SERAJA SZAPSZAŁ (1873-1961) THE COMMANDOR OF THE ORDER OF POLONIA RESTITUTA

Abstract

Abstract
The work is devoted to the found old Russian seal of Vladimir Vsevolodovich Monomakh, accompanying her three fragments of Western European denarii and the fragment of a silver ingot. The seal, coins and a piece of ingot were found in the Kopyl district of the Minsk region of the Republic of Belarus. Google Maps and a Fly-photo quadcopter give an idea of a site about 20x30 m in size with finds from the old Russian time from the arable layer, its GPS coordinates are 53°11’24.28”N, 27°19’10.15”E. Among the neighboring finds is a bronze horseshoe-shaped fibula with a broken tongue-needle and fragments of brooches, persistent neurons ornamented with rounded dents unclosed rings, a piece of a belt set buckle, ornamented bells with cuts, belt rings and fragments of overlays, round buttons, iron coulter with slotted, iron openers slag. Slag is found with a density of approximately one piece per 5-7 m2. Also nearby were found three fragments of silver West European denarii K. 10 - the first fourth of 11th-century a small stump of a small silver ingot. Seal has the following metric parameters: diameter 24.2-27.2 mm, thickness 2.7-4.5 mm, weight 13.8 g.
The weight of identical seals, unlike the diameter specified by the printing matrix, may differ significantly from each other depending on the thickness of the used blanks. The overwhelming majority of the finds of the ancient Russian seals cause the 11th beginning the 12th century. Found seal of the same name, is included in the group of later seals with Russian benevolent inscription. The seals of this type with the name of Vasily and with a benevolent inscription were attributed to Vladimir Vsevolodovich Monomakh in 1928 by N. Likhachev. Vladimir Vsevolodovich Monomakh (1053-1125), at the baptism of Vasily Prince of Rostov (1066-1073), Prince of Smolensk (1073-1078), Chernigov (1078-1094), Pereyaslavsky (1094-1113), Grand Prince of Kiev
(1113-1125 ). To this day, the seals with the benevolent inscription of the LORD GIVE HELP TO YOUR SLAVE VASILIY recorded more than 100 copies. In 1978 in the city of Vyshgorod, Kiev region. A seal was found with the same paleographic/personal signs of a matrix pair; it was made by the same cutter. Hoards of «chopped silver» (the so-called Hacksilber) are characteristic of the north-east of Western Europe to 11 early 12 century. The practice of using chopped weight silver (including coins) primarily widely spread in Scandinavia, which is also notable for the abundance of finds of small folding scales in bronze bowl-shaped cases. Weights and scales for small weighings with a folding beam spread over a large territory of  Europe as an inevitable companion of «chopped silver» and a necessary attribute of the merchant. In our opinion, healthy pragmatism can be seen in the grinding of coins - in this way it was possible to  avoid imitations in base metal or low-grade coins since the core of the coin was visible in the fracture. After grinding, all fragments acquired an individual form, which made it difficult to counterfeit coin fragments, and
the remains of the image, in turn, were another guarantee for the good quality of the metal. The oldest coin is a small fragment of the West European denarius of the city of Magdeburg Otto III (983-1002), more precisely, to the royal period of 983-996. (Dbg. 639). The second coin is a fragment of the anonymous denarius of Magdeburg (Dbg. 643). German researcher Christoph Kilger calls Archbishop Gizelkhar (981-1004) a possible issuer and dates this type to about 995-1000. The youngest is a fragment of the denarius  of Esslingen Henry II (1002-1024) (Dbg. 951). It is suggested that the protective practice of mass cutting of denarii («chopped silver») is expedient. A chopped (more precisely, chopped-broken) fragment of a silver ingot has a weight of 1.4 g, a height  of 4.8 mm, and a cross section of 11x6.6 mm. Perhaps this is a fragment of the Lithuanian payment rod-like ingot, which appeared in the middle of the 13th century. The authors discuss the localization of the treasure of the Western European denarii Ludvishche (1934) with the date of concealment on the youngest coin of 1060-1065, which is significant for the periodization, and
which with equal probability can be attributed to both Belarusian and Ukrainian territory.  The authors discuss the localization of the treasure of Western European denarii Ludvishche (1934) that is significant for the periodization, with the date of concealment on the youngest coin of 1060-1065, which with equal probability can be attributed to both Belarusian and Ukrainian territory. Both single and pantries Belarusian finds of recent years show that the upper limit of the period should be considered as middle 11th century. It is known that at a distance of 5 km from the location of the seal and denarii in 2018, a fragment of ½ dirham with an unreadable date was found: Samanids, Samarkand, Ahmad ibn Ismail 295-301 A.H. (907-914 A.D.). The random discovery of a dirham at a relatively short distance from fragments of denarii is interesting in that pieces of dirhams and Western European denarii in treasures occur together in the 10th - beginning of the 11th century. As shown by the coin treasures of the turn of the 11-12th centuries while being in their composition of coins to the end of 10th century beg. the 11th century they have significantly their superior number of coins in the middle of the 11th century, and even more coins to the end of the 11th century. If the found fragments were a part of the coins in circulation or a part of a hoard of a later time, they would be more likely to be a second part of the 11th century. It seems most likely that the found fragments of coins come from a certain complex of the beginning of the 11th century. Found in close proximity to the print last thirds 11 first fourth of the 12th-century fragments of Western European denarii of the turn of the 10-11th centuries (so-called Hacksilber) most likely not related to simultaneous existence. Discovered objects mark a settlement of 11-14 centuries. Discovered objects mark a settlement of 11-14 centuries.