Vauvert Moths
@vauvertmoths.bsky.social
Phil de Jersey, archaeologist/numismatist based in St Peter Port, Guernsey. Started out with my son on that other place as moth fans, hence the name. Likely to be some other creatures, some books and some photography. And a bit of archaeology.
That's an interesting idea, hadn't thought of that. But I think the grooves are too narrow to be caused by the edges of other coins, which have quite blunt edges - you can see that on the example here. I think they are more likely knife or chisel marks.
November 29, 2025 at 2:30 PM
That's an interesting idea, hadn't thought of that. But I think the grooves are too narrow to be caused by the edges of other coins, which have quite blunt edges - you can see that on the example here. I think they are more likely knife or chisel marks.
Absolutely, there is definitely a sense of something personal in this. And yes, archaeologists do speculate like that, I think it's impossible (and wrong) not to bring emotion into it. The difficulty is deciding when emotion is involved and when, for example, it really is just testing the metal.
November 28, 2025 at 11:42 AM
Absolutely, there is definitely a sense of something personal in this. And yes, archaeologists do speculate like that, I think it's impossible (and wrong) not to bring emotion into it. The difficulty is deciding when emotion is involved and when, for example, it really is just testing the metal.
Yes, there's a face in profile, looking right. Here's another one with just a single thin cut. There is a lot of speculation about why this was done: sometimes it's probably to test the metal, but in other cases there must be some kind of deliberate 'killing' of the coin (or the face?) going on...
November 28, 2025 at 9:47 AM
Yes, there's a face in profile, looking right. Here's another one with just a single thin cut. There is a lot of speculation about why this was done: sometimes it's probably to test the metal, but in other cases there must be some kind of deliberate 'killing' of the coin (or the face?) going on...
It would be worth a try. The coin is with my colleagues on Jersey and I'm going to take another look at it next month. I'll ask them if they can do this.
November 21, 2025 at 6:09 PM
It would be worth a try. The coin is with my colleagues on Jersey and I'm going to take another look at it next month. I'll ask them if they can do this.
I suppose some licences granted in 2023 could have been for finds made in the previous year, but... yes, the maths seems to be correct, and that's an extraordinarily high number. And of course it's only the reported finds... 😞
November 17, 2025 at 10:10 PM
I suppose some licences granted in 2023 could have been for finds made in the previous year, but... yes, the maths seems to be correct, and that's an extraordinarily high number. And of course it's only the reported finds... 😞
I'm sure i can see the same hand at work across different coin dies - but perhaps easier to spot there than on your metalwork?
November 15, 2025 at 11:30 AM
I'm sure i can see the same hand at work across different coin dies - but perhaps easier to spot there than on your metalwork?
Thanks for reminding me of this - I came to it through The Men they couldn't Hang on John Peel so that's the version I sang to my poor unsuspecting children to get them to sleep 🤭
November 9, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Thanks for reminding me of this - I came to it through The Men they couldn't Hang on John Peel so that's the version I sang to my poor unsuspecting children to get them to sleep 🤭
Yes, it is the same type. However the coins are almost unknown from the area occupied by the Veneti - they are from further NE, probably territory of the Redones. The Veneti attribution goes back to work in the 1940s/50s which has largely been superseded. Auction houses take a while to catch up...
October 11, 2025 at 7:15 AM
Yes, it is the same type. However the coins are almost unknown from the area occupied by the Veneti - they are from further NE, probably territory of the Redones. The Veneti attribution goes back to work in the 1940s/50s which has largely been superseded. Auction houses take a while to catch up...
Chaotic good, tending to lawful evil if I don't have something to hand for chaotic good...
October 4, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Chaotic good, tending to lawful evil if I don't have something to hand for chaotic good...
There's at least one published example I can think of where an IA coin seems to have inspired an Anglo-Saxon sceatta, see www.britnumsoc.org/images/PDFs/...
www.britnumsoc.org
October 2, 2025 at 8:08 AM
There's at least one published example I can think of where an IA coin seems to have inspired an Anglo-Saxon sceatta, see www.britnumsoc.org/images/PDFs/...