Silver Coins Research Articles

О двух центральноазиатских подвесках из фондов Музея антропологии и этнографии имени Петра Великого Российской академии наук: опыт этнолого-технологической экспертизы

An expert historical, ethnological and technological analysis of two Central Asian jewelry pendants from the collections of Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (the Kunstkamera) of the Russian Academy of Sciences (MAE RAS) (2014 exposition) allows us to consider them as variations of the traditional chulpa-type jewelry of the Volga-Ural Tatars. They are pendants for braids made of plaques and silver coins collected in various compositions. The genesis of the chulpa structurally and functionally connected with the traditions of the Finno-Ugric population of the Volga Bulgaria. Chulpas were also widely used for decorating other types of braid jewelry – cloth types of Tatar braids, formed in line with other, Turkic-nomadic traditions of Eurasia. A filigree pendant made of blade-shaped plaques from the MAE RAS funds is a vivid example of the ethno-cultural and artistic traditions of the Volga-Ural Tatars. This is confirmed by the plaque manufacturing technology which fully corresponds to the craft traditions of the Kazan-Tatar jewelry school. Another pendant with tulip-shaped plate plaques at the base was obviously made by the Tatar artisans as well, taking into account a number of local Central Asian (Kazakh) jewelry traditions. The translation of ethno-specific Tatar jewelry into the traditional culture of the Turkic-Muslim peoples of Eurasia, including Central Asian ones, was carried out thanks to the functioning of the “secondary” Kazan-Tatar centres of jewelry production in the east of the Volga-Ural region. This was especially facilitated by the production and trading activities of the well-known in Russia Rybnaya-Sloboda handicraft industry. The analysis based on typological, cartographic and illustrative materials of the Historical and ethnographic atlas of the Tatar people (volume “Folk costume”).

ВОЙНА С ПИРРОМ В КОНТЕКСТЕ РАЗВИТИЯ РИМА III ВЕКА ДО НАШЕЙ ЭРЫ

The war of the Romans with King Pyrrhus of Epirus was a kind of borderline that conditionally divided the history of Roman republic into two main periods. Many modern researchers follow the concept of the Greek historian Polybius, who considered the expulsion of the Epirus king from Italy as the start of the gradual establishment of Roman hegemony in the Mediterranean. The further expansion of Rome, first to the South of Italy, and then outside – to Sicily, was accompanied by an internal political struggle between two groups in Roman society, one of which defended the agrarian development of Rome and therefore was not interested in expanding to the South and leaving Italy, but the second, represented by trade and craft circles, strove for new conquests and the acquisition of new markets. The question of the exact time of minting silver coins in Rome is highly controversial, but there is no doubt that their issue began soon after the end of the war with Pyrrhus. Another consequence of the Pyrrhic War was the recognition by the Romans of their vulnerability due to the lack of their own navy, the construction of which began twenty years after the events mentioned – during the first Punic War. After the war, there was a change in the mentality of the Romans, who, on the one hand, began to realize themselves as the masters of Italy. On the other hand, the harsh customs of their ancestors went down in history and were replaced by the desire for enrichment, undermining the moral foundations of the Roman Republic: the Romans, who had previously rejected the gifts of the emissary of the Epirus king, after a few decades, became familiar with luxury goods, becoming an obligatory subject of their daily life. Over time, the attitude of the Romans to the personality of the Epirus king himself changed. In their eyes, he turned from a noble hero into an ordinary enemy like Hannibal or Philip V. In fact, the victory of the Romans over Pyrrhus was a harbinger of the Punic wars and, ultimately, the establishment of the hegemony of Rome in the Mediterranean. But, speaking of the Pyrrhic war itself, modern researchers for some reason forget about the role of the personality of the Epirus king himself, which in one way or another caused the changes that took place in the history of Rome.

Состав сплава серебряных монет античного Херсонеса Таврического

The paper offers the first complete picture of the changing in the alloy composition of silver coins of the ancient Tauric Chersonesos. Coins from two largest collections were examined: the State Hermitage and the State Historical and Archaeological Museum-Reserve “Tauric Chersonesos”. In total, about 190 Chersonesean silver coins were studied by X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy. The results obtained made it possible to determine the stages of functioning of fool metallic value silver coins and to reveal the time of their transformation into conventional or credit coins. This happened at the end of the autonomous period of Chersonesos, after which silver coins were no longer minted in Chersonesos, with the exception of an episodic and controversial issue during the period of the influence of Mithridates VI.

