File:3rd Century Spoked disc brooch close up (FindID 57900).jpg

English: Roman, 3rd century, copper alloy spoked disc brooch. This brooch has a diameter of 30.04mm and weighs 14.54grammes. It is circular in plan, and appears to have been made from three separate, cast, components. The first component is the base plate. This is decorated around its outside edge with a border of ‘O’ shapes, that presumably would have run around the entire edge of the brooch when pristine. Inside of this decorative border is a small, plain, raised rib, and beyond that, moving towards the centre of the brooch is a much larger, also plain, inner rib 4.3mm wide.

Within the centre of the plate is placed the next component, another, smaller, slightly domed plate, circular in plan. This plate has a diameter of 13.2mm. At the centre of this plate, is the central boss, conical in shape with a terminal knob and 7.2mm high. It presumably has a shaft that has passed through a circular perforation in both plates, as there is evidence of the copper alloy rivet on the extreme underside of the brooch. Radiating from the boss would have been six spokes, oval in plan, that arch over the wider rib. Only one is now intact, but the remains of the other five can be seen. They were presumably a moulded component of the second plate.

The face of the brooch retains a lot of its gilding and otherwise has a light green patina. The reverse of the brooch retains the pierced lug, through which the pin would have been fixed. A fragment of spring coil is attached to the lug, and is surrounded by iron corrosion product, suggesting it was of this material. The catchplate is also present, but incomplete. The patina of the reverse is generally light green, but patches of white metal coating, either actual silver or tin, can be seen, which is consistent with this brooch type.

The remains of the spokes and the chipped edges of the brooch are worn smooth, suggesting that any breaks and damage have occurred in antiquity. The surface treatments have survived remarkably well, and the fact that the central boss is undamaged means that this brooch represents a pleasing example of its type.

Roman brooches of this type are generally uncommon, though more are coming to light as a consequence of this database. This is certainly the first brooch of this type recorded here for Essex. See Hattatt, 1989, Ancient Brooches and other Artefacts, page 178, figure 82, 1645 for a close parallel.