Odd 4th century coins in the hoards from Banat

ACADEMIA ROMANA INSTITUTUL DE ARHEOLOGIE §1 ISTORIA ARTEI DIN CLUJ-NAPOCA EPHEMERIS NAPOCENSIS XIII 2003 EXTRAS EDITURA ACADEMIEI ROMANE ODD 4TH CENTURY COINS IN THE HOARDS FROM BANAT NICOLAE GUDEA, CRISTIAN GAZDAC The political statute of the territory of the former Roman province of Dacia is still a topic that continues to raise numerous debates. This study is focused on the South-West area of the territory mentioned above, the region known today as Banal (see map). At the same time, this area has particular patterns regarding the monetary framework in comparison with the rest of the territory of former Dacia. On one side, a much higher quantity of coins was retrieved from this area - both stray finds and hoards - minted in the 4th century, especially the second half (Chirild, Gudea, Stratan 1974, passim). On the other side, one must notice the presence in the hoards of some odd bronze coins. They are different from genuine issues either by minting mistakes (the cases of incuse and spoilt coins) or by a simplified design with illegible legends - such coins known as "imitations". The analysis of such pieces is the main aim of this study. The coins nos. 1-5 (see catalogue) are those with minting mistakes. They can be grouped in two categories: spoilt coins and incuse ones. The first category of such coins is represented by those which were double struck (catalogue no. 1) or overlapped a previous reverse (catalogue no. 2). In the case of the three incuse coins (catalogue nos. 3-5) only the obverse had been struck and, due to this way of minting, the reverse is in fact a negative obverse. These two coins bear the portrait of the sons of Constantine I. On one of the coins one can even read the name CONSTANS (catalogue no. 4), on one can be read CONSTAN (catalogue no. 5) while the third one has the legend erased (catalogue no. 3). Based on the dating of the reverse type "Felice temporum reparatio" - the falling horseman (abbreviated FTR - FH), these coins were issued in the 2nd half of the 4th century AD. There is no certainty whether these coins are either imitations or issues of the official mints. Except the mentioned mistakes, these coins present a design, size and weight which are not different from good genuine issues. 1 For the regional monetary patterns in the 4th century AD between different regions of Romania see Moisil 2002, 79-108 and maps \-4. EPHEMERIS NAPOCENSIS, XIII. 2003, p. 243-259 244 Nicolae Gudea, Cristian Gazdac 2 The next 24 pieces presented in this study belong to the category of "imitations", and due to the quality of the image they are also called "barbarous imitations/ copies". All these pieces show the same minting technique. They were struck not cast. The legends are illegible and the letters are made of mainly vertical bars, sometimes with dots at the ends. In few cases letter "O" appears with a dot in the middle. At the same time odd letters can also be considered reversed "S", "N", "D". The images depicted on both obverses and reverses of such pieces are designed of lines and dots. In the case of the emperor's bust the hair is made of straight or slightly curved lines which produce a "brush" hair style; the pearl-diadem is made of two parallel rows of dots. The face features are crudely made of strongly profiled lines and dots. When the cuirassed is visible it is also made either by straight or strongly curved lines. When the craftsman tries to depict a brooch that holds the drapery, this one appears as strongly profiled circle (see catalogue and photos). The reverse image is designed in the same style of lines - straight and curved - and smaller and larger dots. Although the overall view of these pieces indicate a clear difference from the genuine coins of the design, still, one can identify what sort of coins were imitated. From the amount of 24 pieces 22 imitate the type "Felice temporum reparatio - falling horseman", while the other 2, one imitates the type "Victoriae laetae principi perpetuus- two Victories standing facing each one another, holding shield