11.

Coins
Aleksander Bursche

Two specimens, both fitted with a suspension loop,

originate from inhumation graves in cemeteries in
the region of Hje Taastrup: a Constantius II siliqua
struck at Nicomedia (Torstorp Vesterby) and a gold
barbarian imitation from 3rd c. AD (Brndsager).

The siliqua
The siliqua was discovered in a small inhumation
cemetery in Torstorp Vesterby in Hje Taastrup district in grave No 3368, a richly furnished female burial dated to phase C3. It contains e.g. an imported late
Roman conical glass beaker, two brooches one in
gilt sheet silver, the other a bronze silver plated ribbon-shaped specimen , as well as three necklaces of
glass and amber beads (Boye & Fonnesbech-Sandberg 2000, 40-41; Fonnesbech-Sandberg 2006, 113122). The coin, with a suspension loop, probably was
an element of the smallest necklace which next to
glass, amber and silver foil beads, included a gilt silver bi-conical pendant.

Description of the coin (Inv. No FP 5164):

Siliqua, Constantius II, Nicomedia, AD spring 340
15 March 351, weight 2.77 g, diameter 19 mm,FF
(Fig. 1).
Obv: DNCONSTAN TIVSPFAVG
Head in diadem to r.
Rv: VOT/XXV/MVLT/XXX in 4 lines in laurel wreath
In exergue: SMN
RIC VIII, 474 No 40-41 (Fonnesbech-Sandberg 1990,
58, Fig. 13; 1993; 2006, 118, Fig. 13; Kromann 1995,
350, Fig. 13.4, No 59; Bemmann 2005, 40 No 53).
The coin is in poor condition, strongly corroded.
The silver suspension loop over the head of the
emperor is 3.5 mm wide, ribbon-shaped, without
decoration, attached to the coin with a rivet.

Analogies and provenance

In Barbaricum, Constantius II siliquae occur as part

Fig. 1. Torstop Vesterby, Hje Taastrup district, siliqua of

Constantius II from grave 3368; (scale 2:1). (Photo J. Weng).

of the so-called Dancheny-Brangstrup horizon, which

reflects links between areas lying east of the Lower
Danube and Denmark, particularly, Fyn and Zealand
(Werner 1988). They are most numerous in southwestern areas of Cherniakchiv Culture and in Sntana
de Mures Culture, mainly in Moldavia, Transylvania,
Muntenia and Dobrudja, often pierced, discovered
frequently in association with silver vessels, silver and
gold ingots (Kropotkin 1961; Iliescu 1965; Preda
1975; Nudelman 1976, 1985, Mitrea 1979; Callu
1980; Butnariu 1988, 132-142; Duncan 1993; Bursche
1996a, 132; Suciu 2000; Moisil 2002, 86-91; 2003;
Ocheseanu 2006, 50-52).
Finds of siliquae are also noted in eastern Poland,
in deposits of Wielbark Culture and in cemeteries of
Sudovian Culture1. In case of Wielbark Culture of particular interest is a hoard from Zamosc, of e.g. 16 sili
quae of Constantius II. One of them is of the same
type as the coin from Torstorp Vesterby. The remainders are issues struck in AD 351-355 at eastern mints to
commemorate the trecenalia of the emperor (Kropotkin 1970, Kunisz 1973, 134-135 No 192; 1985, 253 No
320; Bursche 1996a, 160-161 No 100). The same deposit contained gilt silver brooches, clasps and a strap
end mount from phase C3 (Sulimirski 1966; Kropotkin 1970; Kokowski 1995, 99, Fig. 63 & 192 No 48594882), stylistically similar to brooches from Torstorp
185

Fig. 2. Zotoryja region, district loco in Silesia (PL), siliqua of

Constantius II; (amateur photo by the finder) (scale 2:1).

