Archaeology Magazine - June 1957 - 25

8. Coining accordingto late Roman and mediaevaltechniques.Mr.
R. H. M. Dolley,an authorityon Anglo-Saxon
usesa ninenumismatics,
teenthcenturyforger'spunchand hingeddies,the latter for producing
penniesof Henry I of England(1100-1135),to demonstratethe relative ease of productionof gold and silver coins in late antiquityand
the MiddleAges.The punch die is like those used in strikingGreek
and earlierRomancoins; the hinged dies are identicalwith those of
later Romanand Byzantinemints. While manufactureof larger gold
and silvermedallionsand bronzecoinsstill requiredheavydies, hammers and pincers,all operatedby severalmen, coins of penny size
could be struckwith a minimumof equipmentand manpower.

istrates (four under Julius Caesar) continued until
about 5 B.c., when moneyers' names disappear from
the bronze coinage midway in the rule of the first
emperor, Augustus. Although the names of moneyers
vanish from the coins, inscriptions testify to their activity into the middle of the third century a.D. Under
the Empire the traditional group of moneyers was,
however, responsible only for the bronze coinage, gold
and silver being in the hands of officials of the imperial household. The organization was regularized
and placed on a pan-imperial basis by Diocletian (a.D.
284-305). From the time of his rule to the end of the
Empire in the West, and later of that in the East,
Roman coinage was produced at major mints in the
principal cities of the Empire - Rome, Antioch, Alexandria, Constantinople, Carthage, to cite at random.
The mints were under the control of imperial officials,
who were in charge of producing coins in a uniform
Roman monetary system, with mint marks and mint
workshops clearly indicated. Figure 10,L, a five-solidus
gold medallion of Constantius II (a.D. 337-361) struck
at Nicomedia, bears witness to the technical excellence
of fourth century Roman coins. Figure 10,M, a gold
bar of about a.D. 375 probably from the mint of Sirmium near the frontier of southern Germany, is illustrative of the mint control of the period. In a.D.
365-366 the Emperor Valentinian issued an edict to
the effect that bullion sent to the central mints should

9. Early Greek coins.A. Electrumone-thirdstater (greatly enlarged),probablyof Alyattesof Lydia(ca. 610-561B.C.),showing a lion's head with globuleradiate on the foreheadand an
incusereverse.B. Teroneor Heracleiain Macedonia,silvertetradrachmca. 500B.c. An amphoraappearson the obverse,and a
quadripartiteincusesquareformsthe reversedesign.C. Athens,
silvertetradrachm,506-490B.c.An archaicAthenahead appears
on the obverse;Athena'sowl and olive branchis shownon the
reverse.Coinsfrom E. W. King Collection,BrynMawrCollege.
be in the form of marked bars of specified weight
rather than in coins, which could be short in weight
or perhaps even false. Two hoards of these bars have
survived to the present day- one from Abukir in
Egypt and one discovered in 1887 at Haromszeker in
Transylvania. The example illustrated comes from the
latter find.
We cannot conclude without a word about the titles
and occupations of the Romans, freedmen and slaves
105

Archaeology Magazine - June 1957

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