Besides coins--the frequent use of which in late Roman jewellery has
already been noticed--there exists a well-known class of personal
ornaments known as _nummi bracteati_, bracteate coins, and sometimes as
"spangle money." They are thin discs of metal stamped in a die, so that
the design appears in relief on the face and incuse on the back. They
are generally of gold, have a beaded edging, and are supplied with
loops, also of gold, for suspension.
Fibulæ or brooches are the most numerous of all Anglo-Saxon ornaments.
They are remarkable both for their beauty and their excellence of
workmanship. Probably more than one was usually worn; and four or five
have been found in the same grave on different parts of the body. The
different types of brooches from various districts of England are
sufficiently clearly marked to permit their classification as the
ornaments of distinct peoples. For the present purpose it is convenient
to divide them into three main classes, each class consisting,
naturally, of many varieties. (1) Circular jewelled brooches found among
the remains of the Kentish Saxons, and of the Jutes of the Isle of
Wight. (2) Brooches of the sunk or concave circular type worn by the
Saxons of Berks, Oxford, and Gloucestershire. (3) Cruciform brooches--a
type of the elongated form of brooch. They are peculiar to the Angles
who formed the population of Mercia, East Anglia, and Northumbria.
(1) The circular jewelled brooches found in the cemeteries of Kent and
sometimes in the Isle of Wight, but scarcely ever in other parts of
England, may be subdivided again into three classes. The first of these,
and the most numerous, is composed of a single piece of metal decorated
with chased work and set with jewels. The second group comprises those
formed of a disc of bronze or silver, decorated with a disc of gold foil
covered with inlaid cells forming triangles and circles, with three
bosses grouped round a central boss. This type is rarer than the first,
and is often of great beauty. The third group, the finest and rarest, is
distinguished by being formed of two plates of metal joined by a band
round the edges, the upper part being prepared in the cloisonné manner
for the reception of stones or pastes, while the pin or _acus_ is fixed
to the lower. Brooches of this type, in which the stones, mostly
garnets, are set upon hatched gold foil between delicate gold cloisons,
represent at its utmost perfection the process of inlaying already
described. Three of the finest circular jewelled brooches are: the
Kingston brooch in the Mayer Collection at Liverpool, the Abingdon
brooch in the Ashmolean Museum, and the Sarre brooch in the British
Museum. The first, which is certainly the most beautiful, is 3-3/16
inches in diameter. The front is divided into compartments subdivided
into cells of various forms, enriched with vermicular gold, with
turquoises and with garnets laid upon gold foil. Concentric circles
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