The Riddle of the Nablus Collection

Abstract

The Nablus Collection is a previously-unpublished hoard of imperial Roman bronze coins from the Tetrarchic Period (294-318) housed at the Catholic University of America. The Collection is comparable to many other, similar hoards and confirms common trends such as weight, time span, and inflation during the period. One programmatic weight reduction, in the year 307/308, is well documented in the Collection, and the hoard further substantiates a lesser-known weight reduction in the year 312 for which no material evidence had as yet been discovered. The Collection, however, differs from other hoards in several remarkable ways, raising questions that require creative hypotheses. The mint distribution supported by comparable hoards of the period contrasts strikingly with that of the Collection, which evidences a balance of eastern and western mints peculiar for the period. The hoard testifies to the economic rise of a frontier colony which by the 320s had become an established community with its own bishop and the importance to attract a flow of foreign coin from across the Empire. The Collection adds a small piece to the story of that turbulent period when Constantine marched from York, crossed the Empire, and finally settled in the East.