Vesterby. In 2008 in the region of Zotoryja in Silesia

(PL), on territory of Przeworsk Culture, a prospector
discovered a Constantius II siliqua (RIC VIII 271 No
248) struck in Rome in AD 352-355 (Fig. 2).
Finds of fourth century siliquae, including Constantius II issues, are also recorded in Denmark, esp
ecially on Fyn. A large hoard discovered at Gudme in
1985 contained at least 285 coins, possibly, even a few
more, dispersed later, mainly siliquae of Constantius
II. Over 95% coins were eastern issues, more than 20
of them struck at Nicomedia. The hoard appears to
have been deposited soon after AD 376. Out of these
coins at least one is identical in its type as the coin
discovered at Torstorp Vesterby2. Fourth century siliquae and their fragments were discovered also at
Lundeborg (Kromann 1990a; 1990b; 1994; Thomsen
1994). Two siliquae of Constantine I from AD 336337 were discovered together with a Constans solidus
in a grave from phase C3 at Nyrup in Zealand (Kromann 1995, 350, Fig. 13.4 No 58.1-58.3; Bemmann
2005, 40 No 47). In addition, siliquae, some of them
clipped, occurred in two hacksilver deposits at
Hstentorp in Zealand (8 specimens) and Simmersted in Jutland (6 specimens) (Voss 1954; Munksgaard 1955; Balling 1963, 62 No 84; Kromann 1988,

240; 1995, 350, Fig, 13.4 No 66.1-66.8 & p. 355). At

the same time, the latter date from the second half of
the 4th-early 5th c. and belongs to a later influx wave of
silver of western provenance.
Finally, three fourth century siliquae are known
from Norway, interestingly enough, two of them from
graves, and one, a later issue from AD 383-388, presumably from the vicinity of a barrow at Frestad, Lista
district in Vest-Agder (Skaare 1976, 146 No 74). A
cremation grave at Kolle, Voss district in Hordaland,
dated to the early Migrations Period, contained a siliqua of Valentinian II from AD 375-383 with a suspension loop (Skaare 1976, 155 No 105; Bemmann 2005,
39 No 9), whereas a female cremation burial at Holvik, Gloppen district in Sogn og Fjordane, dated to
phase C3, yielded a suspended siliqua of Constantine
II from AD 326-327 (Bolin 1926a, [131] No 9;
Straume 1962, 26-27, 61, 73 No 40; Skaare 1976, 159
No 121, Pl. I No 3; Bemmann 2005, 39 No 8). The latter, similarly as the siliquae from Torstorp Vesterby,
was an element of a bead necklace.
Siliquae from the middle of the 4th century also
occurred in two hoards in NW Germany, discovered
in the region of Hannover at Laatzen and Len
gerich (Zedelius 1974; FMRD VII, 88 No 1035 & 5763 No 4033; Berger 1992, 198199). Both deposits,
similarly as the remainder of finds from the same region (including two grave finds), are mostly issues of
western mints which indicates they have a provenance different from coins discovered in the region
between the area to the east of the Lower Danube in
the south and on Fyn and Zealand in the north, including also the specimen of interest from Torstorp
Vesterby.
As mentioned elsewhere (Bursche 1984, 75;
1996a, 132; 2002, 73; 2006, 225) finds of siliquae
from the final years of Constantius II and his immediate successors have been linked to payments of dona-

Fig. 3. Brndsager, Hje Taastrup district,

necklace from grave 3 (scale 2:1).
(Photo J. Weng).
186

tiva made out from the coffers of comes sacrarum largitionum to leaders of Gothic and possibly, Sarmatian,
foederati allied with the Romans. Perhaps this horizon
of finds should be linked with the formation under
Hermanaric of a strong alliance under Gothic leadership which gained ascendancy over areas appa
rently stretching from the lower Danube and the
Black Sea to the Baltic and south-western Scandinavia. The siliquae made their way north along the
Dancheny-Brangstrup horizon, similarly as many
other silver and gold items from phase C3 and gold
coins and medallions of the house of Constantine
(Henriksen 1992; Bursche 1996b, 40; 1998, 225; map
1; 2002, 73; 2003; 2006, 225).

