DOI article:
Bulas, Jan; Kotowicz, Piotr N.: New Roman coin finds from the upper San River basin
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49247#0214
JAN BULAS, PJOTR N. KOTOWICZ
210
For many years now, the Historical Museum in Sanok has been collecting
coins from various ages that have been found accidentally in southeastern Poland,
mostly in Sanok, Lesko, and Bieszczady districts. Up until recently, there was only
one Roman coin in the museum’s collection: a denarius of Commodus discovered
in Trepcza, Sanok District.1 However, the number of Roman coins has increased
over the last few years by thirteen finds. Moreover, the museum’s Archaeological
Workshop has information about nine new coins that are not known in the literature
and that remain in private possession.
The present article seeks to describe part of this collection, namely ten new
coins discovered in the Upper San River basin. While eight of these coins have been
deposited in the collections of the Historical Museum in Sanok, the remaining two
have been made available by the finders so that they could be documented.2 All
of these were stray finds, discovered out of context in Sanok District, though the
precise location of some of them is known. Three of these coins were discovered in
Sanok, two each in Morochów and Trepcza, and one each in the villages of Dudyńce,
Kostarowce, and Płonna (Map 1.2, 1.7, 1.11).
Let us begin with the oldest coin in this collection, a bronze sestertius of Nero
struck in Rome between 64 and 68 and found by accident in Sanok on Kiczury Street
(Cat. 8; Map 1.14, Pl. 1, Fig. 3.1). This is the first coin associated with this ruler
and simultaneously the oldest definite find of an imperial coin from the area under
discussion. Continuing onwards, a denarius of the emperor Trajan, struck towards
the end of the first century (AD 98-99), was found in the village of Płonna (Cat. 5;
Map 1.11, Pl. 1, Fig. 2.1). Although coins of this ruler are not a rarity in lands with
Przeworsk culture settlements, this is only the second coin of this kind that has been
1 MADYDA-LEGUTKO 1995: 27, No. 840; PARCZEWSKI and POHORSKA-KLEJA 1995: 72;
KOTOWICZ 2004: 721. Besides this coin, the museum’s collection includes 36 other Roman coins; their place
of origin, however, is unknown. It may be that some of them, which today are difficult to identify, were kept in
one of the museums in Sanok from before the war: either in the Ukrainian Lemkivshchyna Museum or in the
Polish Museum of Sanok Land - cf. Ibidem'. 721; IDEM 2017: 112, footnote 51. It is worth noting here that the
majority of the coins that were kept before the war in the Museum of Sanok Land were stolen by the German
occupants in 1944 - cf. ALEKSIEWICZ 1958: 52, 55; KACZANOWSKI and MARGOS 2002: 39, 60 61,293,
nos. 99, 173, 679; KOTOWICZ 2004: 721.
2 After this article was submitted for print, three more silver coins, discovered in Nowosielce, were added
to the Historical Museum’s archaeological collection, as were one denarius found in the neighboring village
of Długie, Sanok District (Wisłoka River basin), and a golden solidus of Theodosius II, discovered in Prchiki,
Sanok District (in the basin of the Upper San River). These artefacts will be covered in separate studies.
It should be mentioned here that the museum’s archaeological collection has recently been enriched by
12 Roman denarii. According to the donors, these coins were supposed to have been discovered in one place,
in the village of Zarszyn, near Sanok. One of them was even published as a possible find from Zarszyn - see:
KOTOWICZ 2015: 27, fig. 2:4. Moreover, photographs were obtained of 16 other Roman coins (silver and
bronze) connected to this find. In reality, however, this alleged “hoard” is a complete fiction. Among the coins
in this assemblage, six were probably discovered in several locations in the village of Długie, and one is
from Nowosielce. The remaining ones were bought by the “finder” on internet auctions and credited as finds
from Zarszyn. Unfortunately, it is currently not possible to indicate which of these coins were discovered in
Nowosielce and Długie.
210
For many years now, the Historical Museum in Sanok has been collecting
coins from various ages that have been found accidentally in southeastern Poland,
mostly in Sanok, Lesko, and Bieszczady districts. Up until recently, there was only
one Roman coin in the museum’s collection: a denarius of Commodus discovered
in Trepcza, Sanok District.1 However, the number of Roman coins has increased
over the last few years by thirteen finds. Moreover, the museum’s Archaeological
Workshop has information about nine new coins that are not known in the literature
and that remain in private possession.
The present article seeks to describe part of this collection, namely ten new
coins discovered in the Upper San River basin. While eight of these coins have been
deposited in the collections of the Historical Museum in Sanok, the remaining two
have been made available by the finders so that they could be documented.2 All
of these were stray finds, discovered out of context in Sanok District, though the
precise location of some of them is known. Three of these coins were discovered in
Sanok, two each in Morochów and Trepcza, and one each in the villages of Dudyńce,
Kostarowce, and Płonna (Map 1.2, 1.7, 1.11).
Let us begin with the oldest coin in this collection, a bronze sestertius of Nero
struck in Rome between 64 and 68 and found by accident in Sanok on Kiczury Street
(Cat. 8; Map 1.14, Pl. 1, Fig. 3.1). This is the first coin associated with this ruler
and simultaneously the oldest definite find of an imperial coin from the area under
discussion. Continuing onwards, a denarius of the emperor Trajan, struck towards
the end of the first century (AD 98-99), was found in the village of Płonna (Cat. 5;
Map 1.11, Pl. 1, Fig. 2.1). Although coins of this ruler are not a rarity in lands with
Przeworsk culture settlements, this is only the second coin of this kind that has been
1 MADYDA-LEGUTKO 1995: 27, No. 840; PARCZEWSKI and POHORSKA-KLEJA 1995: 72;
KOTOWICZ 2004: 721. Besides this coin, the museum’s collection includes 36 other Roman coins; their place
of origin, however, is unknown. It may be that some of them, which today are difficult to identify, were kept in
one of the museums in Sanok from before the war: either in the Ukrainian Lemkivshchyna Museum or in the
Polish Museum of Sanok Land - cf. Ibidem'. 721; IDEM 2017: 112, footnote 51. It is worth noting here that the
majority of the coins that were kept before the war in the Museum of Sanok Land were stolen by the German
occupants in 1944 - cf. ALEKSIEWICZ 1958: 52, 55; KACZANOWSKI and MARGOS 2002: 39, 60 61,293,
nos. 99, 173, 679; KOTOWICZ 2004: 721.
2 After this article was submitted for print, three more silver coins, discovered in Nowosielce, were added
to the Historical Museum’s archaeological collection, as were one denarius found in the neighboring village
of Długie, Sanok District (Wisłoka River basin), and a golden solidus of Theodosius II, discovered in Prchiki,
Sanok District (in the basin of the Upper San River). These artefacts will be covered in separate studies.
It should be mentioned here that the museum’s archaeological collection has recently been enriched by
12 Roman denarii. According to the donors, these coins were supposed to have been discovered in one place,
in the village of Zarszyn, near Sanok. One of them was even published as a possible find from Zarszyn - see:
KOTOWICZ 2015: 27, fig. 2:4. Moreover, photographs were obtained of 16 other Roman coins (silver and
bronze) connected to this find. In reality, however, this alleged “hoard” is a complete fiction. Among the coins
in this assemblage, six were probably discovered in several locations in the village of Długie, and one is
from Nowosielce. The remaining ones were bought by the “finder” on internet auctions and credited as finds
from Zarszyn. Unfortunately, it is currently not possible to indicate which of these coins were discovered in
Nowosielce and Długie.