|
|
|
|
The Loss and Subsequent Discovery of Ancient Roman Coins
By D. H. Oomen Although the first circular cast coins of the Roman Empire were not cast until 289 B.C., about four and one-half centuries after the traditional founding of Rome, coins soon entered into every facet of the common Roman citizen’s life. Soon after the introduction of these first cast coins the first denarii were minted in 211 B.C., a coin which at one time in the history of the Roman Empire would be equivalent to a days pay for a Roman soldier. The soldiers could use this money to buy their food and other necessities as well as use it for more recreational activities and games of chance. There was always a need for a method of purchasing life’s necessities from local populations and the coinage of the Roman Empire soon became a trusted method of payment. The average Roman soldier would carry his coins in a small pouch attached to his side possibly by a pin or by a leather cord hung around his neck. As the soldier moved this pouch would of course bounce with his movements, under normal circumstances this might be rather reassuring, knowing your money is safely at your side. But in times of battle the last thing you are worried about is whether or not your money is at your side, rather it would become a cause for concern. Not only would you worry about the enemy plucking it from your body should you fall in combat, but it might also become a hindrance in the performance of your combat skills. Who would want to be in the heat of battle and become tangled in cords or have a pouch get in the way of their use of their equipment? If the Roman soldier knew when a battle was going to occur the soldier would bury his pouch of coins to protect it from falling into the hands of the enemy as well as to unburden himself of the pouch and the possible consequences of carrying it into battle. It can be imagined that Roman soldiers, being no different than any group of modern day soldiers, would tend to associate with other soldiers from their own town or city. Several may have entered the army together and would be sitting around the campfire the night or morning before a battle talking about the families they had left behind, whether in their hometown or a garrison town in which they might have been stationed. This group of close friends could have buried their pouches of coins in a common pit in the hope that if one or more of them were to fall in battle the others would deliver their pouch of coins to their family. While at the same time other soldiers would go off on their own and bury their pouches in a spot known only to them. This practice of burying the pouches of coins would insure that at least some of these coins were never retrieved, as not everyone survived the battles. The larger and deadlier the battle the greater the possibility of the coins of the soldiers going unclaimed, resulting in coins buried around many of these ancient battle fields. Roman soldiers were not the only persons that found burying their coins to be the best method of protection. Many Roman merchants and common citizens would bury their coins for safekeeping. The banks which we today take so much for granted were not available to the Romans and they, as some people even today, placed more faith in the security of the ground then in the intentions of their fellow man. With all of these coins having been buried for safe keeping, and the natural inclination of coins to follow the laws of gravity and fall to the earth and become lost, there are many coins which have remained hidden from everyone but the lucky few to happen upon a coin or hoard of coins. That is until the advent of the modern metal detector. Using these detectors people are now searching these ancient battle fields as well as areas in which the citizens and soldiers of the Roman Empire would gather, e.g. – cities, towns, villas, farmsteads, forts, etc. Recently two cousins in England were out metal detecting in search of Roman coins. One had been searching for several years but had not met with much luck, so on this occasion he talked his cousin into accompanying him to a local farmer’s field. They hadn’t been searching for very long before they started to pick-up hits on their detectors and were uncovering Roman coins. Then they found the dream of every metal detector enthusiast, a hoard of approximately 9000 silver denarii. This particular hoard was claimed by the English government as historically significant and will be placed in a museum; the two cousins will receive a sizeable monetary compensation. While discoveries of this size are exciting, coins which are not of significance historically are also being found on sites such as this one and continue to make their way into the collectors market. The coinage of the Roman Empire was vast, with multiple dies being produced for each specific coin. While many of these coins have been lost forever due to their having been melted down for use in new coins or simply having been over-struck with new dies, and many having been destroyed in other ways, there are still many which remain hidden away in the earth once trod upon by the citizens of the Roman Empire. It is these coins which are hidden away in the dirt of places such as England, Spain, and the Balkans that are today being discovered by amateur archeologists and treasure hunters, as well as those persons in search of a way to provide for their families. The coins that they are fortunate enough to discover enable us to enjoy this particular aspect of collecting Ancient coins.
|
|
Send mail to
doomen@aurelianantiquities.com with
questions or comments about this web site.
|
.jpg){kind=small}
