Aktualności

Tytuł:

Farmers, the Police Force, and the Authorities: The “Calvatone (1911) Hoard” as Seen Through Archival Records (Cremona – Italy)

DOI
https://doi.org/10.52800/ajst.1.a.07

Abstrakt: This paper presents a new set of archival records from Rome on the discovery of a Roman Republican denarii hoard, found by the brothers Birsilio and Luigi Simonazzi on their lands at Calvatone (Cremona, Italy, 1911). Local police forces seized the hoard and alerted the Coin Cabinet of Brera in Milan, where the numismatist Serafino Ricci (1867–1943) evaluated and finally acquired selected coins to increase the museum collections. The “Calvatone (1911) hoard” is an essential case study in the history of Italian numismatic collections, museum studies, and archaeology. These records are particularly worth studying for two main reasons. They show how local and regional authorities dealt with casual archaeological discoveries in northern Italy during the post-Unification period (1861–1918). They also help us to better understand how the Italian government acted to safeguard antiquities according to contemporary law, and how the state collections could be increased by judicial seizures and fresh acquisitions.

Tytuł:

New Finds of Roman Republican Period Denarii in the Territory of Belarus

DOI
https://doi.org/10.52800/ajst.1.a.06

Abstrakt: The article examines data on new finds of the coins of Roman Republic in western Belarus. A hoard found in the vicinity of the village of Luckaŭliany occupies a special place among them. It contained 11 Roman Republican denarii and a Numidian denarius. These data suggest that the distribution of silver coins of the 2nd to the 1st centuries BC in this part of Barbaricum was associated with the expansion of the Przeworsk culture, the bearers of which were quite familiar with Roman silver coins. At the same time, most of the finds under consideration should not be associated with the Przeworsk culture itself, but with population of neighboring cultures that had intensive contacts with the latter.

Tytuł:

Mints Locations and Chronology of Gnaeus and Sextus Pompey’s Bronze Coinage (RRC 471, 478 and 479): A Die Axes Study

DOI
https://doi.org/10.52800/ajst.1.a.05

Abstrakt: The coinage of Pompey the Great’s sons has long attracted the attention of numismatists and historians trying to reconstruct a detailed chronology of their activities. One of the problems examined was the location of the places they minted coins. This article tries to indicate the possible locations of mints producing Gnaeus’ and Sextus’ bronze coinage (RRC 471, RRC 478, RRC 479) based on the analysis of the die axes of 794 coins and attempts to interpret the results based on local traditions regarding this aspect of coin morphology. The results show that RRC 471 was most likely minted in Corduba. The unusual die alignment of the RRC 478 indicates that it may have been minted not in Spain or Sicily, but in Achaia or Bithynia. It is, however, difficult to reconcile this with the geographical distribution of the finds that points to Sicily. Nonetheless we should probably move dating of this type until after the signing of the Treaty of Misenum in 39 BC. The die axes of the RRC 479 is consistent with traditions of most Sicilian mints. The exception to this is one of the series whose different rotation pattern indicates production in one of only two Sicilian mints (Panormos or Centuripae) or one of the several South Italian cities (most probably Rhegion).

Tytuł:

Some Remarks on Eraviscan Coinage

DOI
https://doi.org/10.52800/ajst.1.a.04

Abstrakt: In the Carpathian Basin, the only coinage made by purely following Roman designs and based on their monetary standards is related to the Eravisci. The exact date of the coinage is still a matter of discussion, but the Eraviscan coins may have begun during the last decades of the 1st century BC at the earliest. The Eraviscan coinage was more probably politically motivated than economically, with their purpose perhaps to finance Eraviscan troops allied with the Romans, for instance in the war planned against Maroboduus. The coinage may perhaps have had a later phase after the abandonment of the oppidum on Gellért Hill. In this phase, very “odd” coins were minted somewhere in the edge of the Eraviscan territory. Recently, some imitations of Eraviscan denarii came to light north of the Danube, e.g. the Czechy hoard. They are thin, poorly minted coins of half weight and strongly stylized imagery.

Tytuł:

A Celtic Stater of the Krakow Type from the Opatów Area (Opatów County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship)

DOI
https://doi.org/10.52800/ajst.1.a.03

Abstrakt: The paper discusses a new find of a Krakow type Celtic stater. The coin was discovered accidentally in the Opatów area (Opatów County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship). The specimen represents variant II: C/4 according to Marcin Rudnicki, although the weakly preserved motifs visible on the obverse show some differences compared to the reference variant. The reverse bears traces of die repair. A high content of silver indicates a relatively late chronological position of the Opatów find. The discussed coin is the twentieth known stater of the Krakow type.

Tytuł:

The Temple on the Coins of Bar Kokhba – a Manifestation of Longing or a Political Programme? A Few Remarks

DOI
https://doi.org/10.52800/ajst.1.a.02

Abstrakt: The article is an attempt to answer the question of whether the building on coins issued during the Bar Kokhba revolt, usually interpreted as the Temple in Jerusalem, was a testimony of the control of Jerusalem by the rebels or a manifestation of the political programme of the revolt. This meant that perhaps also worship on the Temple Mount was resumed. The image of the building itself is analysed against a comparative background composed of other sacred buildings shown on earlier Jewish coins, in particular those coming from the period of the First Jewish War with Rome. Coins from other areas where similar buildings are represented were also used as comparative material. Consequently, the answer to the basic question of whether the possible Temple on Bar Kokhba coins was a confirmation of the historical fact of taking power over the Jewish capital or was it only a manifestation of longing – firstly after the loss of the Temple in 70, and secondly after the restoration of Jerusalem as the spiritual and political centre of the Chosen Nation – clearly leads to the second conclusion.

Tytuł:

On Probability and Proof: Piecing Together the Puzzle of Alexander’s Elephant Medallions

DOI
https://doi.org/10.52800/ajst.1.a.01

Abstrakt: The elephant medallions associated with the reign of Alexander the Great continue to cause controversy. A recent attempt to remove the elephant/chariot type from this corpus is based upon the die axes of three known specimens. This conclusion is false on both methodological grounds and the existence of a fourth specimen. The elephant/chariot type should not be excluded from the corpus of these medallions.