DOI article:
Dymowski, Arkadiusz: Pseudo-ancient pseudo-coins from Gdańsk: remarks in the margins of the catalog of finds of ancient coins in medieval and modern contexts in Poland
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49247#0134
ARKADIUSZ DYMOWSKI
130
coins come from early modern collections.7 It is worth adding that earth and debris
were carried away to the city’s outskirts following World War II. This has also been
practiced in recent years when terrain is cleared in preparation for new construction
investments. The result is that the things from long ago that are sometimes discovered
at present at the city’s periphery and in its suburbs could actually come from its
historical center.
With regard to Gdahsk’s city center, we have a very large source database that
includes thousands of finds of coins and coin-like objects.8 In this context, it is
necessary to mention, above all, the many articles written by Jarosław Dutkowski9
and the numerous studies provided by Borys Paszkiewicz,10 especially the latter’s
outstanding monograph published in 2013.11 This database includes a Roman coin
- an as of Nero (he reigned in 54—68)12 found at Łagiewniki Street in 2006 together
with forty-seven other coins and coin-like objects from the late medieval and modern
periods (from the 14th to the 20lh century). This coin was found during archaeological
research conducted by Katarzyna Kaczyńska and Aleksander Kwapiński from the
Archaeological Museum in Gdańsk, and to be precise it was discovered in sector
30/40, in structure 208, though the research documents lack information on the
dating of structure 208. Other artifacts taken from this structure come from the period
between the 16th and 19th century. The as of Nero mentioned here (Pl. 1, Fig. 1)
is at present in the Archaeological Museum in Gdańsk (inventory no. MAG/
GN/3686).13 This coin, with a diameter of 26.3-27 mm and a weight of 4.48 g, is
made of copper or bronze, but its state of preservation is very bad: both the obverse
and the reverse are highly corroded. The obverse has a barely decipherable laureate
head turned left. No doubt this is a portrait of Nero. It is not possible to decipher
the surrounding legend on the obverse. The reverse is completely indecipherable.
Taking into account the size and appearance of this coin and the context in
which it was discovered, we should consider whether it is similar - or perhaps
even identical - to a coin-likc object (Pl. 1, Fig. 2) found, also in 2006, in an arable
field in Kiełpino Górne, now a suburb of Gdańsk.14 This artifact is made of bronze
or copper, and it has a diameter of 27 mm and a weight of 4.46 g. Modeled on the
7 PASZKIEWICZ 2013: 212.
8 A list of the most important publications can be found in: IDEM 2013: 14-15, footnotes 16 and 17.
9 E.g.: DUTKOWSKI 1990; IDEM 1996; IDEM 2003.
10 E.g.: PASZKIEWICZ 2006; IDEM 2007; IDEM 2009.
11 IDEM 2013.
12 Ibidem-. 91,95 (no. 32), 212, 365.
131 would like to express my sincerest gratitude to Ms. Beata Ceynowa, the vice director of the Archaeological
Museum in Gdańsk, for her help in attaining access to the item and for allowing it to be photographed.
14 DYMOWSKI 2006: 15-16; CIOŁEK 2007: 54; DYMOWSKI 2011: 232 (no. N7); IDEM 2017: 130,211.
130
coins come from early modern collections.7 It is worth adding that earth and debris
were carried away to the city’s outskirts following World War II. This has also been
practiced in recent years when terrain is cleared in preparation for new construction
investments. The result is that the things from long ago that are sometimes discovered
at present at the city’s periphery and in its suburbs could actually come from its
historical center.
With regard to Gdahsk’s city center, we have a very large source database that
includes thousands of finds of coins and coin-like objects.8 In this context, it is
necessary to mention, above all, the many articles written by Jarosław Dutkowski9
and the numerous studies provided by Borys Paszkiewicz,10 especially the latter’s
outstanding monograph published in 2013.11 This database includes a Roman coin
- an as of Nero (he reigned in 54—68)12 found at Łagiewniki Street in 2006 together
with forty-seven other coins and coin-like objects from the late medieval and modern
periods (from the 14th to the 20lh century). This coin was found during archaeological
research conducted by Katarzyna Kaczyńska and Aleksander Kwapiński from the
Archaeological Museum in Gdańsk, and to be precise it was discovered in sector
30/40, in structure 208, though the research documents lack information on the
dating of structure 208. Other artifacts taken from this structure come from the period
between the 16th and 19th century. The as of Nero mentioned here (Pl. 1, Fig. 1)
is at present in the Archaeological Museum in Gdańsk (inventory no. MAG/
GN/3686).13 This coin, with a diameter of 26.3-27 mm and a weight of 4.48 g, is
made of copper or bronze, but its state of preservation is very bad: both the obverse
and the reverse are highly corroded. The obverse has a barely decipherable laureate
head turned left. No doubt this is a portrait of Nero. It is not possible to decipher
the surrounding legend on the obverse. The reverse is completely indecipherable.
Taking into account the size and appearance of this coin and the context in
which it was discovered, we should consider whether it is similar - or perhaps
even identical - to a coin-likc object (Pl. 1, Fig. 2) found, also in 2006, in an arable
field in Kiełpino Górne, now a suburb of Gdańsk.14 This artifact is made of bronze
or copper, and it has a diameter of 27 mm and a weight of 4.46 g. Modeled on the
7 PASZKIEWICZ 2013: 212.
8 A list of the most important publications can be found in: IDEM 2013: 14-15, footnotes 16 and 17.
9 E.g.: DUTKOWSKI 1990; IDEM 1996; IDEM 2003.
10 E.g.: PASZKIEWICZ 2006; IDEM 2007; IDEM 2009.
11 IDEM 2013.
12 Ibidem-. 91,95 (no. 32), 212, 365.
131 would like to express my sincerest gratitude to Ms. Beata Ceynowa, the vice director of the Archaeological
Museum in Gdańsk, for her help in attaining access to the item and for allowing it to be photographed.
14 DYMOWSKI 2006: 15-16; CIOŁEK 2007: 54; DYMOWSKI 2011: 232 (no. N7); IDEM 2017: 130,211.