Coin hoard
Ν4037 - Ν4095
Metal (Billon: copper and silver alloy)
Good
Diameter: 21-23 cm. Weight: 3.5-4.2 gr.
Knossos
Ellinika site
Roman period:
Minted 215-6 and 238-253 AD, concealed after 253 AD:
Gallery:
XXICase:
210Exhibition thematic unit:
Cretan CoinageDescription
Coin hoard of 58 antoniani of the Roman emperors Caracalla (211-217 AD), Gordian III (238-244), Philip I, Trajan Decius (249-251), Trebonianus Gallus and their co-emperors.The obverse of the coins bears the bust of the ruler (Augustus) of the time, his wife as Augusta or one of their sons as a participant in power and future heir (Caesar/Augustus). On the reverse are typical Roman images proclaiming the supposed virtues (pietas, providentia, pudicitia, fecunditas, virtus, etc.) of the imperial family and aspects of its successful governance (concordia, felicitas, libertas, pax, securitas, etc.). Based on current data, the hoard is an exception in the numismatic circulation of Crete, where, similarly to the Provincia Achaia, exclusively copper denominations were used and concealed from the mid-3rd century onwards for several decades: mainly the heavier sestertius and, to a lesser extent, its denominations (the dupondius and the as). The silver-bronze denominations conventionally termed “antoniani”, being of higher domestic and nominal value, are usually found in border regions of the Empire. In Greece they are only found in the Provincia Macedonia, due to the strong military presence there.Bibliography:
Unpublished. Mentioned in Ι. Touratsoglou - Κ. Sidiropoulos, "Οι νομισματικοί "θησαυροί" της ρωμαϊκής Κρήτης: μια πρώτη προσέγγιση", Πεπραγμένα Η΄ Κρητολογικού Συνεδρίου, vol. Α3, Heraklion 2000, 291 and 296.Author:
K. S.Photographs' metadata