on altar" and the other the type "Gloria Romanorum". Based on the coin finds from other areas of the Roman Empire, it seems that the imitation of the "Falling horseman" series was an empire-wide pattern, as such copies are most frequently found from the Danube to Britain (Vasic 1978, 127; Reece 1996, 343). As to the metal, they are all made of bronze and, unless a metallurgical analysis is performed, it is impossible to separate them from the genuine coins. At the moment, the metal alloy seems to have the same quality. At the same time, the module is the same as the one for genuine pieces. When the diameter differs it is because of corrosion. Most present is what is known as module "Aes 3", while 6 pieces belong to the module "Aes 2". At the same time, the weight is similar to the genuine issues. This observation applies also to those of module "Aes 2", which are much heavier than those of module "Aes 3". The phenomenon of copying coins in the 4th century AD is met not only in this region of Romania but also in many other parts of the territory of the former Roman Empire.2 It has been demonstrated that the main reason of a large-scale production of 2 Mattingly 1933, 202, pi. XVIII/ 16-23; Kent 1957, 61-68, pi. XII/13. The representations are similar - crude images - while the legends are also made of illegible letters. A slightly different copy has been published by L.P. Healey (Healey 1973, 22). In this case, the depicted images are of good quality but the legends still consist of signs that try to pass as letters. For the presence of 4th century bronze imitations in the hoards from the Lower Danube region see Moisil 2002, 100-101. 3 Odd 4th century coins in the hoards from Banat 245 copies in the 4th century, and mainly the period of AD 348-360, is related to the retari ffing and the changes to the denominational system (King 1996, 243). The presence of all these odd coins allows us to draw some conclusions. Concerning the minting technique, if in the case of the spoilt coins we deal with striking mistakes, in the case of the "imitations" the minting was made with pair of dies that the engraver had made himself following the design of the genuine coins. The way of displaying and the style of the letters indicate an illiterate craftsman, who probably had also counted on the fact that the users were also illiterates or that, they would not pay too much attention to the design of the coins. On this line, an answer could be given by the proportion genuine/imitated coins within the hoards. The hoards from the area of study indicate the following situation: Moldova Noua "Flotatii" - 5000: 12'; Jupa - 900: 1; Orsova I - 724: 1; Orsova II - 1203: 1; Dalboset - 300: 2. Analogies can also be found with other regions of the Roman Empire: such are the cases of the hoards from Kecel (Hungary) 66: 4, Izmir (Turkey) 2257: 13. The fact that such imitations represent a small number within the hoards may suggest that the hoard owners did pay attention to the quality of design on coins or it was a low production of such pieces.4 The dating of such coins raises some question marks. The genuine issues of these imitations were minted between 319-3615, but it is known that the copies/imitations have a statute of terminus post quern (Boon 1988, 102ff; Lallemand 1994, 107). Still, there are some arguments that may suggest a period of minting and circulation. The large period (AD 319-361) and the abundant quantity of genuine coins of those monetary types - especially the type "Felice temporum reparatio" (Hendy 1985, 469; King 1996, 27ff) -, together with the fact that such pieces were found in hoards wit the latest coins minted either in the same period or in a close period, it can suggest that these "imitations" were struck either in the same period (not at the same date!) or soon after the genuine issues.6 At the same time, another question raised by the presence of these imitations is: how do we regard these pieces? Are they "emergency money" or counterfeit coins? Roughly, till the end of the 3rd century AD there were situations when copies of genuine coins were minted in those periods and areas where the coin supply from official mints was irregular or missing. As a countermeasure, local mints turned up and temporarily issued those denominations missing on the market. Such 3 The presence of incuse, overstruck and „barbarous imitated" coins in the hoard from Moldova Noua have been also noticed in Gudea, Ardevan, Toma 1997, 83-84. 