LATE ROMAN COIN FINDS IN UKRAINE: HISTORY OF RESEARCH

Analyzing the published researches by previous researchers of new finds of coins of the different periods we were determining as one of the actual directions of research in the medieval numismatics in Ukraine. Examining the scientific achievements of the Ukrainian numismatists, we have determined a significant gap in the focus of research on the findings of coins of the Western Roman Empire and the territory of Ukraine, in particular, the sporadic conclusions are also published by researchers analyzing the existence of Roman coins in this period. The aim of the study. The main purpose of the article is to discover the historiography of the study of the findings of coins of the Western Roman Empire in the period of the IV – the beginning of the V cent. in Ukrainian historiography. Research methodology. In the process of scientific research of the topic the general scientific methods were used: analytical, chronological, and topographic, as well as special methods: critical, metrological and iconographic. The scientific novelty is that for the first time conclusions of scientific current development of the topography of finds of late Roman coins on the territory of Ukraine were introduced into scientific circulation, some observations on the introduction of these finds into scientific circulation were given.
 The Conclusions. Most of the finds introduced by numismatists into scientific circulation belong to those found in the nineteenth century, about only part of which are preserved information about their transfer to museum collections. Subsequently, almost the same published finds were re-introduced into scientific circulation, republished in various topographies of finds, somewhat supplemented by new discoveries of coins of the Western Roman Empire. It should also be noted that in most cases the descriptions of the finds contain sufficiently abbreviated and concise information, there are no descriptions of coins, an indication of their varieties, mostly the issuer is indicated, the denomination, less often – the legend is transmitted. It is an unfortunate fact that severely damaged coins are found, the identification of which becomes possible only approximately, and in the topographies of such messages processed by the authors a rather significant number.
 The most famous treasures and finds of coins, which have been published by a number of authors and mentioned in numerous popular science publications, are the treasure from the village of Laski, the dubious treasure of Roman coins from historical Obolon, the find in the Uspensky and Vydubichi Cathedrals – information about which compilations and all compiled archaeological maps of numismatists during the twentieth century – thus becoming a classic treasures.
 In modern Ukrainian the numismatics and scientists publishing the findings discovered during the official archaeological professional searches, as well as unauthorized amateur and accidental finds. At the present stage of studying this issue, it is necessary to compile a complete topographic map of the findings of Roman coins of IV-V centuries with their analysis to obtain conclusions on the distribution and existence of these coins in Ukraine. 
 Finds of the Roman gold coins always attract a special and more attention, so there are several separate examples of similar finds in Ukraine, published by scientists. The finds of Roman gold medallions deserve special attention, because each of them is extremely rare. Information on individual numismatic finds in the process of official archaeological exploration with available coins of the Western Roman Empire was published by archaeologists. In ancient times, it was common to use coins as jewelry – giving them a «second life». In the outlined chronological period, the coin finds also differed in a significant number of silver and gold coins with available soldered ears – turned into pendants, neck ornaments. 
 As the prospects of further research we see we see the introduction into scientific circulation and processing of new finds of Roman coins of this period in Ukraine to display the highest quality and complete topographic map.

THE ANTIKYTHERA WRECK: A NUMISMATIC APPROACH

THE ANTIKYTHERA WRECK: A NUMISMATIC APPROACH

ON THE QUESTION OF THE BASIC PERIODIZATION OF IMITATIONS OF THE ROMAN IMPERIAL DENARII IN THE CHERNYAKHIV CULTURE AREA: THE CONCEPT OF TWO «WAVES»

Imitations of Roman coins, the findings of which are very numerous and diverse in Ukraine, have already attracted the attention of researchers. The material accumulated over the last two decades, when taking into account its scale and diversity, allows us to state that imitations of Roman coins in the area of Chernyakhiv culture, is an unique and large-scale phenomenon, visible on the imaginary «map» of ancient numismatics. In this context, the growing number of new findings of imitations actualizes the task of more detailed and meaningful categorization of the accumulated material, in order to create a certain integral «canvas» of such a phenomenon as the imitations of Roman coins from the area of Chernyakhiv culture.
 The article is devoted to the improvement of the existing typology and periodization of imitations of Roman imperial denarii, which were made in the area of Chernyakhiv culture during the II - IV centuries. To solve this problem, the authors proposed and used an analytical scheme, consisting of a set of classification parameters for the typology of imitations of Roman coins in the area of Chernyakhiv culture. The use of this scheme allowed to form «profiles» and to substantiate the presence in the general set of imitations of two large, non-intersecting groups («waves») of imitations.
 Further analysis allowed to describe and compare these two «waves» of imitation in more detail. It was found that the first «wave» refers to the period of gradual entry of the Roman silver coins into the area of Chernyakhiv culture (II - early III century), which significantly clarifies the common view, according to which all imitations belong to the second half of the III century or even later. The second «wave» of imitations really refers to the second half of the III - early IV century, as it was established in the literature.
 Thus, the results of the study substantiated a comprehensive approach to the classification of imitations of Roman coins in the area of Chernyakhiv culture and significantly clarified the chronological framework of their production. In the future, the concept of two «waves» and the analytical scheme proposed by the authors may contribute to a more accurate classification and periodization of the whole array of imitations of Roman coins, which were made in the area of Chernyakhiv culture

