Roman silver transformed: Hacksilber, its nature, uses and effects

Hunter, Fraser

Roman silver transformed: Hacksilber, its nature, uses and effects

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Book chapter

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Hunter, Fraser

Date published

2024

Abstract

Hacksilber is perhaps the least glamorous form of precious metal in the Roman world. These cut and crushed fragments of silver have received much less attention than intact plate or coinage. Yet their transformation casts fresh light on how silver was used in and beyond the late Roman world. Detailed study reveals that the initial division of most Hacksilber was careful, and correlated to Roman weight standards. This indicates that the transformation was mostly for economic motives, converting plate to bullion inside the empire. Some hoards show a clear connection to usurpers, suggesting a political motive in creating bullion to retain troop loyalty. Hacksilber is attested from the second century to the seventh. Its distribution shifted over time with changing economic and political circumstances. It peaked in the fourth and fifth centuries in north-west Europe, on both sides of the frontier. Hoards vary from those with a minor Hacksilber component in a plate or coin hoard (A), through ones dominated by Roman Hacksilber (B), to hoards of local Hacksilber with a minor component of Roman (C). These show a broad shift from inside to outside the Roman world. Their movement beyond the frontier most likely relates to payment for military service or payment of subsidies; there is no strong evidence that loot was a dominant process. Hacksilber often shows evidence of multiple cycles of cutting and reduction, indicating wide circulation. It acted as both a store of wealth and a raw material, used especially for jewellery. Key questions remain over the reasons for its rather patchy distribution across Europe, linked perhaps to the longevity of earlier denarii in barbaricum and perhaps to differing views of the relative values of gold and silver in different areas. Seen at a broad scale, the transformation of silver plate to Hacksilber and its subsequent reuse for local prestige goods shows the shifting values of Roman precious metal in late Antiquity.