Roman/Celtic Fibulas-Brooches

Simply put these were used by our European ancestors to fasten their clothes/cloaks/coats together. The more elaborate ones tend to be Roman era and the more simple ones, especially those made from one piece of bronze wire, tend to be Celtic. Obviously our modern safety pins are a direct ancestor to these more elaborate and interesting clothing fasteners.

Because of their relatively inexpensive per item cost, they are a wonderful ancient collectible and rank right up there with ancient iron arrowheads and ancient bronze rings. In fact, like ancient bronze rings, these looked like gold when new or polished. However, gold was far more expensive in relative terms in ancient and Medieval times than it is today. After all, our ancestors didn't have any heavy equipment or chemicals to help them extract gold as they have today. Now, did they cause serious pollution with their mining as today's avaricious miners are inclined to do? [Using mercury as one example.]

The Fibulas/Brooches that we will be offering are in as found condition. This means that no one has cleaned them, or repaired them, or done anything to them aside from cleaning the soils/clay that adhered to them as a consequence of extended burial.

From what I see many Fibulas/Brooches listed on eBay have been cleaned, oiled, repaired, restored or whatever. Of course, perhaps some collectors favor them treated like this. However, we prefer to sell them in a pristine state and let you do whatever makes you happy with them. Indeed, it is possible to bring back the gleam of their gold-like original appearance, although you run the very real risk of breaking these ancient artifacts in the process.

There are books on this subject and show that these were made out of bronze, iron, silver, gold and even decorated with enamel. If you pursue this area of collecting seriously, don't buy any expensive examples until you buy a book or two. Start off with the ones that interest you the most and see if your interest turns into a hobby. Then go for the books and catalogs. In every case, exercise caution as there are too many selling modern reproductions as ancient. Select reputable dealers and stick with them as they will stand behind their merchandise. Loyalty is best as a two-way street.

Thanks for looking ,SP