DOI Artikel:
Ciołek, Renata: "Great hoard" of 4656 coins of King Ballaios from Risan
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.41950#0014
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It is a point of interest that despite the overall good or even very good State of preser-
vation of the coins, there are examples which are literally crumbling away, not from wear
but from the effects of corrosion. The conditions of deposition of the hoard were unfavor-
able (salty accumulation fili) and the clay jar hardly constituted any kind of protection.
Some of the coins were stuck together in twos and threes, even up to nine coins together,
but there is no indication of any ordered arrangement. The coins were clearly not in rolls
and clearly not in any order (for example, the obverse facing top).
On the grounds of available data it may be hazarded that the place where the “great
hoard” from Risan was found was either a mint or a treasury of some sort. The coins def-
initely represent a very brief production horizon. The total absence of the Faros type of
coin, which is known to have been used in Rliizon, suggests that the hoard did not contain
coins that were in circulation. Irrefutable evidence for the mint theory may issue from fur-
ther studies of the coins after conservation. Should they tum out to form a series struck
with the same die stamp, it could be hazarded that the room in which the hoard was found
was actually a part of the mint where coins were madę. Its location in the city center is
justifiable on security grounds, suffice it to mention the mint in Ronie, for example. Any
further conclusions will have to wait until the coins can be studied after cleaning.
To recapitulate, the coins from the assemblage were all struck in Rliizon over a very
short period of time. A lion’s share of the hoard is constituted by a single subtype of coin
issued in Rhizon; the other Rliizon subtype is very rare in the assemblage, while the Faros
type and another related type are completely absent. It seems therefore that the coins rep-
resent a single production cycle. Those of the coins which could be evaluated either had
not been in circulation or, if they were, it had been only for a very short period of time.
Pending further studies, the hoard may be interpreted as a deposit kept in the mint, con-
taining coins from morę than one production cycle, but covering only a very short striking
period. Perhaps a certain amount of coins from successive production cycles were set
aside, sorted for a reason as yet undetermined. The burning layer on the floor under which
the hoard had been stashed away could be proof that the coins represent the latest, if not
the last issues ever produced by King Ballaios.
It is a point of interest that despite the overall good or even very good State of preser-
vation of the coins, there are examples which are literally crumbling away, not from wear
but from the effects of corrosion. The conditions of deposition of the hoard were unfavor-
able (salty accumulation fili) and the clay jar hardly constituted any kind of protection.
Some of the coins were stuck together in twos and threes, even up to nine coins together,
but there is no indication of any ordered arrangement. The coins were clearly not in rolls
and clearly not in any order (for example, the obverse facing top).
On the grounds of available data it may be hazarded that the place where the “great
hoard” from Risan was found was either a mint or a treasury of some sort. The coins def-
initely represent a very brief production horizon. The total absence of the Faros type of
coin, which is known to have been used in Rliizon, suggests that the hoard did not contain
coins that were in circulation. Irrefutable evidence for the mint theory may issue from fur-
ther studies of the coins after conservation. Should they tum out to form a series struck
with the same die stamp, it could be hazarded that the room in which the hoard was found
was actually a part of the mint where coins were madę. Its location in the city center is
justifiable on security grounds, suffice it to mention the mint in Ronie, for example. Any
further conclusions will have to wait until the coins can be studied after cleaning.
To recapitulate, the coins from the assemblage were all struck in Rliizon over a very
short period of time. A lion’s share of the hoard is constituted by a single subtype of coin
issued in Rhizon; the other Rliizon subtype is very rare in the assemblage, while the Faros
type and another related type are completely absent. It seems therefore that the coins rep-
resent a single production cycle. Those of the coins which could be evaluated either had
not been in circulation or, if they were, it had been only for a very short period of time.
Pending further studies, the hoard may be interpreted as a deposit kept in the mint, con-
taining coins from morę than one production cycle, but covering only a very short striking
period. Perhaps a certain amount of coins from successive production cycles were set
aside, sorted for a reason as yet undetermined. The burning layer on the floor under which
the hoard had been stashed away could be proof that the coins represent the latest, if not
the last issues ever produced by King Ballaios.