TWO FINDS OF THE PODILLIA HALF-GROSZES IN LVIV REGION

The article discuss two new finds in the Lviv region of coins of the Podillia principality, minted on behalf of Prince Konstantin Koriatyvych. One Podillia half-grosz was found in the Busk district near the Poltva river, and the second coin was accidentally found in the Zolochiv district of the Lviv region. It is noteworthy that these two districts are neighboring and during the existence of these coins formed the border between Galicia and Podillia. The most probable reason for the discovery of these coins in this area can be explained by the desire of Podillia merchants to sell their goods on the border with the Galicia-Volyn state, because to take them to Lviv through the warehouse right granted to the city was unprofitable. It is known that the main powerful direction of trade in Lviv was the Crimea, trade was carried out through the shopping centers of Podillia. This route of movement of the goods of Lviv merchants is confirmed by the findings of Lviv coins, distributed along the trade routes from Lviv to Moldavia and Kafa. Exotic goods from distant Venice, Persia, China and Alexandria came to Lviv via Kafa, Sudak and Belgorod. Further movement of goods took place to Krakow, Gdansk, Prague and Regensburg. 
 Among the coin finds in Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Ternopil regions – minted in Lviv, Prague and Polish coins predominate. There are no common treasures of Lviv coins with the Golden Horde coins. In Ivano-Frankivsk region, together with Lviv, Moldovan money was hidden, and in Ternopil region – the so-called «Kyiv imitations» and Podillia coins. In the Chernivtsi region, along with Lviv and Prague coins, Golden Horde dirhams and Moldavian coins were found. Among the Moldavian – coins of the Stephen the Great, which confirms the existence of a trade route from Lviv to the Crimea through the Moldavian lands, starting from the last decades of the XIV century. In Khmelnytsky and Vinnytsia oblasts, finds with Lviv coins show an impressive presence of coins of different monetary systems. Podillia became an important international exchange of goods, which is reflected in the deposition of coins in treasures. In Ternopil, Khmelnytsky and Vinnytsia oblasts, 2,594 Lviv coins accounted for 1,650 coins of Casimir III, Wladyslaw of Opole and Louis of Hungary (from 1350-1380) and 944 coins and half-groszes of Władysław Jagiello, minted in Lviv during 1387-1412. The predominance of coins of Casimir III, Wladyslaw of Opole and Louis of Hungary fits into the assertion that in their time trade routes to the Crimea via Podillia were the main ones. Among the 263 Lviv coins of the 14th century found in the Cherkasy region, only three coins with the name of Wladyslav Jagiello, that is, in the last decades of the 14th century. Lviv merchants hardly reached the Dnieper. They stopped in Podolia, where they bought all the necessary oriental goods. Finds of Lviv silver coins allow us to establish that since the end of the 1380s Podillia lands have been in the center of trade transactions. If before they were a transit territory, now they have become the most important transshipment point in trade with the east. In the end, this eventually led to the minting of a small Podillia coin (half a fraction of Prague money common in Eastern and Central Europe) to meet the needs of a lively local market.
 The vast majority of Podillia half-groszes recorded by Igor Yakovelis in joint treasures with Lviv coins were found in the Khmelnytsky region. Only one – in Ternopil, 7 pcs. in Vinnytsia and 2 pcs. in the Cherkassy region. The fact that the finds of Podillia coins are localized, mostly in the Khmelnytsky region and partly in the Vinnytsia region, indicates that the reason for their minting was the service of rapid trade right here, in the transshipment point on the way of oriental goods. The two Podillia half-groszes from the Lviv region put into scientific circulation may indicate that the Podillia merchants arrived with their goods (probably also of eastern origin) on the border of the Podillia principality and Galician Rus’. In fact, they did not invent a new route, but used the old «Tatar road» that led from Lviv to Zolochiv, Terebovlia and Kamyanets. Along this path, the two most western finds of Podillia coins were recorded – in Zolochiv and Busk districts.

