Folia archeologica 19.

Bíróné Sey Katalin: II. Theodosius solidusának egykorú hamisítványa

A CONTEMPORARY COUNTERFEIT COIN OF A SOLIDUS OF THEODOSIUS II In 1966 not far from Sátoraljaújhely an imitation of a solidus of Theodosius II came to light. Exploring the site and its environment no trace of settlement was found. The coin is a counterfeit of the solidus type Tolstoi 40, made of gold, its weight is 4,42 g. The legends on both of its sides show some deformations. (Fig. 51. nos. 1—2.). The misdrawingofthe letters "N", "D", "P" and "F" on the observe, that of the "M" and "L" on the reverse indicates the fact that the legend was copied from an original coin, probably a little worn, by a person ignorant of Latin letters. Even the mint mark consists almost entirely of "0"-s. The representation is flat, it stands hardly out in relief, the figure of Constantinopolis is misproportioned. VOT XXIX on the reverse is also miswritten, it must be presumably VOT XXX, that means on the coins the 30th anniversary of the reign of Theodosius II, i.e. 430 A. D. This date is the "terminus post quem" of the mint. The effort to an exact copying, further the congruence of the weight of the spurious coin with those of the original ones points to the fact that our coin was meant for circulation and so we may assume it to be nearly contemporary. Stray finds indicate that Byzantine solidi were in circulation in the Carpathian basin during the 5 th century, their occurrence, however, must have been scarce, so the local population made solidi to substitute them.