Irregular Roman Coins Part II: Radiate imitations (original) (raw)
Related papers
Recent research on irregular coinage in late Roman Britain, Yorkshire Numismatist 4
Irregular coinages in the late Roman Empire were often connected to currency shortages and so outbreaks of their production are relatively localised. In Britain there were three so-called epidemics of copying, one dating to the 270s and early 280s when the majority of imitations took as their models the debased antoniniani of the Gallic empire, and the other two to the 330s and 340s and then the 350s when the argentiferous bronze coins of the house of Constantine furnished the prototypes. Sadly there is very little evidence for where these coins were produced. This paper will fi rst consider ways in which minting sites might be identifi ed and how they were making their products and will then go on to discus the metallurgical analyses which have been carried out on samples from the fi rst two of these epidemics.
Roman coins are peculiar objects. In the first place, they were the official means of payment of the Roman Empire and thus the most important mass product of the pre-modern era. Because of the many images and texts depicted on ancient coins, we can also correctly refer to Roman coins as the first mass medium of antiquity. Given their intrinsic monetary function, they reached the remotest corners of the empire and were able to communicate the messages of the imperial administration to the people. However, in their aesthetics—both in their materiality and in their function as a means of communication—Roman coins differ fundamentally from their modern relatives. It is precisely this that the present exhibition takes as a starting point, aiming to present a broad perspective of the phenomenon of Roman coins and their peculiar aesthetics and significance in an ancient context. To this end, we have chosen five representative thematic areas, which we believe can be used to present the most important perspectives on ancient life: Beautiful and Ugly / Portraits / Representations of Nature / Dynasties / Role Models. The broad spectrum of themes makes it clear; the beauty or specific nature of these objects is and was truly in the eye of the beholder.
The sixth consecutive volume of the catalogue of the collection of ancient coins in the Ossoliński National Institute appeared after a twelve-year long break and thirty years after the publication of the first volume. It gathers the Roman Imperial coins from years 193-235 represented in the collection. There are 302 coins catalogued, including official, unofficial and imitative coins, as well as modern coins in the Severan type. Metallurgical analyses of seven coins are reported and interpreted in the annexes by three different Authors. Two of these coin are East Germanic imitations of aurei. One of them is the runic imitation of aureus of Severus Alexander presented in the seperate paper accessible in Academia.edu. The history of the collection (dating back to 1828) and the individual coins is reconstructed thanks to the research started with the archival queries to my PhD thesis in 2008 and continued until now. There are high quality illustrations on the Tables: photos of coins are in colour and on coated paper.
Early Roman coins from Novae. Patterns and observations.
Novensia , 2015
This article is the first systematic attempt for collection and arrangement of the early Roman coin finds from Novae – a large legionary fortress on the Lower Danube excavated without interruption since 1960. It contains a complete identification of all published coins from the site excavations as well as a thorough check of inventory books in Svishtov Museum. No less than 252 coins (total 407 with the suburbia finds) of the Early Principate period (Augustus to Trajan) are catalogued and further analysed. A small hoard of six Claudian and Neronian aes-coins (down to AD 64/5) found in the street sewage by the legion’s Principia is also discussed. A comparative analysis of coin denominations which occur at Novae is applied. Of particular value for the current analysis is the chronological overlapping of small finds (terra sigillata from North Italy and Gaul, imported glass, amphorae, etc.) associated with the Julio-Claudian and Flavian coins excavated in sectors X, XI and XVIII. Paper provides insight for the early phases of habitation and emphasizes on the purely military character of Novae until Hadrian.
Two "pseudomints" of the first century BC are described: Pseudo-Ebusus/ Massalia (almost certainly at Pompeii) and Pseudo-Panormos/Paestum (probably at Minturnae). The circulation of their coins, and of a plethora of foreign coins, suggests that a relatively monetarized economy in Latium and Campania was pressing all available coin into service, in a context of a penury of small change. Appendix 1 considers the circulation and overstriking in central Italy of Koan bronze coin. Appendix 2 compiles finds of foreign coin from Rome, Minturnae and Pompeii. Prototype mints Main sites with finds of imitative coins Pompeii Minturnae Rome Panormos Paestum Massalia Ebusus monete rinvenute a Morgantina [Buttrey, Erim, Groves and Holloway 1989, 94, no. 264, pl. 24]. Non è chiaro dove queste imitazioni sono state prodotte. Allo stato attuale, l'ipotesi più probabile mi sembra una localizzazione dell' emissione in Italia" (Frey-Kupper 1995, 40-41). 11. RRC and, and the following note. 12. CMMR, 52-74, 103-115, 177-194; Crawford (1982). 13. The Sicilian volume is in preparation.