4 One must also take into consideration the fact the number of such "imitations" coins could be much higher but those who had came across such pieces - either in hoards or as single finds - may have not made any difference between them and genuine coins. 5 For the type "Victoriae laetae principi perpetuus" see RIC VII, for the types "Felice temporum reparatio - falling horseman" and "Gloria Romanorum" see RIC VIII. 6 For similar opinions see Mattingly 1933, 200; Tudor 1946, 348; Ravetz 1964, 222; Kent 1957, 65; Healey 1973, 22. 246 Nicolae Gudea, Cristian Gazdac coins are known by scholars as "emergency money", "notgeld", "monnaie de necessite".7 Of course, there were also counterfeit coins, especially silver ones. As in both cases the minting techniques are the same, it is still difficult to say without any doubts if odd coin-finds issued in that period can be regarded as "emergency money" or are ancient fakes. The situation is different in the case of the odd coins under study! They were issued in a period of abundant quantity of bronze denominations and high rate of inflation. Thus the hypothesis of a shortage in the supply with bronze coin must be excluded. Such imitations can be considered counterfeit coins, as they were issued with a deliberate intention to defraud. The fact that in this period the authorities were confronted with large-scale outbreaks of copying Roman coins is demonstrated even by written sources. Thus, in AD 359, the Codex Theodosianus mentioned a staff in charge to check the quality and the quantity of coins transported by traders: Portos enim litoraque divers, quo facilior esse navibus consuevit accessu, et itineris tramites statuimus custodiri per idoneos officialis ac praepositos a praesidibus et nonnulis praeditis dignitate, ut cognita veritate provinciarum rectores obnoxious legibus puniant." (Codex Theodosianus 9, 23, 1). At the same time some hypotheses can be made about the place where these coins had been struck. Although the legends are illegible, on some pieces, in the exergue, the "signs" resemble the letters SIS or CONS on the genuine issues. This may indicate that the imitations were produced in those areas where the genuine coins issued at Siscia and Constantinopolis where the most frequently used in transactions and therefore, the engravers used them as models for their imitations.8 An argument on this line may be the coins from the collection of the National Museum in Belgrade (Vasic 1978, 120-130, pi. XXVI-XXXI) and Zagreb (Demo 1984, 192, 195, 196). Those pieces present the same crude style of minting as the ones found in our study area. The region where the two mints mentioned above were the main ones in the coin supply is today South-East Europe. Still, there is no evidence if these fake coins were produced within the territory of the Roman Empire or somewhere beyond its borders. Recently, it has been suggested that such copies could have been issued by the Goths living in today territories of Ukraine and Southern Russia (Lazarov 2002, 88). The fact that the legends indicate illiterate engravers, which might suggest the existence of some workshops outside the Empire, is not a solid argument, as similar fake coins were found at places within the Empire, such as Britain (Ravetz 1964, 221) Gaul, Egypt (King 1996, 242), Pannonia and Moesia (Vasic 1978, 115ff). 7 For the discussion and bibliography on this sort of coins see Gazdac, Alfoldy-Gazdac 2001,137-154. 8 The imitations from hoards in the Balkans suggest the same pattern of copying. In some cases it has been considered that some copies have the prototypes issued at the mint of Thessalonica (Vasic 1978, 126). 9 For a similar conclusion see Vasic 1978, 131; Moisil 2002, 100. 