The gold imitation

This barbarian coin with a suspension loop was disco
vered in a cemetery containing three elite graves, at
Brndsager, Hje Taastrup district, inside an elaborate
inhumation grave of a young man, dated to phase C2,
which included among its grave goods two imported
Eggers 199 and 200 glass beakers, a game board, 30
white and 29 black glass counters, a gold snakehead
finger-ring Beckmann 39C, a three-layer comb, and
many other finds. The position of the coin in the grave
indicates that it had been a central element of a small
necklace which also included three gilt bronze bucketshaped beads, two glass and one amber beads (Fig. 3
Boye & Fonnesbech Sandberg 2000, 34-35; Fonnesbech-Sandberg 2002; 2004, 99-101).

Description of the coin3

Gold barbarian imitation, probably of Antoninus
Pius (for Marcus Aurelius Caesar), weight 3.00 g, dia
meter 14.5 mm, dies on 2 oclock (Fig. 4).
Obv: Illegible marks on both sides of the head
Barbarised bare head of emperor to l.
Rv: Illegible marks on both sides of the image
Barbarised male figure standing facing, holding
vertically in l. hand a staff-like object branching out
at top, its other end resting on the ground, in r. hand
another such, thin and much shorter.
The coin, although worn, is in relatively good condition.
The gold loop above the head, 3.5 mm wide, with
two grooves, tapered at the top, suggests the coin was
used relatively long time as a pendant.
It is not possible to determine conclusively which
Roman coin had provided the model for the imitation of interest. Moreover, it appears that the obverse
and the reverse were modelled on two different coins
(cf. Alfldi 1928-29, 63). The barbarised portrait on

Fig. 4. Brndsager, Hje Taastrup district, gold barbarian counterfeit from grave 3; (scale 2:1). (Photo J. Weng).

the obverse resembles most early representations of

Marcus Aurelius. The fact that in the imitation the
head is turned left need not be of any significance.
The reversed position of the portrait could have resulted from the image having been copied directly by
the barbarian craftsmen on a die without using the
mirror image effect. The substantially barbarised fi
gure on the reverse presumably is Mars, possibly Virtus or the emperor, probably with a spear in l. hand.
In earlier publications this coin was determined as
a barbarian aureus or alternately, given its low weight,
as a quinarius, after A. Alfldi (1928-29, 60-61, Pl.
VIII, 1618). It seems however that determination of
the denomination is in this case rather risky. Similarly
as with other finds from e.g. Gudme (weight of 3.31 g
with suspension loop Bursche 1998, Pl. Y,g; Horsns
2002, 30-33, Fig. 3), these imitations need not have
been modelled on gold coins, equally well their prototype may have been denarii found in great number
in Barbaricum (see discussion below).
It is also striking that the coin was fitted with a su
spension loop. The specimen occurred in an assemblage dated to phase C2, i.e., to 3rd c. AD. At this
time, coins and medallions were adopted in Barbaricum for suspension mostly by piercing. In the north-

Fig. 5. Romanw, Krasnystaw district (eastern PL), aureus of

Probus; (scale 2:1). (Photo M. Dabski).
187

Fig. 6. Unknown site probably in PL, aureus of Traianus Decius

(for Herenia Etruscilla); (amateur photo by the finder) (scale 1:1).

central Barbaricum suspension loops came into use

together with a new style distinctive for phase C3, i.e.
during the first three quarters of the 4th century.
This is indicated both by the dates of issue of coins
which were adopted for suspension, archaeological
contexts in which they occurred, and by many specimens of pierced coins in some of which the holes
were filled in (Fig. 5 & 6 Bursche 1998, Pl. Y, c; 2006,
223, Fig. 3; 2008, 401, Fig. 4) or had become worn
out right to the rim due to extended use for pendants
and subsequently were given a suspension loop (Bursche 1998, 151-156). All of which would make the
specimen from Brndsager one of the earliest numismates in Barbaricum to have been fitted with a loop.

