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 items found in an early 5th-century AD burial in Oudenburg, Belgium. The burial occurred around the same time that base metal coins ceased arriving in northwestern Roman Provinces (ca. 400 AD). With no new currency introduced, it is plausible that people turned to other practices and materials when still-circulating coins may not have met demand. Burial A-104 may be one example of such practices, possibly representing a sort of "missing link" between the Late Roman and Merovingian monetary systems.