Finds of Illyrian coin hoards from the territories of Greek Illyria. An attempt at reconstructing the circulation of coinage based on the range of particular emissions

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to reconstruct the circulation of coinage through an analysis of finds of hoards of ‘Illyrian coins’ from the territory of Greek Illyria in the period from the 4th to the 1st century BC. To this end, hoards from modern-day Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Kosovo, and Serbia, that is the maximum territorial extent of the so-called ‘Illyrian state’, were compiled in a catalogue. This catalogue of hoards of Illyrian coins served as a basis for producing dedicated maps which present data in a cumulative form, as well as sorted by date and place of issue. Distribution of finds in relation to terrain and settlement patterns was studied in order to locate concentrations of coins of given centres in different periods. Additionally, important observations concerned places in which coin hoards are absent or very scarce. The catalogue was also useful for tracing patterns in the composition of the hoards – those consisting of coins most commonly minted together and those dominated by coins of differing provenance.