Analogies
From the territory of Denmark we know of ten further gold imitations of Roman coins, all of them discovered presumably on Fyn, at rslev, Brangstrup (3
specimens), Kvndrup, Tange, Tsinge, Gudme,
Brenderup, and one piece lacking provenance in the
collection of Ole Worm, probably from Denmark
(Fyn?). Most of them have suspension loops. All were
analysed recently by H. Horsns (2002) and so are
not discussed in here at more length. Of special in-

Fig. 7. Lundby, Kullerstad parish, stergtland, gold barbarian

imitation from accidental find; (photo Gunnel Jansson, The
Royal Coin Cabinet, Stockholm) (scale 2:1).

terest is a barbarian coin, weighing, complete with

the loop, 3.14 g and with a diameter of 14 mm, perhaps an imitation of a Geta issue, from rslev, Vindinge district, which occurred in a elaborate grave
dated to phase C3 (Storgaard 1990, 41-42, Fig. 18;
1993; Bemmann 2005, 40-41 No 55). The suspended
gold barbarian imitation of Probus (Fig. 7) found in
1885 during agriculture works in a potato field in
Lundby, Kullerstad parish, in stergtland is the
only one other known imitation of aureus from Scandinavia4.
From the area of central European Barbaricum
we know also, next to the Brndsager find, of at least
two cases of occurrence of gold barbarian imitations
in rich inhumation graves from phase C2, but in both
cases the coins were pierced. One is a female grave at
Choszczno, Choszczno district in north-western Poland, which, similarly to the burial at Brndsager,
next to an Eggers 200 glass vessel, four brooches (including type Almgren VI 180,2), two silver rings and
numerous beads, yielded a gold Antoninus Pius imitation (Bolin 1926a, [65] No 9; Eggers 1972, Fig.,
Werner 1973, 14-15, 28 No 18; Bemmann 2005, 46
No 185; Cioek 2007, 30 No 36). Grave no 4 at Heiligenhafen, Oldenburg district in Schleswig-Holstein,
burial of an adult male, analogically to Brndsager,

Fig. 8. Heiligenhafen, Oldenburg district in SchleswigHolstein (D), barbarian aureus; (photo by Claudia Franz,
Archologisches Landesmuseum, Schleswig) (scale 2:1).
188

Fig. 9. Kappeln, Schleswig district (D), barbarian aureus; (photo

Claudia Franz, Archologisches Landesmuseum, Schleswig) (scale 2:1).

Fig. 10. Szklary, Krakw district (PL), gold barbarian imitation

of Maximian Herculius aureus from hoard, amateur photo by the
finder (scale 2:1).

contained a wooden bucket with bronze mounts and

handle, a gold ring on the middle finger of the right
hand, a gaming board, 58 black and white glass gaming pieces, a three-layer comb etc., as well as a pierced
barbarised aureus, modelled on an Antoninus Pius
issue for Marcus Aurelius from AD 140, RIC 421c,
weighing 6.42 g (Fig. 8 Kersten 1951; Raddatz 1962,
94; Werner 1973, 29 No 17; FMRD VIII, 85-86 No
1048; Bemmann J. 2005, 41 No 56).
At the same time, both these coins were barbarised to a much smaller extent than the specimen
from Brndsager or, in general, most of the gold
coins from Fyn. This is true also of the majority of
gold coin imitations from central European Barbaricum, for which most often we are able to find their
prototypes. And so, from for instance, Kappeln, district Schleswig, we have a find of a pierced barbarised
aureus weighing 4.93 g modelled on a coin of Marcus
Aurelius for Antoninus Pius (Fig. 9 Bolin 1926a,
[60] No 4d; Balling 1963, 48 No 46; FMRD VIII, 109110 No 1075); from Robity, district Elblag in northern Poland, on territory of Wielbark Culture, we have
an imitation modelled on an aureus of Marcus Aurelius (Das akademische Mnzkabinett in Knigsberg,
12, 1857, 414 [without author]; Bolin 1926b, 235 No

