9th-century coin. This coin was minted by one of the Lombards states,the successors to the Kingdom of the Lombards,an early medieval state located in present-day Italy. This coin dates from 817-832 AD,and was discovered during excavations at the Abbey of San Vincenzo (Saint Vincent),at Isernia,north of Naples,Italy. The abbey,founded in 703 AD on the ruins of a 5th century Roman oratory,was burnt to the ground by the Saracens in 881 AD,and then rebuilt from 914 AD. In the 12th century,the abbey was moved a short distance away to a new location. The original abbey site was most recently excavated in the period 1999-2003 |