5 Odd 4th century coins in the hoards from Banat 247 Another aspect revealed by these odd coins and the hoards in which they were found concerns the statute of the area where these hoards were found. It is known that Constantine I had extended the Roman authority again over a part of the territory which until Aurelian was the province of Dacia.10 There is no information for how long this authority remained there. Therefore, these coins and hoards may help on this line. The period when these imitations were issued - the 4th century AD - is known as one of a high rate of inflation when the bronze coinage was use as bullion in transactions. Therefore, the presence of such bronze imitations of. genuine bronze coins found within hoards, together with the quantity of the genuine bronze coins (mainly hoard-finds) indicate the presence of communities that still made transactions in bronze coins. Except the site of Tibiscum, all the other findspots are near the Danube11. This aspect may suggest that in fact, if not the entire region of Banat, at least the Danube left bank was still under the Roman authority at the middle of the 4th century AD. CATALOGUE (the photos are 2:1) Spoilt coins 1. Bronze; module 3; D: -; W: 2.76 gr.; Find-spot: Radimna (Caras Severin county). Ob: D N CONS TAN - TIVS; D N CONSTA; Two busts pearl-diademed, draped and cuirassed, right. The right bust is only half struck. Rv: FEL TEMP...Falling horseman, looking at the spearing soldier; Exergue: CONS?; The right reverse has not been struck. Remark: Double strike on one module, on both obverse and reverse. 2. Bronze; module 2; D: 22.3 x 19.3 mm; W: 3.32 gr.; Find-spot: Moldova Veche (Caras Severin county). Ob. D N CONSTANTIVS D N CONSTA. Bust draped and cuirassed, head bare, right. Letter A behind bust. An up-side - down A from the second strike. Rv: Type of "FTR - FH3". Legend FEL TEMP REP FEL TEMP RE. Well-designed image. In field: I. Exergue: broken, but a reversed SIS on the top of picture, as a result of the second strike. Remark: The coin is overstrike on the left side with the same pair of dies. Incuse coins 3.19. Bronze; module 3; D: 17 x 15.9 mm; W: 1.60 gr.; Find-spot: Pojejena (Caras Severin county). Ob: Legend erased; Bust pearl-diademed, draped and cuirassed, right. Rv: Negative of obverse. For recent discussions upon the return of the Roman authority on the left bank of the Danube see Benea 1996, 184ff). 11 Still, the area of circulation of such copies in West Romania could have been larger as is suggested by the single coin-find from Sacuieni (Bihor county), catalogue no. 23. Odd 4th century coins in the hoards from Banat 249 4. 20. Bronze; module 3; D: 16.7 gr.; W: 1,25 gr.; Find-spot: Pojejena (Cara§ Severin county). Ob: D N CONSTANS - P F AVG; Bust pearl-diademed, draped and cuirassed, right. Rv: Negative of obverse. 5. 21. Bronze; module 3; D: 15.8 x 14.2 mm; W: 1.75 gr.; Find-spot: Radimna (Caras Severin county). Ob: I) N CONSTAN...; Bust pearl-diademed, draped and cuirassed, right. Rv: Negative of obverse. Fake coins 6. Bronze, module 3; D: 17.5 mm; W: 1.35 gr.; Find-spot: Dubovac (Serbian Banat); Inv. No. 77, Museum of Banat. Ob: Legend illegible: ITI...HHHHT*. Bust of emperor: Helmeted and cuirassed, right; Portrait made of lines and dots. Rv: Type of "Victoriae laetae" - two Victories standing facing one another, holding shield on altar. Legend illegible:...AHNNNII; The image is made of strong horizontal and vertical bars, in shield letter T, Exergue: ML 7. Bronze; module 2; D: 18.6 mm; W: 2.90 gr.; Find-spot: Dalboset (Cara§ Severin county). Ob. Legend illegible: IIIOHS'I II. Bust of emperor: hair of head bare well designed of parallel curved lines; face with features made of corroded lines, drapery made of straight lines. Circular brooch depicted on left shoulder. Letter behind bust: V? U?. Border of dots. Rv: Type of "Gloria Romanorum". Legend illegible: ...DDC. The image is heavy corroded. A crude silhouette of emperor standing facing, head turned to left, holding standard with Chi-Ro on banner. Border of dots. Remark: Both obverse and reverse are minted off module. 