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#0136
ARKADIUSZ DYMOWSKI
132
them - issued in various parts of the ancient Greek world. This artifact is somewhat
larger than an original stater from Velia, as a result of which we can conclude that
we are not dealing with a cast copy made from a die attained by way of pressing an
ancient coin. The second object, which has a diameter of 20 mm and a weight of
1.3 8 g, is a corroded metallic button - a so-called livery button (Pl. 1, Fig. 4) - whose
eyes are missing. Probably embossed in steel, it is dated to the first three decades
of the 20th century. The button shows a helmeted Athena or Minerva looking left.21
It may be that the model for the button was one of the many Greek coins showing,
usually on the obverse, the image of Athena. This goddess was readily shown on
coins by the Greeks, with the most well known issues being those from Athens22
and Corinth.23 Minerva was also depicted in a similar type on the obverses of coins
from the Roman Republic.24
All of the examples cited above show that great care needs to be exercised
when it comes to describing objects resembling ancient coins found in early modern
contexts or ones that are suspected of being associated with the early modern period.
At least since the Renaissance, following on a wave of interest in antiquity, there
appeared a great number of coin-like objects modeled after Greek or Roman coins.
We can only guess at the use to which some of these were put. It is easy to identify
as reproductions objects made of lead or some other material that was not made
use of when ancient coins were struck as part of regular issues, but it is much more
difficult to identify a piece as having been made in the early modern era when it is
reminiscent of an ancient coin in terms of the material used, the size of the coin, and
the images depicted on it. This is especially true when we are dealing with a piece that
is in a decrepit state, as is the case with the object discovered at Łagiewniki Street.
ABBREVIATIONS
RICI= Sutherland, C.H.V. 1984. The Roman Imperial Coinage, vol. I (revised edition), London.
RRC = Crawford, M.H. 1974. The Roman Republican Coinage, vols. 1-2, Cambridge.
21 The same type of button- though better preserved -has been describedin: DYMOWSKI 2016:385-386,389;
IDEM 2017: 121-122.
22 MIELCZAREK 2006: 70.
23 Ibidem'. 60-62.
24 E.g. on a denarius of the moneycr L. Rustius, from 76 BC (RRC 389/1).
132
them - issued in various parts of the ancient Greek world. This artifact is somewhat
larger than an original stater from Velia, as a result of which we can conclude that
we are not dealing with a cast copy made from a die attained by way of pressing an
ancient coin. The second object, which has a diameter of 20 mm and a weight of
1.3 8 g, is a corroded metallic button - a so-called livery button (Pl. 1, Fig. 4) - whose
eyes are missing. Probably embossed in steel, it is dated to the first three decades
of the 20th century. The button shows a helmeted Athena or Minerva looking left.21
It may be that the model for the button was one of the many Greek coins showing,
usually on the obverse, the image of Athena. This goddess was readily shown on
coins by the Greeks, with the most well known issues being those from Athens22
and Corinth.23 Minerva was also depicted in a similar type on the obverses of coins
from the Roman Republic.24
All of the examples cited above show that great care needs to be exercised
when it comes to describing objects resembling ancient coins found in early modern
contexts or ones that are suspected of being associated with the early modern period.
At least since the Renaissance, following on a wave of interest in antiquity, there
appeared a great number of coin-like objects modeled after Greek or Roman coins.
We can only guess at the use to which some of these were put. It is easy to identify
as reproductions objects made of lead or some other material that was not made
use of when ancient coins were struck as part of regular issues, but it is much more
difficult to identify a piece as having been made in the early modern era when it is
reminiscent of an ancient coin in terms of the material used, the size of the coin, and
the images depicted on it. This is especially true when we are dealing with a piece that
is in a decrepit state, as is the case with the object discovered at Łagiewniki Street.
ABBREVIATIONS
RICI= Sutherland, C.H.V. 1984. The Roman Imperial Coinage, vol. I (revised edition), London.
RRC = Crawford, M.H. 1974. The Roman Republican Coinage, vols. 1-2, Cambridge.
21 The same type of button- though better preserved -has been describedin: DYMOWSKI 2016:385-386,389;
IDEM 2017: 121-122.
22 MIELCZAREK 2006: 70.
23 Ibidem'. 60-62.
24 E.g. on a denarius of the moneycr L. Rustius, from 76 BC (RRC 389/1).