Mikhail G. Abramzon and Nina A. Frolova. A hoard of silver coins of the 6th-4th centuries B.C. from the Taman Peninsula, Revue Numismatique 160 (2004), 9-32 (original) (raw)
Related papers
Silver Denominations and Standards of the Bosporan Cities
Silver Denominations and Standards of the Bosporan Cities Jean Hourmouziadis Berlin, Germany The determination of the silver coin denominations and standards of the Greek cities of the Cimmerian Bosporus is rather confusing because the weights demonstrate a strong scatter and the higher denominations are quite rare. Including the drachma, Anochin identified nine different fractions, Frolova and MacDonald eight, however, not the same denominations. The latter notes that the weight is often ambiguous. An investigation concerning the manufacturing processes of the early silver coinage at the different mints suggested that this may be due to the limited manufacturing accuracy of the fractions and that a smaller number of different denominations were in use in the cities of Panticapaeum, Phanagoria and the Sindi (NC 2007). About 1000 specimens from collections and publications are analysed in an effort to improve the weight attribution of the fractions. A new statistical approach is applied using logarithmic scales. It permits a better resolution of the smaller fractions and is a usefull tool for the determination of standards, where specimen numbers of the higher denominations are insufficient for a direct evaluation. The investigation for the time period 480-375 BC leads to the conclusion that including the drachma probably only four denominations were in circulation. A similar situation develops for the time period 375-300 BC, however, at higher weights and different denominations. In both cases the standard has to be determined from the statistics of the fractions.
Georgi Dobrevo / 2000 reconsidered: Note on an 1st century BC Coin Hoard from Thrace.
Ancient West & East, 2013
This paper deals with a hoard of five 2nd - 1st c. BC silver coins from the area of via diagonalis in Southeastern Thrace. In the original publication (Пенчев/Penchev 2001, 33-38) these coins were described with numerous errors and wrong identification, thus a revision and re-interpretation is offered here. The hoard from the village of Georgi Dobrevo (Haskovo region) is an unusual association of 2 Republican denarii, 2 imitative tetradrachms of late Thasos type in barbarous style and one broken piece – a rare tetradrachm of Ilium in Troad. An overview of the historical, geographic and numismatic background of this hoard is given in order to specify its precise position and significance.
In conclusion, we can say that the peculiar Thasian-Thracian Union was created around and because of the rich mining zone within the southern Thracian lands. According to O. Picard, coins are the biggest testament to the large volume and importance of economic activities associated with mining operations. This slow and complex process is interconnected with coinage circulation that was self-sustaining in the mining area. Even Athens did not have the manpower and materials necessary for the establishment and development of a mine.17 Undoubtedly, Thracian rulers are those who provided Thasos, and probably Athens and other large contractors, with all the important terms and resources for a successful profitable activity in the mining area, namely political patronage, military protection, experienced ancestral miners, metal workers and coin workers, a significant amount of slaves, timber, charcoal and water. This cooperation led to the differentiation of the specific cultural and economic zone, shown by coinage circulation and the object of our study. In brief, Thasos was the motor, but the Thracian mainland was the origin and the reason for the existence of the rich small denomination silver coinage in the region of our research in the 6th–5th century BC.
Metrology Study of the Bosporan Silver Coins 437-375 BC (2007)
2007
These observations we have to conclude, that with a high degree of certainty the coins of the Sindi were not struck in Phanagoria. It appears rather convincing that they were minted in Panticapaeum, as suggested by Gajdukevic (1971, pp. 59). Should instead Sindicus Limen, the later Gorgippia, be the origin of this coinage, than we have to assume that they were produced by technicians who used the manufacturing technology of Panticapaeum.