HORODNYTSIA TREASURE: VOLODYMYR SVIATOSLAVYCH'S SILVER COINS

The discovery of the Horodnytsia treasure took place in the following graduality. In the evening of 27rd of August 2020 near the village of Horodnytsia, Novohrad-Volynskyi district, Zhytomyr region the local resident Serhii Komar found the treasure of coins of Volodymyr Sviatoslavych (Volodymyr the Great, Volodymyr the Saint) and Sviatopolk Yaropolkovych (“Sviatopolk the Cursed”). The treasure find took place in the forest near the river Sluch while extraction of the sand for household needs. In the morning of 28rd of August the treasure was transferred to the local government authorities – the village council of Horodnytsia according to the Ukrainian law.
 The expertise of the treasure was carried out at place of find by Dr. Oleksander Alf’orov – the researcher of the Institute of History of Ukraine of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. The treasure consisted of 32 silver coins (sribnyks) inclusively 26 coins of Volodymyr Sviatoslavych and 6 coins of Sviatopolk Yaropolkovych. Next day the group of scientists with the chief of the Zhytomyr Archaeological Expedition of the Institute of Archeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Dr. Andrii Petrauskas and the representative of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, the head of the Department of permitting and approval documentation in the branch of the cultural heritage protection – Dr. Bohdan Motsia and the head of the Early Iron Age Archeology department of the National Museum of Ukrainian History – Dr. Serhii Didenko and the research fellow of the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine – Dr. Oleksander Alf’orov and the director of the Novohrad-Volynskyi Local Lore Museum – Olena Zhovtyuk and the workmate of the Zhytomyr Archaeological Expedition of the Institute of Archeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine – Oleksander Minaev. At that place after the professional archeological excavations was discovered the traces of the pit where the treasure was placed. Additionally one more coin and 5 fragments were discovered during the excavation using a metal detector.
 Thus, on 29th of August 2020, the Horodnytsia treasure numbered 38 coins: 31 sribnyks of Volodymyr the Great (II-IV coin types according to Ivan Tolstoy’s the typological classification), and 7 sribnyks of Sviatopolk Yaropolkovych (all three known coin types). Since the discovery of the Kyiv treasure in 1876, the Horodnytsia treasure is the largest. Analyzing the complex we can suggest that its hoarding took place during the reign of Sviatopolk Yaropolkovych or possibly after his death. 
 Thus, all of the sribnyks of Volodymyr the Great are represent by three of the four types of prince’s issues. Generally speaking, the Type II numbered 6 pieces, Type III numbered 16 pieces and Type IV numbered 9 pieces. And the Type I is absent in the hoard. 10 coins are minted by previously unknown die pairs (in the treasure №№ 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, 20, 21, 32, 34, 38). Additionally interesting are 2 coins with the unknown die combination (in the treasure №№ 15, 22). Their obverses are already published but the reverses are being published for the first time.
 Thus, 31 sribnyks were investigated and ten of them are minted by previously unknown die pairs and two by unknown die combinations. Since the discovery of the Kyiv treasure in 1876, the Horodnytsia treasure is the largest, as well as one that can be classified as authentic, which is additionally confirmed by the discovery of coins at the place of the treasury find. The unique feature of the Horodnytsia treasure can be considered that the place of its discovery was examined archaeologically: the peculiarities of its topography, conditions of occurrence, stratigraphy and location in the settlement system of the region were revealed. It should be underlined that the treasure was found in the region, where the sribnyks of Volodymyr and Sviatopolk were previously unknown among the coin finds.
 Unlike the previous finds of sribnyks, the Horodnytsia treasure was not transferred to the private collections abroad, but replenished the museum fund of Ukraine. The further research of the treasure with the use of the newest modern technologies will increase the information potential of this treasure.

The story of the Serakhovychi hoard

This paper presents the complex history of the hoard of Roman coins found in the Serakhovychi village, Starovyzhivs’kyi district, Volyn’ region, Ukraine in 1935. The hoard's discovery circumstances have never been clarified, while the hoard itself disappeared during World War Two. The ambiguity of discovery details even led to suggestions of the existence of two hoards and several versions of discovery. One version references the elusive J. Pasternak card index but proved uninformative. It is likely that the card index only recorded the basic fact of the discovery. Another version is based on A. Cynkałowski’s account which includes a wealth of fascinating details that were never verified. This account tells of a dugout boat that contained a leather purse or bag with silver coins and amber pieces. Another version of the discovery circumstance is presented by the documents held at the National Archaeological Museum, Warsaw. It lists silver belt fittings or horse bits and coins among the finds. There is no mention of amber, although the museum obtained the hoard only a year after its discovery and after some of its elements were already given away to private individuals. An invaluable aspect of the hoard’s discovery is provided by a participant of these events, who describes her account of events and the find's composition. This first-hand account allows a reconstruction of the discovery circumstances, and the process of the hoard's transition to the museums, and to clarifies the identity and roles of the people that participated in these events. Analysis of all accounts allows for the identification of the exact discovery location and identification of the hoard as a mixed assemblage of coins and jewellery. The available information suggests that the A. Cynkałowski's account is based on a tale fabricated by a person who was not an eyewitness to the events and took it upon himself to embellish the story. This made-up version entered the local folklore and exists to this day. Key words: Serakhovychi, hoard, Roman coins, J. Pasternak, A. Cynkałowski.

