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'This John the Baptist coin is unique and mysterious'

Katy Prickett
Andrew Williams/Norfolk County Council Two views of a gold coin which has a chunk representing perhaps a fifth of its diameter missing out of its side. The left view shows a profile of a man with a beard and tonsure. The right side has a cross in its middle and around it is written St John the Baptist in Latin. John, Baptist and EvangelistAndrew Williams/Norfolk County Council
One side of the coin shows the profile of a bearded man with the Latin for John and the other has part of a Latin inscription translating as baptist and evangelist

A 9th Century coin pendant that shows St John the Baptist is "bizarre - it's not like anything else I know", said an expert.

The incomplete pierced gold imitation solidus coin was found by a metal detectorist near Dunton, west of Fakenham in Norfolk.

Numismatist Simon Coupland said the discovery raised more questions than it answered, which makes it "fascinating, unique and intriguing".

The coin is going through the treasure process, meaning a coroner will determine if it is legally treasure, and Norwich Castle Museum hopes to acquire it.

Getty Images A close-up of the Baptism of Christ (Battesimo di Cristo), by Giotto, 1303-1305, 14th Century, fresco Italy, Veneto, Padua, Scrovegni Chapel. It is a colourful scene showing Jesus Christ is naked and waist-deep into the water of the Jordan River, flowing between two mountains; He raises his arms towards St. John the Baptist, who blesses him from the right bank; on the right bank an old man with halo and long beard and a young man are waiting to be baptised, while on the left four angels stand, holding out to Christ the garments he was previously wearing. Getty Images
St John the Baptist was a pivotal figure in the Christian Gospels and was often depicted in art, such as this 14th Century fresco

"St John the Baptist was Jesus' cousin and his fore-runner, who introduced him to a wider public by baptising him in the River Jordan and after that, his wider ministry began," said Coupland, explaining why the saint was such an important Christian figure.

"But a figure of John the Baptist on a coin is so unusual and remarkable - I don't know of another John the Baptist from the Carolingian period; it's bizarre - it's not like anything else I know."

The numismatist is an expert in coins of the Carolingian dynasty of western and central Europe, centred on modern-day France and most famous for the emperor Charlemagne (about 747 to 814).

Coupland dated the Dunton find to the late 9th Century because of the style of its lettering, which is like that found on Carolingian coins minted in the 860s or 870s.

Simon Coupland Simon Coupland, who is clean shaven, wears black-framed glasses, a light grey shirt and has short grey hair. He is smiling broadly.Simon Coupland
Simon Coupland said the discovery of the coin pendant raised more questions than answers

A chunk of the pendant is missing, but enough of the Latin inscription is left to be read.

IOAN is written on the side with a bearded man in profile and + BABTIS [...]T EVVAN on the reverse side. This was translated as "John, Baptist and Evangelist".

"If you look at who is pictured on portrait coins of the 9th Century in Western Europe it is the king, but not John, not Christ - that is a Byzantine Empire thing," he said.

"And these imitations of gold solidus tend to be made by Scandinavians, who are not Christian at this point - so what are they doing depicting John the Baptist?"

The kingdom of East Anglia had been conquered by the Vikings in AD870.

"So now you see why it is such a mysterious find; it's like a child with a hexagonal shaped object trying to fit it into squares when it doesn't fit at all," he added.

Norwich Castle Museum hopes to acquire the coin pendant.

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