172; Cioek 2007, 210 No 283); from Swierczyna,

dis-

trict Drawsko Pomorskie in north-western Poland, on

territory of Debczyno Group a pierced barbarised
coin modelled on an aureus of Septimius Severus
struck for Julia Domna (Kunkel 1938, 331, Fig. 27;
Cioek 2007, 246 No 344); from Muucks, district
Stralsund in Meklemburg-Vorpommern an imitation modelled on a aureus of Probus, with a suspension loop (Herfert 1963; FMRD XIV, 221 No 1017);
finally, from Szklary, Krakw district, territory of Przeworsk Culture, an as yet unpublished gold barbarian
imitation of a Maximian Herculius aureus, probably
modelled on type RIC V, p. 290 No 599 (Fig. 10)5.
An interesting case is a pierced gold imitation discovered in the region of Gdansk, on territory of Wielbark Culture. Its prototype was a denarius of Caracalla from AD 206, RIC IV,1 225 No 83 (La Baume
1956 Pl. XIV No 22; Cioek 2007, 6263 No 95). The
other such piece also pierced has been found in Hohenbucko, Guben district in Brandenburg. It imitated Alexander Severus denarius from AD 228-231,
RIC IV,2 85 No 196 (Schultz 1967, Pl. 21a; Werner
1973, 28 No 6; FMRD XI, 184 No 3024). In this context an extremely interesting specimen is a pierced
barbarian gilt subaeratus discovered by a prospector
in 2008 at a settlement of Masomecz Group at
Grdek Nadbuzny, eastern Poland (Fig. 11 Bursche

Fig. 11. Grdek Nadbuzny, Hrubieszw district (eastern PL),

gold plated barbarian subaeratus from settlement; (photo
M. Bogacki) (scale 2:1).
189

2008, 401, Fig. 6), which I presented to the Museum

in Hrubieszw. This specimen is modelled presumably on a Marcus Aurelius denarius with a representation of Mars on the reverse. Barbarised pierced denarii are not an exceptional phenomenon, but the
gilding of the coin on territory of the Barbaricum
was evidently designed to give it a special meaning. A
gilt denarius with a suspension loop was discovered
in unknown circumstances in Lneburger Heide in
Niedersachsen (FMRD VII, 119 No 5034; Bemmann
2005, 41 No 76), a gilt sestertius on the Przeworsk
culture settlement in Kalisz-Piwonice, Kalisz district
in central Poland (Kaczanowski & Margos 2002, 242
No 566), gilt barbarian subaerati are also published
by A. Alfldi (192829, 63, Tab. VIII, 5 & 34).
The coin from Grdek mentioned earlier would
be a peculiar link in a chain of argumentation suggesting that not infrequently gold barbarian imitations may have been modelled on denarii, noted in
great number on territory of north and central European Barbaricum. We may assume therefore that the
weight of many of these imitations, at around 3 g or
slightly more, corresponds to the weight of the denarii, and not the quinari, which practically are not
noted in finds in the North. This obviously does not
apply to gold specimens which are evident imitations
of coins from the second half of the 3rd century. At
this time the weight of the aurei had dwindled, on
occasion to almost half of their standard weight from
the time of the Antoninian emperors.
We must also bear in mind that the dies of the obverse and the reverse for our imitations could have
been modelled on different coins from different periods (cf. Alfldi 1928-29, 63; recently Gorny & Mosch Giessener Mnzhandlung, Auction 147 from 7
March 2006, No 1068), e.g. one side of a 2nd c. denarius the other on a late 3rd c. aureus, antoninianus or another denomination. Many of these imitations are very eclectic and the future work is to collect figures of all the known 3rd and 4th c. barbarian
imitations in gold and silver and make die-analyses.

