Ранновизантийски монети от Шуменската крепост (491-681 г.)

Abstract

The Shumen fortress is situated in the eastern part of the Shumen plateau at about three km west of Shumen. Built on a rocky hill and protected from tliree sides by steep slopes and strong walls, the fortress has a situation similar to almost all late medieval Bulgarian fortresses. The total number of coins from the Period 498-681 is 158 specimens which have irregular distribution: 1. Anastasios I - 10; 2. Justin I - 25; 3. Justinian 1-72; 4. Justin II - 36; 5. Tiberios II - 3; 6. Maurikios Tiberios - 1 1 ; 7. Constance II - 1. As it is clear, the most numerous are the emissions of Emperor Justinian I especially after the reform of 538. The Constantinopolitan emissions prevail, followed by the Nikomedian and Antiochian. After the VIth c, a kind of monetary hiatus occurred in the northern lands, resulting from the depopulation of these territories and the settling of new tribes which were ignorant of the money as a medium of exchange. The life on Shumen fortress came to an end may be in 597/598.