BÍRÓ-SEY KATALIN: COINS FROM IDENTIFIED SITES OF BRIGETIO AND THE QUESTION OF LOCAL CURRENCY / Régészeti Füzetek II/18. (Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum Budapest, 1977)
I. INTRODUCTION
We have a closed coin hoard from this period, which is yet unpublished (Find No. VI, Fig. XI It was found on the territory of the military town, west of the town. It begins with the impressions of Constantine I, and contains follis, half follis, and centenionaiis of Delmatius, Constantine II, Constans, and Constantius II. The find is closed by a Siscian F(SISAmint marked) Fel temp reparatio ship type coin (LRBC II 36) of Constans (138/64-65) and some impressions of the same type with ASIS mint mark ( 141 /i55156) without an identification for the emperor. This type was produced already after the reform between 346 and 35o A. D. The latest of this collection is aFSIS/^marked centenionalis . ^ The earliest pieces of the find must have been produced in 33o A. D. , dated by the coins with mint marks. A few impressions, which are in such bad condition that the mint mark is illegible, can only be identified by the emperor and the reverse type, thus their dating stays within broad limits. One of these is a half follis, made for Helena (l37/l6) and an AE of Constantine II (139/96). These are the coins which give the values before 33o A. D. on the graph. The division of coinage by mints show the usual proportion in the find: Lugdunum 1, Rome 4, Aquileia 9, Siscia 35, Thessaloniki 12, Constantinople lo, Nikomedia 1, Kyzikos 4, Antioch 4, and Alexandria lo. The mint mark was not identifiable on other pieces. The coins from Siscia dominate, the next in number are from Thessaloniki and Aquileia. The yearly average number varies around 2 between 33o and 335 A. D. A rise follows after 335 A. D. with a yearly average number of 9. A decreasing tendency follows the death cf Constantine the Great with a yearly average of 7. The latest coins of the find were struck between 345 and 35o A. D. Since there are only four coins in the find after the reform, it is certain that the unit got underground before 35o A. D. because these latest coins represent such types which were struck between 346 and 35o A. D. and cannot be dated more precisely. Thus this find must have been hidden anytime during this period. There is another similarly dated find of a few coins from Alsópáhok in Zala County, closing in 35o A. D. ^ The unrest on the limes is constant by this time. Comparing the graph of the find (Fig. XI) and the graph of the scattered coins (Fig. XIV) and their proportions, we do not find much similarity. The only common characteristic is, that the number of scattered coins also decrease during the last years of the 340s A. D. The next period falls under the rules of Valentinian ( 77 /l874-2ol3), Valens ( 78 /2oi42152), and G ratian ( 8o /2I53-2l67) which is the last flourishing period of the Pannonian currency. The material was treated according to the not very refined RIC chronology, thus the high values were noticable for the years 364 to 367 A. D. on our graph, and not for the following years, although this was proven by the precise analysis of the mint marks of Siscia and by archaeological evidence also. The influx of large amounts of money was due to the restoration of the limes. Only a slight construction can be noticed in Brigetio during Valentinian. ^ The proportions of the scattered coins agree with the proportions of the hoards during this period. The yearly average is 4o between 364 and 367 A. D. , but during the period of 367 to 375 A. D. this decreases to 15. 14