8. Bronze - fragmentary; module 3; D: 16.5 mm; W: 1.37 gr.; Find-spot: Moldova Noua, Flotatii (Caras. Severin county). Ob. Legend's letters depicted as vertical and paralel bars with thicker ends. Emperor's head: the pearl diadem depicted as two parallel lines; hair in "brush" style; face features crudely made of lines and dots. Rv: Type of "FTR - FH3". Legend's letters depicted as vertical and paralel bars with thicker ends. Relatively well-designed image; broken exergue. Border of linked dots. 9. Bronze; module 3; D: 16.6 mm; W: 1.68 gr.; Find-spot: Moldova Noua, Flotatii (Caras. Severin county). Ob. Legend corroded. Emperor's head: the pearl diadem well-designed; hair in "brush" style; face features are corroded. Rv: Type of "FTR - FH3". Legend's letters depicted as vertical and paralel bars with thicker ends. Some of them look like Til. Relatively well-designed image; Exergue: *IZI«. Border of linked dots. 10. Bronze; module 3; D: 17 mm; W: 1.60 gr.; Find-spot: Moldova Noua, Flotatii (Cara§ Severin county). Ob. Legend's letters depicted as vertical and paralel bars with thicker ends. Emperor's head: the pearl diadem depicted with dots; hair in "brush" style; face features crudely made of lines and dots. Rv: Type of "FTR - FH3". Legend's letters depicted as vertical and paralel bars with thicker ends. Relatively well-designed image. Exergue: •IZHI*. Border of linked dots. 11. Bronze; module 3; D: 16.7 mm; W: 1.75 gr.; Find-spot: Moldova Noua, Flotatii (Cara§ Severin county). Ob. Legend's letters depicted as vertical and paralel bars with thicker ends. Some of the letters resemble with „0", reversed „S". Emperor's head: the pearl diadem depicted with dots; hair in "brush" style; face features crudely made of lines and dots strongly profiled. 252 Nicolae Gudea, Cristian Gazdac 10 Rv: Type of "FTR - FH3". Legend's letters depicted as vertical and paralel bars with thicker ends. Relatively well-designed image. Exergue: «IZIS. Border of linked dots. 12. Bronze; module 3; D: 16.5 mm; W: 1.83 gr.; Find-spot: Moldova Noua, Flotafii (Caras Severin county). Ob. Legend's letters depicted as vertical and paralel bars with thicker ends. Oneletter resembles with "O". Emperor's head: the pearl diadem depicted with dots; hair in "brush" style; face features crudely made of lines and dots. Rv: Type of "FTR - FH3". Legend damaged. Relatively well-designed image. Exergue: SI in oblique position. 13. Bronze - fragmentary; module 3; D: 16.7 mm; W: -; Find-spot: Moldova Noua, Flotafii (Caras Severin county). Ob. Legend's letters depicted as vertical and paralel bars with thicker ends. Some of the letters look likellSI, behind the head. Emperor's head: the pearl diadem depicted with dots; hair in "brush" style; face features damaged. Rv: Completely corroded. 14. Bronze - fragmentary; D: -; W: -; Find-spot: Moldova Noua, Flotafii (Caras Severin county) Ob. Legend damged. Emperor's head preserved in a small part: the pearl diadem depicted with dots; hair in "brush" style; face features crudely made of lines. Rv: Silhouettes of spearing soldier preserved only. 15. Bronze; module 3; D: 16.5 mm; W: 2.37 gr.; Find-spot: Moldova Noua, Flotafii (Cara§ Severin county). Ob. Legend's letters depicted as vertical and paralel bars with thicker ends. The legend looks lik III o III - IIIIOSI. Emperor's head: the pearl diadem depicted with dots; hair in "brush" style; face features crudely made of lines and dots strongly profiled. Rv: Type of "FTR - FH3". Legend's letters depicted as vertical and paralel bars with thicker ends. Some of the letters look like HIT. Relatively well-designed image. Exergue: IISIS. Border of linked dots. 16. Bronze; module 3; D: 15.7 mm; W: 1.28 gr.; Find-spot:.Moldova Noua, Flota^ii (Cara? Severin county). Ob. Legend damaged. Emperor's head: the pearl diadem depicted with dots; hair in "brush" style; face features crudely made of lines and dots. Rv: Type of "FTR - FH3". Legend's letters depicted as vertical and paralel bars with thicker ends. Some of the letters look like IHON. Relatively well-designed image. Exergue: damaged. 