5th-century Belgian burial with 'scrap metal' may reveal missing link between Roman and Merovingian monetary systems

A study published in the journal Britannia analyzed coins and metal objects found in an early 5th century AD burial in Oudenburg, Belgium. The burial took place around the same time that base metal coins stopped arriving in the northwestern Roman provinces (around 400 AD). In the absence of new currency, it is plausible that people turned to other practices and materials while the coins still in circulation may not have met demand. Burial A-104 could be an example of such practices, perhaps representing a sort of “missing link” between the late Roman and Merovingian monetary systems.