Silver isotope and volatile trace element systematics in galena samples from the Iberian Peninsula and the quest for silver sources of Roman coinage

Abstract Silver played a key role in the progressive monetization of early Mediterranean civilizations. We combine Pb and Ag isotopes with volatile trace elements (Bi, Sb, and As) to assess whether, during the Roman occupation of Iberia, galena constituted a significant source of silver. We find that the Pb and Ag isotopic compositions of 47 samples of galena from eight different Iberian mining provinces, many of them exploited during Roman times, are uncorrelated. This indicates that their respective isotopic variabilities depend on different petrogenetic processes. Moreover, the range of Ag isotopic abundances is approximately six times wider than that displayed worldwide by silver coins in general and Roman silver coins in particular. Although galena from the Betics provides the best fit for Pb isotopes with Roman coins, their fit with Ag isotopic compositions is at best sporadic. We suggest that, together with Sb, Bi, and As, silver is primarily derived from fluids boiled off from differentiated mantle-derived magmas. These fluids, in turn, reacted with preexisting galena and functioned as a silver trap. Lead sulfides with ε109Ag of ~0 and unusually rich in Ag, Sb, Bi, and As were the most probable sources of ancient silver, whereas samples with ε109Ag departing significantly from ~0 reflect low-temperature isotopic fractionation processes in the upper crust.

All That Glittered: Britain’s Most Precious Metal from Adam Smith to the Gold Rush, by Timothy Alborn

Reviewed by: All That Glittered: Britain's Most Precious Metal from Adam Smith to the Gold Rush by Timothy Alborn Paul Lucier (bio) All That Glittered: Britain's Most Precious Metal from Adam Smith to the Gold Rush, by Timothy Alborn; pp. ix + 260. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2019, $35.00, $23.99 ebook. A quick search for the phrase "all that glitters" returns over twenty-seven million results; most everyone, it seems, from Geoffrey Chaucer to William Shakespeare and J. R. R. Tolkien to Led Zeppelin, is looking for a shiny aphorism about mistaken riches. Timothy Alborn, by contrast, is seeking a more accurate account of the cultural values that eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Britons placed on gold, and in this bright new book he has largely found it. All That Glittered: Britain's Most Precious Metal from Adam Smith to the Gold Rush is a praiseworthy feat, as much for Alborn's methods as for his results. Over ten thousand sources were surveyed, scanned, and searched (with the assistance of ten Ph.D. students duly praised in the acknowledgments) to discover the multiple meanings of gold. The extensive inventory of digitized sources—from gothic romances, travelogues, poems, and plays to currency pamphlets, encyclopedias, newspapers, and political polemics—is remarkable and may facilitate a new way of seeing the past. Alternatively, it conjures up a word cloud representing the frequency of references to gold, a visual comparative guide to the data. By design, then, Alborn's book reflects the interests of those Britons who wrote, read, and were written about when it came to gold. What did these Britons talk about when they talked about gold? Adornment, most often, and Alborn accordingly devotes a lot of attention to how Britons viewed decorative gold. At home, Britons seemed most concerned about who could legitimately flaunt gold about their persons (servants, military officers, mayors, and, of course, members of the royal family) and why everyone else (gentlemen, tasteful women, nouveau riche) could not. Abroad, Britons regarded the wearing of gold earrings, bracelets, bells, and rings as the [End Page 596] very definition of foreign; at once exotic, picturesque, and barbaric, the gold worn abroad signaled a radically different stage of civilization, one in which such unproductive gaudiness may be tolerated, perhaps, because investment opportunities in those other countries were rare. Such interpretive flexibility was similarly on display in what Britons thought about gold in religious ornamentation. While they could criticize the gold plate, vestments, and tapestries of Catholic churches as excesses of backward devotional practices, by the 1830s conflicted Anglicans could lament the lack of decoration in their own immoderately sparse cathedrals. Britons also needed nimble reckoning to appreciate ancient coins and newly-minted medals. As emblems of the past, the former could be preserved for their historical and aesthetic value. And if some dull-witted workers dug up a medieval gold noble, antiquarians were quick to condemn them for melting it down, although that was a rather smart economic thing to do. Medals, likewise, were worth more than their bullion, and so Britons could approve their proliferation as signs of sparkling achievement and social distinction for military officers, aristocratic sportsmen, and gentlemen of science. Alborn is skilled at navigating the cultural contradictions swirling about gold; he is also artful in choosing the term coinages, an expression relatively more popular than medals, as a way to connect culture to commerce without getting lost in the details of politics or finance. And even though Alborn's book is not a monetary history, coinages provide a sort of three-part structure to his story of cultural value. Britain introduced its first milled (that is, machine-struck rather than hammered) gold coin in 1663. Nicknamed the guinea, the gold for this coin came from West Africa. Early issues of the guinea featured an elephant or an elephant and castle, the symbol of the Royal African Company, a monopoly trading in enslaved Africans and importing much of Britain's gold. In theory, the value of a guinea, one-quarter ounce of twenty-two-carat gold, equaled twenty silver shillings, but in practice, the silver coinage was so old and worn that its...

