Tracing Dacian gold in Roman aurei

Abstract

Here the LA-ICP-MS results from 66 Roman gold coins (aurei) issued between AD 101 and AD 196 are presented. Aurei issued between AD 129 and AD 165 seemed to have been made from an antimony- and tellurium-rich gold. The Roman gold mines at Roșia Montană in Dacia, modern day Romania, produce antimony- and tellurium-rich gold, and we have precisely dated documentary evidence that suggests intensive mining activity occurred here from at least AD 131 until AD 167. The intensity of the proposed antimony- and tellurium-rich Roșia Montană ‘fingerprint’ in Roman gold coinage almost perfectly matches the chronological window of intensive exploitation of the Roșia Montană gold source. As such, gold from Dacia appears to have been one of the most dominant sources for the Roman supply network in the mid-second century, and the strategic importance of the province at this time should not be underestimated.