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#0135
PSEUDO-ANCIENT PSEUDO-COINS FROM GDAŃSK...
obverse of a Roman coin, almost certainly a dupondius,15 it has a portrait of Nero
facing left and a legend that reads imp nero caesar avg p max tr p p p on the
obverse.16 The reverse is a sunken impression of the obverse.17 In contrast to the
coin found at Łagiewniki Street, the artifact from Kiełpino Górne is well preserved.
On the reverse, we can see traces of something having been fixed to a spot near the
middle of this circular piece; this likely took the form of a soldered pin or wire.
Similar objects, also modeled after ancient coins, have been found in various parts
of Poland, but - and this may be important - they have only been found in lands
that were part of the Prussian state in the 19th and 20th centuries and which then
became part of the German state.18 Unfortunately, it is very difficult to determine
what these artifacts were used for and when exactly they were made. It may be that
they were metallic articles for decorating clothing or leather products. They can be
dated intuitively to the 19th or early 20th century - at the latest, to the interwar period.
At the present moment it is difficult to decide with any degree of certainty whether
the item discovered at Łagiewniki Street is a Roman coin or an early modern coin-
like object. It may be that a metallographic exam would help resolve our doubts
with regard to this piece.
With regard to archaeological research, I know of no direct analogies for two
other objects from Gdańsk that are reminiscent of ancient coins. Both were found
before 2009 in unspecified locations within the city’s limits. The first object is
a lead artifact of indeterminate use (Pl. 1, Fig. 3), with a diameter of 26 mm and
a weight of 10.14 g.19 This coin-likc object, which can provisionally be described
as a medal or token, depicts, on the obverse, the helmeted head of Athena looking
right; on the reverse, it shows a lion turned to the right. It is clearly modeled on
an ancient Greek coin - specifically, a stater from Velia20 - but the obverse has the
legend aaeeanapoy, which refers to some ruler named Alexander and thus does
not match the original. It may be that the artifact’s producer had access to a stater
from Velia or an imitation of one - at the same time, he may, for some reason, have
wanted to come up with a “coin” of Alexander the Great, the king of Macedonia,
but was unable to attain a coin of this ruler that could have served him as a model.
In this way, a kind of hybrid was produced, one that combined elements of Greek
coins - in this case ones with legends that do not match the images presented on
15 No asses with an analogous type of portrait and legend were struck.
I67?/C/521 or similar.
17 We are led to conclude that this circular piece is not a Roman coin with a minting flaw (a so-called brockage)
by virtue of its very smooth and sharp edges - indicating that it was almost certainly made with a punching tool
- but also by virtue of its weight (which is much less than a Roman as or a dupondius from the reign of Nero).
18 DYMOWSKI 2017: 130-131.
19 Ibidem-. 84-85, 194.
20 MIELCZAREK 2006: 167.
131
obverse of a Roman coin, almost certainly a dupondius,15 it has a portrait of Nero
facing left and a legend that reads imp nero caesar avg p max tr p p p on the
obverse.16 The reverse is a sunken impression of the obverse.17 In contrast to the
coin found at Łagiewniki Street, the artifact from Kiełpino Górne is well preserved.
On the reverse, we can see traces of something having been fixed to a spot near the
middle of this circular piece; this likely took the form of a soldered pin or wire.
Similar objects, also modeled after ancient coins, have been found in various parts
of Poland, but - and this may be important - they have only been found in lands
that were part of the Prussian state in the 19th and 20th centuries and which then
became part of the German state.18 Unfortunately, it is very difficult to determine
what these artifacts were used for and when exactly they were made. It may be that
they were metallic articles for decorating clothing or leather products. They can be
dated intuitively to the 19th or early 20th century - at the latest, to the interwar period.
At the present moment it is difficult to decide with any degree of certainty whether
the item discovered at Łagiewniki Street is a Roman coin or an early modern coin-
like object. It may be that a metallographic exam would help resolve our doubts
with regard to this piece.
With regard to archaeological research, I know of no direct analogies for two
other objects from Gdańsk that are reminiscent of ancient coins. Both were found
before 2009 in unspecified locations within the city’s limits. The first object is
a lead artifact of indeterminate use (Pl. 1, Fig. 3), with a diameter of 26 mm and
a weight of 10.14 g.19 This coin-likc object, which can provisionally be described
as a medal or token, depicts, on the obverse, the helmeted head of Athena looking
right; on the reverse, it shows a lion turned to the right. It is clearly modeled on
an ancient Greek coin - specifically, a stater from Velia20 - but the obverse has the
legend aaeeanapoy, which refers to some ruler named Alexander and thus does
not match the original. It may be that the artifact’s producer had access to a stater
from Velia or an imitation of one - at the same time, he may, for some reason, have
wanted to come up with a “coin” of Alexander the Great, the king of Macedonia,
but was unable to attain a coin of this ruler that could have served him as a model.
In this way, a kind of hybrid was produced, one that combined elements of Greek
coins - in this case ones with legends that do not match the images presented on
15 No asses with an analogous type of portrait and legend were struck.
I67?/C/521 or similar.
17 We are led to conclude that this circular piece is not a Roman coin with a minting flaw (a so-called brockage)
by virtue of its very smooth and sharp edges - indicating that it was almost certainly made with a punching tool
- but also by virtue of its weight (which is much less than a Roman as or a dupondius from the reign of Nero).
18 DYMOWSKI 2017: 130-131.
19 Ibidem-. 84-85, 194.
20 MIELCZAREK 2006: 167.
131