Silver coins, wooden tallies and parchment rolls in Henry III's Exchequer

In the mid thirteenth century, England used only a single coin, the silver penny. The flow of coins into and out of the government's treasury was recorded in the rolls of the Exchequer of Receipt. These receipt and issue rolls have been largely ignored, compared to the pipe rolls, which were records of audit. Some more obscure records, the memoranda of issue, help to show how the daily operations of government finance worked, when cash was the only medium available. They indicate something surprising: the receipt and issue rolls do not necessarily record transactions which took place during the periods they nominally cover. They also show that the Exchequer was experimenting with other forms of payment, using tally sticks, several decades earlier than was previously known. The rolls and the tallies indicate that the objectives of the Exchequer were not, as we would now expect, concerned with balancing income and expenditure, drawing up a budget, or even recording cash flows within a particular year. These concepts were as yet unknown. Instead, the Exchequer's aim was to ensure the accountability of officials, its own and those in other branches of government, by allocating financial responsibility to individuals rather than institutions.

For a novel identification of the ‘first palace of the kings of Egrisi’ in Nokalakevi-Archaeopolis

Because of the complicated foreign policy in the fourth century (regular attacks of the Goths and Huns on Roman Empire, the rise of Persia and subordination of Kartli, Armenia and Albania), Rome was unable to exert proper control over its eastern provinces, including the eastern Black Sea coast and, accordingly, it was compelled to put up with the Lazis becoming more and more active in western Georgia [Muskhelishvili 2012:39]. Apparently, the Lazis evaluated the existing situation properly and gradually made their neighboring tribes of the Apsils, Abazgs and Sanigs subordinate to them [Lomouri 2011:119-120]. Unification of the western Georgian tribes by the Lazis and formation of a strong kingdom was in the interests of the Roman Empire too. Scholars suggest that Rome encouraged this process, rather than hindering it, because presence of a strong kingdom in western Georgia which had control over various passes and fortified cities on the Black Sea coast would serve as a defensive barrier for eastern provinces of Rome from northern nomadic tribes [Melikishvili 1970:556-557; Lomouri 2011:120; Muskhelishvili 2012:39]. Procopius of Caesarea puts special emphasis on this situation. According to him, “For the barbarians inhabiting the Caucasus Lazika is just an obstacle” [Procopius of Caesarea 1965:94]. Thus, from the third century, the Lazis gradually annexed the tribes residing in western Georgia and laid foundation for the kingdom of Lazika (Egrisi), whose borders approximately fell within the limits of western Georgia (Fig. 1). The king of Lazika had subordinated the neighboring tribes, but, on the other hand, formally it was a vassal of the Roman (Byzantine) emperor. According to Procopius of Caesarea, the Lazis “were Romans’ subordinate, but they did not pay any tribute or submit to them. The only thing they did was that when their king died, the Roman king would send an heir to the throne, or the symbol of power, to them. The latter would rigorously protect the borders of this country together with his subordinates so that the hostile Hunns would be unable to invade Roman lands from the Lazis’ bordering Caucasus Mountains passing through Lazika. They firmly protected them without getting any money or army from the Romans and did not go to war with the Romans either [Procopius of Caesarea 1965:72-73]. It is obvious that despite gaining factual independence, Romans still had considerable influence on western Georgia. It is not surprising - from the first century BC, after Pompey campaigned against Colchis and later (in the first-second cc AD) Rome deployed garrisons on the Black Sea coast, Rome gained a firm foothold in western Georgia. Analysis of archaeological material shows that this influence was not only political, but economic and cultural as well. For instance, the inland area of western Georgia yielded a large number of Roman coins of the first three centuries of the common era. Among them remarkable is a hoard of silver coins of the second-third centuries (907 items) discovered in Village Eki (Senaki Municipality) in 1971. It included a drachma of King Orod II of Parthia (57-38) and didrachmas and denarii minted in the names of Roman emperors Nerva, Trajan, Adrian, Antoninus Pius, Lucius Verus, Commodus, Pertinax, Niger, Septimius Severus and so on. 774 coins of the Eki hoard are struck in the mint of Caesarea, 131 – in the mints of Rome and those of the eastern provinces of Roman Empire, and the rest – in other provinces [G. Dundua, V. Tsirghvava 1971:42:45]. This and other contemporaneous discoveries prove that in the late Roman period Roman influence in western Georgia, especially in its western regions, was really strong.

