Ave!

Belt Plate, Marine Officers, Sturgeon Fish, Unique?

Copper alloy; 90mm/31.2gm

Con/ As Cast and Engraved with near perfect green and glossy green patina.

Obv/ Sturgeon Fish swimming to right within dotted border about. Six original attachment holes; another attachment stud added as needed.

Rev/ Flat with no inscriptions

Ref/ None -- So rare!

Seller's Note/ Ground-found near the ancient Roman city of Mursa. After the Roman conquest of Pannonia, Mursa was under the administration and protection of the Roman 7th legion, which maintained a military castrum at the colony and guarded the bridge over the river Drava. The Roman emperor Hadrian raised the old settlement of Mursa to the status of a colony with special privileges in 131. Shortly after, Mursa became an important riverine base for the Roman brown water navy, whose ships patrolled the Drava river to its confluence with the Danube river and much further, although not as far as the Black Sea, itself.

The Black Sea is the important part of this belt plates story, as the Black Sea is the home of sturgeon fish, as seen on the engraving. Most likely the belt plate was created in the Black Sea area, then shipped up the Danube and then finally up the Drava to Mursa.