New Data on Some Older Monetary Finds Within the Drobeta Area

The collection of the Institute of Archaeology in Iasi holds a lot of Roman denarii, consisting of: 1 AR Q. Antonius Balbus (pierced and “repaired”), 1 AR L. Farsuleius Mensor, 1 AR Vitellius, 1 AR Hadrianus, 1 AR Antoninus Pius, 1 AR Antoninus Pius for Diva Faustina I, 1 AR Commodus, 1 AR Commodus for Crispina, and 1 AR Septimius Severus. These coins were handed out to the Institute by Mrs. Rodica Popovici, which she received from Professor Alexandru Dima, between 1960-1962. He would have acquired the denarii back in his hometown, Drobeta-Turnu Severin, during his childhood and student years. Throughout this paper, we have attempted to prove that these coins are unlikely to represent single finds from the Drobeta site. More likely, the issues were part of a hoard of Roman denarii, also containing Republican coins, which had its main core made up of denarii from the Antonine emperors until the reign of Elagabalus or Severus Alexander. Although we have no other information about this hypothetical hoard, the discovery was made in Drobeta or, quite probably, in the vicinity, before the year 1931

Economics · Geography · Keynesian economics · Ancient and Medieval Archaeology Studies · History