Gold bracteates are objects made from embossed sheet metal (pressbleck). Their images were produced using dies (matrices; German: Modeln). None of these dies used for known gold bracteates have survived. However, some bronze objects have been recovered that may have served as dies for D-bracteates, of which no embossings are known. These dies are listed here in the catalogue in the same way as bracteates. It is uncertain whether there were also dies made from other materials, such as bone, antler or wood. The former dies, i.e. their images, can be reconstructed with the help of the real embossings. They form the basis for naming the bracteates with IK numbers (IK numbers). Normally, all the individual elements of the central image, i.e. figures, additional markings and runic inscriptions, were already present in the model. Secondary alterations of the dies are documented only in very few exceptional cases.
After the central images had been embossed, the planchets could be additionally decorated with punches – provided they were large enough. Such punch patterns then form zones running radially around the central image. Die-identical bracteates in a series can thus look very different and have different diameters. Due to the punch zones, some bracteates are extremely oversized.
- Axboe, Morten: Brakteatstudier. Det Kongelige Nordiske Oldskriftselskab. København 2007.