Heraclius's reign was ...

, Constantine III and

Heraclonas Heraclius (; 626 – 642), known by the diminutive Heraclonas or Heracleonas (), and sometimes called Heraclius II, was briefly Byzantine emperor in 641. Heraclonas was the son of Heraclius and his niece Martina. His father had stipulated in ...

on the obverse and bears the ''

shahāda The ''Shahada'' ( ; , 'the testimony'), also transliterated as ''Shahadah'', is an Islamic oath and creed, and one of the Five Pillars of Islam and part of the Adhan. It reads: "I bear witness that there is no god but God, and I bear witnes ...

'' on the reverse. If dated to shortly before 693, when a new coinage was introduced by the Caliph ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān, it is inconsistent with the rest of the Buis hoard. Lafaurie suggested the very early date of 636–641, contemporary with the emperors depicted. Clive Foss suggests that the ''dīnār'', which bears no Christian symbol, is among the issues of the Caliph Muʿāwiya I that were rejected as tribute by the Emperor

Constans II Constans II (; 7 November 630 – 15 July 668), also called "the Bearded" (), was the Byzantine emperor from 641 to 668. Constans was the last attested emperor to serve as Roman consul, consul, in 642, although the office continued to exist unti ...

in 659., based on the account of the contemporary '' Maronite Chronicle''. While it was certainly found not far from Buis,

Philip Grierson Philip Grierson, (15 November 1910 – 15 January 2006) was a British historian and numismatist. He was Professor of Numismatics at Cambridge University and a fellow of Gonville and Caius College for over seventy years. During his long and e ...

argued that it could not have belonged to the Buis hoard. Michael McCormick also regards it as a stray find. It is today the "only Arab-Byzantine gold coin to have been found outside the Levant". The ''tremisses'' of the hoard are mostly from the

kingdom of Burgundy Kingdom of Burgundy was a name given to various successive Monarchy, kingdoms centered in the historical region of Burgundy during the Middle Ages. The heartland of historical Burgundy correlates with the border area between France and Switze ...

. The representation of mints along the

Rhône The Rhône ( , ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Ròse''; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Rôno'') is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and Southeastern France before dischargi ...

Saône The Saône ( , ; ; ) is a river in eastern France (modern Regions of France, region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté). It is a right tributary of the Rhône, rising at Vioménil in the Vosges (department), Vosges Departments of France, department an ...

and

Meuse The Meuse or Maas is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a total length of . History From 1301, the upper ...

rivers reflects Buis's place along the trade route connecting the Mediterranean and the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

through eastern

Francia The Kingdom of the Franks (), also known as the Frankish Kingdom, or just Francia, was the largest History of the Roman Empire, post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Franks, Frankish Merovingian dynasty, Merovingi ...

. If the ''dīnār'' can be attached to the hoard, it would show the link of this route with Syria.

Notes

Works cited

* * * * * * * {{refend 1850s archaeological discoveries Archaeological discoveries in France Treasure troves in France Treasure troves of late antiquity Gold objects Merovingian period Coin hoards