A beautifully preserved brakteat representing the "workshop" of a group of coins found in the village of Rataje in Lower Silesia in 1850. Dated to the first half of the 13th century.
A type with a very mysterious iconography. Depicting a dome (?) on a horizontal strip filled with hatching (or imitation of an inscription), under an arch of pearls followed by additional lines. This enigmatic motif is sometimes interpreted as a rainbow. Another, broader interpretation ("radiating light") is also found on the 265th page of "Iconography of Piast Coins."
Rare in such beautiful states.