Time and place of minting

Many arguments indicate that it is no longer tenable
to sustain the proposals made by A. Alfldi (1928
29), accepted in literature, on the time and only one
or two places of production of gold barbarian coin
imitations. According to A. Alfldi, these would have
been minted by Sarmatians, Quads or other barbarians, during the reign of Diocletian and Constantine I
(in twenties of the 4th c.), especially, most probably
to the east of the Lower Danube. But occurrence of
these imitations, often heavily worn, in contexts of
190

phase C2, as is also the case of the coin from Brnds

ager, shows that they must have been produced already during the 3rd century, presumably even its
first half. This is confirmed by finds of impressions of
Roman coins on gilt sheet made using the Pressblech
technique noted in assemblages from phase C1b, ie,
from the first quarter of the 3rd c. (Carnap-Bornheim
2002, Bemmann 2005, 23; Quast 2005). Finally, an
important argument in favour of the appearance
earlier than suggested by A. Alfldi of gold barbarian imitations is the fact that many of these were
adopted for suspension by piercing which, as I mentioned earlier, was in the North a practice rather typical for phase C1b-C2. It is characteristic that barbarian imitation of denarii appeared also in an earlier
period than previously accepted in literature (Stribrny 2003; Morawiecki 2004; Lind 2007; Peter 2008).
This is confirmed by four specimens struck with an
identical pair of dies discovered at Illerup (Kromann
1992, 46-47, Fig. 2; Bursche 2008, 402, Fig. 7), dated
to phase C1b and, dendrochronologically, to the onset of AD 3rd c. (Daly 1998). I believe that the earliest
of gold barbarian imitations may be dated to this period exactly, namely, to the time of the Severan emperors. It is not impossible that also the specimen
from Brndsager discussed here was struck during
this time, as suggested by its considerably worn condition.
In the occurrence of gold barbarian imitations of
Roman coins we observe significant regional diffe
rences (Kropotkin 1976; Horsns 2002). To date no
die links have been made between specimens from
the North and the South-East, as was done for imitation of denarii (Stribrny 2003), and the majority of
Danish specimens diverge substantially in their style
from continental imitations. It is highly probable
that in many cases we have to do with one-off specimens which were produced exclusively for the purpose of prestige. This is suggested by the fact that in
north-central Barbaricum almost all of these pieces
had been fitted with a loop or a hole for suspension.
As such, they could have been produced at regional
power centres and were intended for the local elite.
Phase B2/C1 C2 were a time of the peak development of goldsmithing in Scandinavia, on territory of
Wielbark and Cherniakhiv Culture, and on the Middle Elbe (Gustavs 1989; 1998, Andersson 1995; 2008,
3352). As discovered recently and confirmed by experimental methods, the technology of production
of Roman coin imitations in silver and gold was uncomplicated enough to presumably present no problem for barbarian artist-craftsmen of the time6. Some
Danish specimens, including our coin from Brnds
ager, could have been produced for instance, at

Fig. 12. Gudme, Fyn, gold barbarian imitation form central

place; (photo A. Bursche) (scale 2:1).

Gudme or Lundeborg on Fyn.

It is characteristic that the recently discovered
hoard from Boltinggrd Skov on Fyn, which included
15 aurei and solidi issues spanning the middle of the
3rd c. and the reign of Constantine I, contained not a
single barbarian imitation, whereas in the deposit
from Brangstrup, also on Fyn, which includes of 52
gold coins from the same period, featured only three
barbarian imitations, of which two, originating from
the first three decades of the 4th c., are stylistically different from others known from Denmark, and similar to the types described by A. Alfldi (1928-29, 6465). Both hoards came to the area from the region of
the Lower Danube (Henriksen 1992, 5558; Henriksen & Horsns 2004a; 2004b; 2007). Presumably, this
was also the source region of the imitations from Szklary (Fig. 9) and from Gudme (Fig. 12) mentioned
earlier. Such provenance of the latter is indicated by
its legend, in barbarised Greek lettering, legible particularly well on its reverse. The piece may originate
from the south-western zone of Cherniakhiv Culture,
between the Lower Danube and the northern coast
of the Black Sea, an area with marked influence of
the Greek alphabet and could be modelled on the
Greek imperial small bronze e.g. of Elagabal from
Nicopolis ad Istrum (cf. Pick & Regling 1898 No
2029). However the legend of the reverse of that
coin-pendant may be read in Greek as follows: O
XPWMEN(E) EYTYXI, what means: You who taste
(it), be happy7. That is obviously not a coin legend
but a typical Bacchic inscription e.g. on drinking
glass vessels or gem. Some of such glass beakers of
Eastern, most probably Alexandrian origin are
known from finds in Barbaricum, also from Scandinavia (Varpelev Lund Hansen 1987, 416). It is quite
possible therefore, that our barbarian imitation from
Gudme is a very eclectic specimen produced in the
North, e.g. with a representation of obverse-die mo
deled on denarius, of reverse-die e.g. on antoninianus of Gallienus (cf. RIC V,1 184 No 601 & 602),
but reverse legend on an inscription from a glass
vessel or gem (cf. Mikoajczyk A. 1988).

