Saxon pewter disc brooche

Saxon pewter disc brooch with raised bosses and beaded edge. This is one of a group 44 items including disc brooches, rings and beads found on Cheapside near Bow church during the excavation of a sewer in 1838. This and the rest of the jewells seem to be the stock of a local Saxon jeweller. In the hoard are different types of pewter brooches, rings and beads, mostly unfinished. Some brooches are set with glass beads to imitate gems. They seem to have been cast with the beads in place in the mould, as some still have a skin of metal over them. The jeweller must have intended to remove the skin later.