STUDY OF THE HOARD OF SILVER COINS NEAR HORODNYTSIA VILLAGE

Minting own coin is one of the attributes of state formation. The first coins of the Old Rus are represented by gold and silver specimens dating from the late tenth — early eleventh century. Gold coins are very rare, the silver ones are presented much more.
 Most modern researchers believe that the production of silver coins was started by Volodymyr Sviatoslavych and ended under Yaroslav Volodymyrovych after the beginning of his reign in Kyiv. In 2020 the third known hoard of silver coins was discovered near Gorodnytsia village, Novohrad-Volynskyi district, Zhytomyr region. It was found accidently by local resident S. M. Komar who in the next day after discovery handed it over to the authorities which was recorded in the relevant documents.
 The expedition of the Institute of Archaeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine conducted archaeological research at the hoard location. The place where the silver coins have been occurred was recorded. Several more coins were found in the pit where the hoard was and nearby. Surrounding area was examined. Near the hoard the presence of land- and waterways, which functioned in the medieval period, was recorded. Near the river Sluch there are convenient places for crossing.
 During the exploration of the area adjacent to the hoard in order to study the archaeological context the settlement was discovered. The artifacts found on it date it to the 9th—13th and 16th—18th centuries. Powerful fortifications in the form of moats, ramparts and escarpments have been preserved. Probably, the formation of the silver hoard is connected with the ancient roads along the Sluch River and the Old Rus settlement on the site of the modern settlement of Gorodnytsia.
 In total 38 silver coins were in the hoard. 31 of them belonged to the minting of Volodymyr Sviatoslavych, and 7 to Sviatopolk Yaropolkovych. Vladimir’s coins are presented in three types — II (6 copies), III (16 copies) and IV (9 copies). Sviatopolk’s coins represent all three of his existing numismatic types — I (4 copies), II (2 copies) and III (1 copy). 10 silver coins of Volodymyr and 1 of Svyatopolk are represented by previously unknown stamp pairs. 2 coins of Vladimir, which have an unknown combination of stamps, are of particular scientific interest.

Application of acoustic microscopy for evaluation of numismatic material

A new non-destructive express method for assessing the authenticity of numismatic material is considered in the paper. Non-destructive methods of pulsed acoustic microscopy in the frequency range of 50-100 MHz were applied. Samples of silver coins dated 1924 and 1979 were examined. The characteristic values of the longitudinal and transverse sonic velocity of the samples were obtained. The method of hydrostatic weighing was used to measure the density of the metal. It was shown that assessment of the authenticity and the safety degree of coins can also be carried out by revealing the internal defects such as corrosion. Acoustic visualization in the reflection mode allows imaging the offset of the obverse relative to the reverse and to determine the centre of the coin deviation, which also confirms the quality of the minting.

One of the ‘New City’ (Shahr Al-Jadid) Copper Coin Types: Reading the Obverse Legend

The article deals with two particular topics of Juchid numismatics. The author examines the legend written in Arabic letters on the obverse of copper coins struck at Shahr al-Jadid, a town once located on the site of nowadays’ Old Orhei settlement (Moldova). Researchers use to attribute the coinage of this type to the final stage of Juchid presence in the region (second half of the 1360s). Silver coins of that period, save for the latest issues (AH 769–770), bear the name of Khan ʿAbd Allah (1363–1370). As for copper coins, all belonging to the same undated type, those were long considered anonymous. Early in the 2000s the Romanian numismatist Eugen Nicolae suggested to see on them the Turkic name ﻗﺘﻠﻐﺒﻮﻏﺎ Kutluğboğa, implying certain graphic errors in the coin inscriptions. On the basis of written sources researchers use to associate this name with one of the Juchid Khan’s regional governors, a dignitary who took part in negotiations with Venice in the middle of 1340–1350 and later also in the battle against the Lithuanian prince Olgerd’s army at Sinie Vody (‘Blue Waters’) in 1362. Two completely different reading versions of the same coin inscription have induced the author to carry out a study aimed at clarifying the real spelling and translation of the obverse legend. In the course of joint work with colleagues (Vladimir Nastich), the author has come to the conclusion that Eugen Nicolae’s reading of the obverse legend on the copper coins in question is critically erroneous and the proposed reading of the legend as the name Kutluğboğa is impossible, which is confirmed by a detailed analysis of the arabographic legend, accompanying with high quality photos of clearer samples. The author has succeeded to reaffirm the reading of the legend proposed by Svetlana Yanina in 1977. Vladimir Nastich offered a refined translation of the cited expression as “glorious [is] who is moderate”. Other types of Juchid copper coins of the late 14th century containing the same legend were also found. A similar dictum was detected as part of a more complete saying on a copper coin of the Qajar dynasty (Rasht, AH 1229 / 1813–1814 [Zeno numismatic database, #9077]). All this has led the author to transferring his search from numismatics to Islamic texts. As a result, the cited saying has been found among the Hadith ascribed to Prophet Muhammad. Spelling, transcription and translation of the expression look like this: ﻋﺰ ﻣﻦ ﻗﻨﻊ ﻭذل ﻣﻦ طمع ʿazza man qanaʿa wa-d̠alla man ṭamaʿa “glorious [is] who is moderate, and despicable [is] who is greedy”. The result of the described work can be outlined in several paragraphs: The legend on the ‘New City’ copper coin obverse is not Turkic as per Eugen Nicolae, just Arabic. Instead of whatever name, it contains the first part of the saying ﻋﺰ ﻣﻦ ﻗﻨﻊ ʿazza man qanaʿa “glorious [is] who is moderate”. The cited saying is present within the set of Hadith allegedly uttered by Prophet Muhammad. Thus, the question of correctness of its reading and translation can be considered settled and closed. The text of Hadith has been fixed on a Juchid coin for the first time. The use of part of the Hadith in the design of a mass coin issued in Eastern Europe before the withdrawal of the Juchids requires special attention and further study. The article should be interesting to historians and numismatists studying the history of Juchi Ulus, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the earliest history of the Moldavian principality, Islamic numismatics, and also to all those who are curious about the given topic.