17. Bronze; module 2; D: 20.9 mm; W: 3.25 gr.; Find-spot: Moldova Noua, Flotafii (Caras Severin county). Ob. Legend illegible: IIONCIIDIU. Bust of emperor: the pearl diadem depicted in two lines of small dots; hair well designed of parallel curved lines; long face with features made of lines strongly profiled, drapery made of strong lines. Circular brooch depicted on left shoulder. Rv: Type of "FTR - FIB". Legend illegible: N(reversed)D(and)B E - OZOII. Well-designed image. Exergue: no letters/ signs. 18. Bronze; module 3; D: 15.6 mm; W: 1.97 gr.; Find-spot: Orsova: hoard I (Cara§ Severin county). Ob. Legend illegible: II-II...T. Bust of emperor: the pearl diadem depicted in two lines of dots; hair well designed of parallel curved lines; long face with features made of lines strongly profiled, the cuirass made of crude lines. Circular brooch depicted on left shoulder. Rv: Type of "FTR - FID". Legend illegible: II-II. The image is very crude designed, made of dots and broken lines. Exergue: SI. 19. Bronze; module 2; D: 20.9 mm; W: 3.25 gr.; Find-spot: Tibiscum-Jupa (Caras. Severin county). Ob. Legend illegible: IIZHNO-IIVZIII. Bust of emperor: the pearl diadem depicted in two lines of small dots dots; hair well designed of parallel curved lines; long face with features made of lines strongly profiled, drapery made of strong lines. Circular brooches depicted on left shoulder. 13 Odd 4th century coins in the hoards from Banat 255 Rv: Type of "FTR - FH3". Legend illegible: EEITENHOR - IIINII. Relatively well-designed image. In field left T. Exergue: OZNIII*. 20. 13. Bronze; module 2; D: 21 mm; W: 4.57 gr.; Find-spot: Tibiscum-Jupa (Caras Severin county). Ob. Legend illegible: ...NOCDZVIG. Bust of emperor: the pearl diadem depicted in two lines of small dots dots; hair well designed of parallel curved lines; long face with features made of lines strongly profiled, drapery made of strong lines. Circular brooch depicted on left shoulder. Rv: Type of "FTR - FH3". Legend illegible: ...NQPE-OZE. Relatively well-designed image. In field left r. Exergue: broken. 21. Bronze; module 3; D: 15.3 mm; W: 0.95 gr.; Find-spot: Dalbosef (Serbian Banat); Museum of Banat; Inv. No. 264. Ob. Legend illegible: IIIII. Vertical bars with dots at the ends. Bust of emperor: the pearl diadem depicted in two lines of dots; hair well designed of parallel curved lines; long face with features made of lines strongly profiled, the cuirass made of crude lines. Rv: Type of "FTR - FH3". Silhouettes of the spearing soldiers and the falling horseman. 22. Bronze - fragmentary; module 3; D: -; W: -; Timisoara (Timis county). Ob. Legend illegible: ...nil.... Bust of emperor: the pearl diadem depicted in two lines of dots; hair well designed of parallel curved lines; long face with features made of lines strongly profiled, the cuirass made of crude lines. Circular brooch depicted on left shoulder. Rv: Type of "FTR - FIB". Just vague silhouettes of the spearing soldiers and the falling horseman. 23. Bronze; module 2; D: 22.1 x 19.3 mm; W: -; Find-spot: Sacuieni (Bihor county). Ob. Legend illegible: DN COHH-VIICAVHO. Bust of emperor well-seidgned similar to the gebnuine monetary portrait. Rv: Type of "FTR - FIB". Legend illegible: IITEMPP-ABATI. Well-designed image. In field left r. Exergue: IZI». 24. Bronze: module 2; D: 22.4 mm; W: 4.50 gr.; Find-spot: Radimna (Caras Severin county). Ob. Legend illegible: IIMVI - D N T H T. Bust of emperor: the pearl diadem depicted in two lines of small dots; hair well designed of parallel curved lines; long face with features made of lines strongly profiled, drapery made of strong lines. Circular brooch depicted on left shoulder. Letter behind bust: II. Rv: Type of ""FTR - FH3'\ Legend illegible: ...NQPE-OZE. Relatively well-designed image. E ?rr_; •IZIIZI*, 25. Bronze, module 3; D: 16.7 mm; W: 2.04 gr.; Find-spot: Radimna (Caras. Severin county). Ob: Legend illegible: '11111...mill Bust of emperor: the pearl diadem depicted in two lines of dots; hair well designed of parallel curved lines; long face with features made of lines, the cuirass made of crude lines. Rv: T\pe of "FTR - FH3"". Legend illegible: IIIIIIL The image is very crude designed, made of dots and broken lines. Exergue: broken. 