PIN

Description: Ball-headed pin head made from gold with filigree wire and pellet decoration. The pin head is hollow and globular, with a circular hole at each end surrounded by an annulet of beaded wire; the upper and lower half are separated by a border of a line of beaded wire either side of what appears now to be a plain wire, but on closer inspection is actually a beaded wire worn down so that the beads have almost disappeared. This triple-strand border probably conceals a soldered join.

Both halves are decorated alike, with two-ply twisted wire forming three pairs of opposed S- and reverse S-shaped double spirals, the spirals terminating in applied pellets, some of which are now missing. Each pair of S shapes has a central drop-shaped motif; these drop shapes are set the same way on both halves instead of being in mirror image.

The pairs of S shapes alternate with heart shapes formed from two pieces of twisted wire, each piece with a spiral around a pellet at one end; again some of these pellets are missing. The hearts in each half are placed in mirror-image to each other, with the broader ends near the central border. Within each of the hearts is another drop-shaped motif, two of which retain pellets. There are further pellets around the annulets surrounding the holes at either end, although many pellets are clearly missing. The shaft of the pin is missing, but the beaded wire around one end is less worn (the lower view on the image with four views) and it is likely that the shaft sprang from this end.

Dimensions: Height 15.5mm. Diameter 14mm. Weight 3.78g. Diameter of holes 2mm.

Discussion: The presence of filigree spirals indicates that this belongs to the early-medieval rather than post-medieval period, when similar pins were in use (Margeson 1995). A similar example in gilded silver from the PAS database, DENO-A1EC74, has a surviving pin and a large pellet at the opposite end of the head; similar features may be missing on the current example. Another example recorded on the PAS database, KENT-032814, shows that they can indeed be made from gold rather than the more common gilded silver. Also compare NMS-F1A270 (Norfolk Historic Environment Record number 51476), which is of similar high-quality workmanship.

Date: These pins were produced and used in the 8th and 9th centuries (Margeson 1995).