The possibility of local production of barbarian

coin imitations is indicated by a find of a mould for
casting coin blanks, from Grdek Nadbuzny
(Kokowski 1995, 62, Fig. 38 & 137 No 1583). The
mould occurred on the surface of a Gothic settlement of Masomecz Group dated to phases C1C3
and it cannot be excluded that it was used to make
the gilt subaeratus described earlier, discovered at
the same settlement (Fig. 6). We may expect that intensified investigation of settlements from the late
Roman Period, of power centre rank, brings similar
discoveries.

Conclusions
Both coins fitted with suspension loops found their
way into rich inhumation burials from the 3rd and 4th
c. probably as elements of bead necklaces, items of
the grave goods. As such, the numismates themselves
cannot be treated in this case as intentional grave offerings. The need to distinguish between coins deposited in graves as ornaments, amulets, dress accessories or elements of pouches from specimens deposited as intentional offerings, so-called oboles, has
been signalled for some time in studies of J. Werner
(1973), A. Bursche & J. Okulicz-Kozaryn (1999), H.
Steuer (2002) and J. Bemmann (2005).

Notes
1. At Grunajki distr. Gizycko

an urned grave investigated in 1865

yielded 2 siliquae of Constantius II from AD 351355, one of
them struck at Sirmium (RIC 15), the other at Constantinople
(RIC 102) cf. Bujack 187576; Tischler 1878; 215; Bolin 1926b,
209 No 13; Bursche 1996a, 173 No 15; Nowakowski 2001, 5556;
the cemetery at Nowa Bocwinka, distr. Godap produced a siliqua of Constantius II from AD 351-355 struck at Kyzikos (RIC
102) cf. Tischler 1878, 215; Bolin 1926b, 221 No 74; Bursche
1996a, 172 No 4; Nowakowski 2001, 81-82.
2. Kromann 1988 261, Fig. 239, on p. 252 determined incorrectly
as RIC 80, actually it is RIC 40.
3. Inv. No Dnf 100/99 (FP 6095 in Coin Room in the National Museum); cf. Boye & Fonnesbech Sandberg 1999, 35, Fig.; Jensen
2000, 238, fig.; Fonnesbech-Sandberg 2004, 100, Fig. 11; Bemmann 2005, 40 No 33.
4. Salin 1892, 127, Fig. 77; Bornestaf 2009; the coin is preserved in
the collection of The Royal Coin Cabinet in Stockholm (SMH/
KMK Inv. No 7903). I am very grateful to Ulrika Bornestaf and
Lennart Lind for all the information concerning this piece.
5. The last specimen, as indicated by the most recent information
(Dymowski 2007 and personal communication) was discovered
in a large hoard reportedly of at least 250 denarii, 3 gold coins
fitted with suspension loops, the latest of them a Valentinianus I
and a gold lunula pendant decorated with triangles in granulati-

191

on. Consequently, the described imitation presumably has a lower Danubian provenance.
6. Stribrny 2003; cf. also paper by Clive Stannard, Evaluating the
monetary supply: were dies reproducer mechanically in antiquity, presented at the conference Quantifying Monetary Supplies in

192

Greco-Roman Times 29th September 2008 at the Academia Belgica in Rome.

7. I am very grateful to prof. A. ajtar and dr. T. Derda for epigraphic consultation.