Szolyák Péter - Csengeri Piroska (szerk.): A Herman Ottó Múzeum Évkönyve 56. (Miskolc, 2017)

Régészet - Simon László: "Kincs, ami nincs" - Esettanulmány a megyaszói római éremleletről

47

’’LOST AND NEVER FOUND”

A CASE STUDY OF A ROMAN ERA COIN FIND FROM MEGYASZÓ

THE FIND

A Roman era coin treasure came to light in the 1840s at the edge of Megyaszó, located between the western hills of the Zemplén Mountains. The hnd was first reported in 1870 in the journal ArchaeológiaiÉrtesítő (Archaeological Report), then in 1900 in the local history publication Adalékok Zemplén-vármegye történetéhez (Additions to the history of Zemplén County). According to these, an estimated 2 litres worth of silver coins were found by quarrying miners in the so-called Alsó-Bánya. They spelled out the inscription on one of the coins: IMP.. .VESPASI ANVS AVG, ill. P( )N MAX TR. Based on this the denarius could be related to emperor Vespasianus and the description of its back (sitting figure in long dress, with right hand holding out) could suggest that it is a RIC 20 type. We lack information of the rest of the coins from the find — presumably some of them were acquired by Nagykinizs landowner Miklós Nagy; the only known piece came into the possession of Reformed teacher Lajos Szűcs; however even that was lost in 1965.

From a narrower region, Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County, we only know of three locations where Vespasianus coins were found. The museum received a Vespasianus coin from 73 AD (RIC2 513, 547) into its collection in 1942 as a gift from the South Borsod Dike Company. Landowner József Bánó from Ináncs donated a small coin find to the National Museum in 1870, of which a short description was published in the Archaeológiai Értesítő (Archaeological Report) soon after. The circumstances of these finds are regrettably unknown. The two oldest denarii of the find were minted by Vespasianus in 72/73 AD (RIC 356) and in 77/78 AD (RIC 937). The denarius find located at the late imperial period settlement Miskolc, régi katonai gyakorlótér also included two pieces of Vespasianus denarii (RIC2 29, 546).

From a broader region, the eastern part of the Barbaricum in the Carpathian Basin (including Eastern-Slovakia, Great Hungarian Plain, Upper Tisza region, Zakarpattia Oblast, Partium and Vojvodina), 17 finds of known imperial period coin treasures included Vespasianus denarii in them. (Fig. 1)

What is common about the aforementioned coin finds is the regrettable fact that none of them can be considered as sealed and aside from a few coins from the second half of the 1st century, the overwhelming majority are 2nd century denarii. Three finds (Kecel II., Nádudvar and Eperjes) contained republic period coins, most of them are from the Eperjes find (109 pieces). In terms of the finds’ closure, based on the latest of coins (from late 2nd and early 3rd century), the coin treasures from Kecel II., Miskolc, Tiszaföldvár, Beregszász, Géres I. and II., Técső and Zuhogó form a group. There were 44 Vespasianus minted denarii in the 2,586 piece Kecel II. find, whereas only a single Vespasianus denarius was found in the Géres I. find. The largest amount of denarii from the time of Vespasianus is from the 365 piece Nádudvar find: based on data from the charts roughly 120 coins, nearly one third of the find can be connected to that period. Out of the 1,064 piece Ipoly visk find, (Central Slovakia, an area inhabited by the Quadi) 231 denarii are from that period. The Eperjes find from eastern-Slovakia consists of 176 coins, 10 of which are from Vespasianus. The Vespasianus coins from the aforementioned coin treasures of the Barbaricum in the Carpathian Basin provide a good impression of the extent of Pannonia province’s integration at the time, as well as its significance and how it affected its neighbouring regions.

Based on the facts above we can rightfully assume that the Megyaszó find mostly consisted of coins from the 1st and 2nd centuries. It is nearly certain as well that the number of coins minted during the reign of emperor Vespasianus was greater than one. The “two litres worth” definition of the treasure provides some frame of reference since we can presume that the coins were stored in a clay vessel, most likely the same of which sherds came to light upon discovery. It was a common practice for the people of the Barbaricum during the Roman imperial period to hide their valuables within clay vessels. The treasures found at Elek, Kocsér, Miskolc, Hetényegyháza, Kunfehértó, Öcsöd are fine examples of this, along with the 1936 find from Eperjes and the 1874 find from Técső. Some of those treasures (notably the ones from Elek, Eperjes and Miskolc) included Vespasianus coins in them.

A careful estimation suggests that the coin treasure consisted of roughly 2,200 coins, assuming the majority of it was truly denarii. This estimation is based on the known parameters of imperial period denarii and an experiment.

Optimally, in its uncirculated state, an imperial period Roman denarii measures 18 millimetres in diameter and 2 millimetres in thickness. Its weight has significantly decreased from the reign of Augustus to Severs Alexander but that fact is not relevant in this case. We used SB D-10 type washers and a household measuring container, using a proportionally smaller capacity (200 millimetres) as the basis. According to the experiment it took 220 washers to fill the container up to a 200 millimetre capacity; consequently it would take 2,200 washers to fill 2 litres of capacity.

Of course this is only hypothetical but at least it provides us with an estimate for the size of the Megyaszó coin treasure.

While reviewing Roman imperial period silver coin finds from the eastern part of the Barbaricum in the Carpathian Basin, I separated them into three groups based on their size.

Group I. consisted of finds with a relatively low count (1—50 coins). This amount could be accumulated by anyone with ties to the Roman Empire or its merchants or with its inhabitants as a soldier. A total of 16 finds belong in this group, the majority consisting of fewer than 25 coins.