Search

We have little information about Iulia Cornelia Salonina because of the scant attention she received from classical authors, among whom Aurelius Victor, Zonaras, and the Historia Augusta mention her. However, we know that she was the wife of Gallienus, who ruled between 253 and 268, and that is why we have her presence in numismatic and epigraphic sources. Considering the importance of coinage as a medium for the distribution of the imperial image, this study presents the main characteristics of the typology of the imperial coinage of Salonina. To carry it out, approximately 105,000 coins from the domus Licinia Augusta present in 121 coin hoards of the Roman Empire have been analysed, following the methodology of researchers such as Duncan-Jones, Noreña, and Rowan. The content is divided into an introduction; a section that collects the information that we can obtain of Salonina through literary sources and epigraphy, as well as the current literature in this regard; a main section that includes the study of its coinage; and finally, the conclusions. As a result, we determine that there are clear differences between the periods 253-259 and 260-268, where she was more associated with traditional divinities in the first case and with messages linked to the imperial family, her virtues, and the divinities in the second. Also, this analysis allows us to reconsider some of the statements made by Cesano, De Blois, Ferrari, or Geiger to advance our knowledge of the imperial representation of this Augusta.

Studies on the institutions of the Macedonian Koinon have expanded considerably in recent years since excavations in the region of Macedonia revealed a significant amount of numismatic and epigraphic evidence. Even though literary sources concerning the foundation and the existence of the Koinon are obscure, numismatic testimonies contributed to the institution and its role within the Macedonian territory under the Roman rule. In the current article, the “Serres, 1966” hoard is examined, which was found in 1966 and is today kept at the Thessaloniki Archaeological Museum. Emphasis is given to the iconographic types and the legends, which provide valuable information regarding the institutional and cultural character of the Macedonian Koinon.

In this article the presence of coins from the mints of the Chalcidice within the boundaries of the Macedonian kingdom is examined. Along with coin hoards, we include archaeological material from various sites to understand and interpret the existence of coins of the cities of Chalcidice, the Chalcidic League, and the Bottiaeans within the Macedonian kingdom. After the final conclusions, a group of bronze coins from the excavations of Pella is published as an appendix. Coins from mints of the Chalcidice that have been found in the Macedonian kingdom are few. So far, most coins (37) can be attributed to the Chalcidic League, another 3 to the Bottiaeans, and 4 to the Chalcidic League or the Bottiaeans. Second comes Acanthus with 16 coins, and third Potidaia with 12. Further, 7 coins can be attributed to Aphytis, 5 to Mende, 4 to Scione and 1-2 issues to Aineia, Dikaia and possibly Sermyle. Finally, Ouranopolis is represented with 3 coins. Most of these coins came to light in excavations in burial and non-burial contexts, and some also were buried in coin hoards. The earliest of these issues are dated in the first half of the 5th century BC. The number of coins rises slightly in the second half of the 5th century coins, while most of the numismatic material belongs to the first half of the 4th century BC. Finally, rather few are the coins of the second half of the 4th century BC. Most of the coins and coin hoards of the first half of the 4th century BC can probably be linked to the invasion of the army of the Chalcidic League into Macedonia. People traveling from Chalcidice to Macedonia are another source.

This article collates the evidence of coin hoards from Palmyra in order to reflect on the causes behind some of the most dramatic events that befell the city in Late Antiquity and early Islam. After having stressed the importance of coin hoards as sources to reconstruct the city’s past by looking at a couple of examples dated to the fourth century AD, the article moves on to the early Islamic period. It argues that the unusual concentration of coin hoards dated to the second half of the seventh century suggests that the city underwent a period of unrest at that time and reflects on the causes that might have triggered it.

This paper presents an analysis on the coined gold from the second part of 4th century BC, discovered north of the Danube. Analysis results reveal that Greek gold staters spread north of the Danube in the last two decades of the 4th century BC, in the context of the wars between Alexander’s generals. Gold coins penetrated mainly due to the involvement of the West Pontic cities in these conflicts and the recruitment of mercenaries from populations situated in the Lower Danube region.

Ancient coinage, almost exclusively Roman denarii from the 1st or 2nd century AD, constitutes a small percentage of hoards and other assemblages dated (with the latest coins present) to either the Middle Ages or to the modern period in the territory of present-day Poland. Such finds can be seen as strongly indicating that ancient coinage did function as means of payment at that time. This hypothesis is further supported by written sources. Moreover, ancient coins have also been recorded at other sites in medieval and modern period contexts e.g. in burial sites, which are less easy to interpret than hoards. Finds often include pierced coins and others showing suspension loops, which suggests they may have been used as amulets, jewellery or devotional medals. Other finds, such as Roman coins placed in alms boxes in modern period churches in Silesia, also point to a religious context. At the same time, written sources attest that at least since the Late Middle Ages, Roman denarii were known to common people as ‘St John’s pennies’. The name is associated with a Christian interpretation of the image of the emperor’s head on the coin, resembling that of John the Baptist on a silver platter.