Coin Circulation in Byzantine Thrace: New Findings from Bulgaria

The data from the coin finds in Thrace show that after the second decade of the 7th century the monetary circulation came to a complete halt. On the one hand, this anomaly is explained by the naturalization of the Empire’s economy, and on the other hand, by the lower stage of development of the barbarians newly settled in its territories, such as Asparuh’s Bulgarians, who are bearers of other socio-economic relations and have no money circulation. In Thrace, the lack of coins is also explained by the departure of Byzantine garrisons. The first signs of revival are seen with the coin issues of Constantine V (741 – 775), but even then, we can hardly talk about any definite economic recovery. Byzantium entered the tenth century with a stable financial system. Its economy was experiencing visible growth, which was also reflected in its monetary policy. The production of coins at the beginning of the tenth century was in gradation, in view of the documented finds so far from the territory of both Byzantium itself and its neighboring countries – especially Bulgaria. The large number of Byzantine coins documented from the present northeastern Bulgarian lands, once the heart of the First Bulgarian Kingdom, show that after 681 life here does not stop. The former Byzantine territories have new inhabitants and this is the population of the new united state – Danube Bulgaria. The concentration of coin finds around Pliska outlines not only the state’s center, but also the settlements that arose both on the outskirts of the capital and in the interior, for which we still do not have enough archaeological data. Therefore, the claim that Byzantine coins are found in this period only along the coast, where the Byzantine power nominally exists, needs to be reconsidered.