26. Bronze, module 3: D: — W: 1.86 gr.: Find-spot: Radimna (Cara§ Severin county). Ob: Legend illegible: ...EI... Bust of emperor: the pearl diadem depicted in two lines of dots; hair well designed of parallel curv ed lines; long face with features made of lines, the cuirass made of crude lines. Circular brooch on left shoulder. Rv: Type of "FTR - FH3". Legend damaged. The image is very crude designed, made of dots and broken lines. Exergue: broken. 27. 25. Bronze, module 3; D: 16.3 mm; W: 1.35 gr.; Find-spot: Radimna (Caras Severin county). Ob: Legend illegible: IIPIOIII III. Bust of emperor: the pearl diadem depicted in two lines of dots; hair well designed of parallel curved lines; long face with features made of lines, the cuirass made of crude lines. Rv: Type of "FTR - FIB". Legend damaged. The image is very crude designed, made of dots and broken lines. Exergue: broken. 258 Nicolae Gudea, Cristian Gazdac 28. Bronze, module 3; D: 15.6 mm; W: 1.90 gr.; Find-spot: Radimna (Caras Severin county). Ob: Legend illegible: IIVIII.... Bust of emperor: the pearl diadem depicted in two lines of dots; hair well designed of parallel curved lines; long face with features made of lines, the cuirass made of crude lines. Rv: Type of "FTR - FH3". Legend illegible: ..Til - IIO. The image is very crude designed, made of dots and broken lines. Exergue: ...SI. 29. Bronze, module 3; D: 16.9 mm; W: 1.80 gr.; Find-spot: Radimna (Caras. Severin county). Ob: Legend illegible: IIIIOV-DIAII. Bust of emperor: the pearl diadem depicted in two lines of dots; hair well designed of parallel curved lines; long face with features made of lines, the cuirass made of crude lines. Brooch on left shoulder. Rv: Type of "FTR - FH3". Legend illegible: ... - HOI. The image is very crude designed, made of dots and broken lines. Exergue: ...SI. 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Alfoldy-Gazdac, The Roman law against counterfeiting between theory and practice: the case of Roman Dacia, in ActaMN, 38/1, 2001, p. 137-154. - L.P. Healey, Was the coinage reform of Constans and Constantius II a failure?, in SAN, II, 1971-1972, p. 22-34. - M. Hendy, Studies in the Byzantine monetary economy, c. 300-1450, Cambridge, 1985. -C. King, Roman copies, in Coin finds and coin use in the Roman world (SFMA 10), Berlin, 1996, p. 237-263. - J.P.C. Kent, Barbarous copies of Roman coins: their significance for the British historian and archaeologist in Limes Studien. Vortrdge des 3. Internationalen Limes-Kongresses in Rheinfelden/ Basel 1957, Basel, 1959, p. 61-68. - J. Lallemand, Les moules monetaires de Saint-Mard (Virton, Belgique) et les moules des monnaies imperiales en Europe: essai de repertoire, in Un quartier de I 'agglomeration Gallo-Romaine de Saint-Mard (Virion), Leuven, 1994, p. 141-177. - L. Lazarov, Barbaska imitatia na rumska bronzova moneda od IV b, in BMNV, 32-33 (47^18), 2002, p. 86-88. Odd 4th century coins in the hoards from Banat 259 - H. Mattingly, Fel Temp Reparatio, in NC, XIII, 1933, p. 182-202. - D. Moisil, The Danube Limes and the Barbaricum (294^f98 A.D.), in Histoire & Mesure, XVII, 3/4, p. 79-120. - A. Ravetz, The Fourth-Century Inflation and Romano-British Coin Finds, in NC, 7th series, IV, p. 201-231. -R. Reece, The interpretation of site-finds, in Coin finds and coin use in the Roman world (SFMA 10), Berlin, 1996, p. 341-355. - The Roman Imperial Coinage. Vol. VII. Constantine and Licinius (AD 313-337), London, 1966. - The Roman Imperial Coinage. Vol. VIII. The Family of Constantine I (AD 337-364), London, 1981. - M. Vasic, A IVth and Vth centuries hoard of Roman coins and imitations in the collection of the National Museum in Belgrade, in Sirmium VIII, Rome-Belgrade, 1978, p. 113-132. A Fortifications in use in the 4th century AD 0 Fortifications repaired during the Tetrarchy ■ Fortifications built during the Tetrarchy pj 4th century tower -i- Findspots for the studied imitations