DOI issue:
Artykuły/Articles
DOI article:Dymowski, Arkadiusz: The Problem of the Presence of Barbarian Imitations of Roman Imperial Denarii in the Lands of Present-Day Poland. An Attempt at a Balance
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.57341#0157
THE PROBLEM OF THE PRESENCE OF BARBARIAN IMITATIONS...
from Studzianki Pancerne (Cat. no. 42) is almost certainly made of copper or
some copper alloy. It may have been silver-plated or covered with a thin layer of
a metal reminiscent of silver, e.g. tin. However, no traces of any silver, or silver-like
covering - which would indicate that we are dealing with a subaeratus - are visible
from underneath the patina. It is also possible that the alloy making up the coin was
supposed to imitate silver. For example, bronze with a high tin and lead content has
a color that is similar to silver. Another coin that was struck using a metal other than
silver is the one from Kacice (Cat. no. 18); this coin is described in somewhat more
detail later on in the text. If we do not include the coin from Kacice, the weight of
which exceeds 4 g, and a partially preserved coin from Skrzetuszewo (Cat. no. 41),
we have at our disposal information about weight of 26 denarii, all of which are
probably made of silver. The lightest is the denarius from Olechowiec (Cat. no. 33;
1.89 g), and the heaviest is a denarius from the hoard from Gierłoż (Cat. no. 6;
3.61 g). The arithmetic average of these 26 coins is 2.84 g, while the median is
2.81 g. These values do not differ from the weights of the original Roman denarii
found in the lands of Poland. Both categories of denarii (in silver), i.e. coins from
official issues and barbarian imitations, were no doubt treated equally in these lands
that now make up present-day Poland. Were this not to have been the case, they
would not be found together in the same contexts and in the same coin assemblages.
From the lands of Poland, much like from those of Ukraine,31 we know of imitative
denarii that have hardly any traces of having been used (e.g. Cat. no. 1), but we also
know of coins that are heavily worn (e.g. Cat. no. 20). This stands in contrast with
the situation observed in Gotland32 and in Bornholm.33 Almost all of the imitative
denarii found there are heavily worn.
No less than 19 of the imitative denarii of emperors from the Nerva-Antonine
dynasty found in Poland were part of hoards of denarii from between the 1st and 2nd
centuries. This is almost half of all the imitations of this type discovered in the area
of interest to us here, and one needs to keep in mind that some of the coins described
as stray finds could also have been part of hoards. We can assume that with regard to
the lands of present-day Poland, about half of the imitative denarii of emperors from
the Nerva-Antonine (and Flavian) dynasty are coins from hoards. In comparison to
other areas that were once part of the Barbaricum - in northwestern Germany, in
the Hungarian Plain, and in Gotland and Öland - the vast majority of the recorded
imitations come from hoards. No doubt this is due to the fact that fewer finds by
detectorists have been recorded than in Poland. We can surmise that in Germany,
31 See ANOKHIN 2015: 70-204.
32 LIND 2018: 33-36.
33 HORSN.ES 2013: 56.
155
from Studzianki Pancerne (Cat. no. 42) is almost certainly made of copper or
some copper alloy. It may have been silver-plated or covered with a thin layer of
a metal reminiscent of silver, e.g. tin. However, no traces of any silver, or silver-like
covering - which would indicate that we are dealing with a subaeratus - are visible
from underneath the patina. It is also possible that the alloy making up the coin was
supposed to imitate silver. For example, bronze with a high tin and lead content has
a color that is similar to silver. Another coin that was struck using a metal other than
silver is the one from Kacice (Cat. no. 18); this coin is described in somewhat more
detail later on in the text. If we do not include the coin from Kacice, the weight of
which exceeds 4 g, and a partially preserved coin from Skrzetuszewo (Cat. no. 41),
we have at our disposal information about weight of 26 denarii, all of which are
probably made of silver. The lightest is the denarius from Olechowiec (Cat. no. 33;
1.89 g), and the heaviest is a denarius from the hoard from Gierłoż (Cat. no. 6;
3.61 g). The arithmetic average of these 26 coins is 2.84 g, while the median is
2.81 g. These values do not differ from the weights of the original Roman denarii
found in the lands of Poland. Both categories of denarii (in silver), i.e. coins from
official issues and barbarian imitations, were no doubt treated equally in these lands
that now make up present-day Poland. Were this not to have been the case, they
would not be found together in the same contexts and in the same coin assemblages.
From the lands of Poland, much like from those of Ukraine,31 we know of imitative
denarii that have hardly any traces of having been used (e.g. Cat. no. 1), but we also
know of coins that are heavily worn (e.g. Cat. no. 20). This stands in contrast with
the situation observed in Gotland32 and in Bornholm.33 Almost all of the imitative
denarii found there are heavily worn.
No less than 19 of the imitative denarii of emperors from the Nerva-Antonine
dynasty found in Poland were part of hoards of denarii from between the 1st and 2nd
centuries. This is almost half of all the imitations of this type discovered in the area
of interest to us here, and one needs to keep in mind that some of the coins described
as stray finds could also have been part of hoards. We can assume that with regard to
the lands of present-day Poland, about half of the imitative denarii of emperors from
the Nerva-Antonine (and Flavian) dynasty are coins from hoards. In comparison to
other areas that were once part of the Barbaricum - in northwestern Germany, in
the Hungarian Plain, and in Gotland and Öland - the vast majority of the recorded
imitations come from hoards. No doubt this is due to the fact that fewer finds by
detectorists have been recorded than in Poland. We can surmise that in Germany,
31 See ANOKHIN 2015: 70-204.
32 LIND 2018: 33-36.
33 HORSN.ES 2013: 56.
155