The «Plaiting» on the Lithuanian and Lithuanian-Rus Coins of the XIV Century

The article is devoted to the problem of the «plaiting» presence on the Lithuanian, Lithuanian-Rus and the Golden Horde coins of the 14th century. The coins with portrait and the beast lion (or the leopard) with a «plaiting» over its head and the coins with the beast lion (or the leopard) with a «plaiting» and Arabic (or Cyrillic legend (?)) are analyzed. The Kyivan Rus coins of Vladimir Olgerdovich (1362—1394) with princely sign and «plaiting» (around which is the inscription with the name of the prince) and the Golden Horde coins with «plaiting» are also examined. Many researches associate the «plaiting» with the Tatar «tamga», and the coins with such a symbol might have indicated the Golden Horde dependence. However, this ornament («ornamentum monetale» by Ch. M. Fraehn) may have a special meaning related to the Juchid monetary coinage. The Golden Horde coins with «plaiting» were the most important instrument of payment and taxation realization on the greater part of the Lithuanian and Lithuanian-Rus principalities. After the Syni Vody River battle of 1362 many the Golden Horde centers and trade routes in the basins of the Dnipro, Dnister and Southern Buh rivers were significant sources of the monetary silver arrival. Many qualitative (also with «ornamentum monetale» — «plaiting») silver coins of Abdallah Khan (1363—1370) and Muhammad Bulaq Khan (1370—1380), were minted in the western mints of the Mamai Horde (Azak, Ordu, Shehr al-Jedid). The silver coins of the Golden Horde were the source for the oldest Lithuanian and Lithuanian-Rus coins and bars of Olherd (1345—1377) and his sons. The oldest Lithuanian and Lithuanian-Rus coins made of approximately 900-standart silver corresponded to silver coins of the Golden Horde. The Golden Horde silver coins (also with «ornamentum monetale» — «plaiting») are one of the most constant parts of money circulation in Ukrainian territories of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from the 1360-ies till the first quarter of the 15th century.

Chemical and Pb-Isotopic Characteristics of Metal of Silver Coins of the Bosporus and Ionia Dated from the 5th to 1st centuries BC

Chemical and Pb-Isotopic Characteristics of Metal of Silver Coins of the Bosporus and Ionia Dated from the 5th to 1st centuries BC

Клад римских денариев из с. Хмелевка, Житомирская область (Украина)

In spring 2020, a hoard of Roman silver coins was discovered near the village of Khmelivka in the north of the Zhytomyr Oblast (Ukraine). In the summer and autumn of the same year, archaeological research was carried out on the site, and another coin was found. The hoard consists of 63 Roman imperial denarii, issued by seven emitters: Vespasian, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius, Commodus and Septimius Severus. The chronological pattern of the hoard is typical for the territory of the Chernyakhiv Culture. It is of type D, subtype D-3 according to A. Dymowski and K. Mygin’s typology, and finds analogies in other parts of Barbaricum. However, the hoard is unique in other ways: firstly, it is one of the few finds in Eastern Europe that have been examined archaeologically; secondly, it is one of the most northern finds from the Roman Period in Eastern Polesye. This region has traditionally been considered particularly important for studying cultural genesis in Eastern Europe in the first half and middle of the first millennium AD.

Understanding Roman Gold Coinage Inside Out

The true purity of Roman silver coinage was hidden by enriching the surfaces of the coins. The question investigated here is whether Roman gold coins were also surfaced enriched. Two non-destructive techniques were employed to do this: X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and a ‘newer’ technique, muonic X-ray emission spectroscopy (μXES). For the latter, the momentum of the muons is controlled, allowing for the composition of the coin to be determined at various depths. Here we show that there is no surface enrichment of the Roman gold coins analysed. Furthermore, we show that XRF and μXES return congruent results at the near surface. This all supports the integrity of surface level analyses of Roman gold coins. We then discuss the broader applicability of our muon technique to the further study of Roman gold coinage, to the cultural heritage sector and to archaeological scientists more generally.