Simon says....

Quote
Simon says
Hi Lolke
Thanks for your question. The first thing to say is that this is not a coin but some kind of ornament. Notice that it is described as cast not struck, and there are no known coins from hoards of this type. The weight is also much too high for a denier, and as it is in silver rather than gold it is not a solidus.
As for its possible origin, SCI must be short for sancti so to my mind it is a male saint, not the virgin Mary. I’m also doubtful that stars were a symbol for Mary in the early 9th century, but perhaps you have some evidence for that?
SCI MAR coins of Pippin the Short are generally ascribed to St Martin in Tours, but with a question mark - there are other saints whose names begin with MAR like Martial and Marcellus. But Tours is known to have minted other coins with SCI MARTINI so it remains the favourite.
All good wishes
Simon Coupland