PIN

Specialist Treasure Report for HM Coroner

2012-T509: Silver pin of Early Medieval date from North West Herefordshire

HM Corner: Mr Bricknell

District: Herefordshire

Date: Early Medieval period - 8th-9th centuries AD

Findspot: North West Herefordshire

Circumstances of Find: Searching with a metal detector

Description:

An incomplete polyhedral-headed pin with broken shaft. The head of the pin is in the form of a cube with the corners cut off creating lozengiform (diamond-shaped) faces and triangular corner facets, except around the base where the corner facets are lozengiform and extend to the point where the collared, circular-sectioned shaft extends from the head. The collar is formed from two cast rings (circumferential bands). Below, the shaft tapers to a worn break.

On the head, each of the lozenge faces (four on the sides and one at the top) are decorated with a central drilled conical hole. Three of these holes (on the top and two faces) are set with domed glass settings. The surface of each is heavily decayed and abraded, but the original colour is most likely to have been red, or possibly blue. The other two hollows are partially filled with soil.

Dimensions:

Surviving length 11.3mm, width 5.5mm across the head, thickness at same point 4.9mm, diameter of pin shaft 2.0mm, weight 0.68 grams.

Metal Content:

The pin was examined at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery's Department of Conservation. It was tested using XRF which indicates that the alloy used to cast the pin is predominantly silver with surface traces of gold (possibly decayed gilding), copper and iron (the iron probably from soil deposits).

Discussion and Date:

Pins with polyhedral heads are well known from the middle Anglo-Saxon period, dating to the 8th or 9th centuries AD. They often have dot, or ring-and-dot, decoration on the main faces. For example, type Bb2i pins from Hamwic (Southampton) are pins with polyhedral heads decorated with ring-and-dot motifs, with ring collars and straight shafts; all examples come from contexts dated to the eighth and ninth centuries AD (Hinton and Parsons 1996: 14-37).

This particular example, however, has some unusual features. A double collar is rare, although not unique; see WAW-031513, NMS-4C1868 and NMS-6D1F68 for further examples of polyhedral pins with double collars. Glass inlays are also unusual on a pinhead, although they do occur on another silver polyhedral example (CAM-1BEF06, from Heydon in Cambridgeshire) and on a copper-alloy globular pin head (SF4125, from Blaxhall in Suffolk). Small glass settings are, however, more often found embellishing the eyes of animals on 8th- and 9th-century objects, for example on strap-end LVPL-FE8590, sword pommel SUSS-589730 and unidentified object CAM-4DB246.

Polyhedral pin heads are relatively rare in western Britain, being more commonly found in the east and south.

Statement:

The analysis undertaken shows that the precious metal content (silver) of the pin is greater than 10% and the form is well paralleled against dated examples from the 8th and 9th centuries, therefore making the artefact more than 300 years old.

References:

Hinton D and Parsons A 1996 'Pins', in Hinton D. The Gold, Silver and other non-ferrous alloy objects from Hamwic, Southampton Finds Volume 2, Southampton City Council

Authors:

Peter Reavill, Finds Liaison Officer

Dr Helen Geake, National Finds Adviser

May 2014