Pages: 271-282 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.55086/sp214271282

The territory of Belarus is one of the peripheral zones of the distribution of struck and cast barbarian imitations of the denarii of the Roman Empire. The study of these coins, carried out using laser atomic emission spectroscopy, showed that struck imitations differ little in their elemental composition from genuine denarii, and the composition of cast copies is very diverse — from specimens made of base metals (copper, tin and lead) to coins with very high silver content. Taking into account the differences in technology and, probably, in the chronology of the production of these groups of coins, the data obtained as a result of the analysis let us think about the existence of two relatively independent production traditions in the barbarian coinage. It can also be assumed that the functions of struck and cast imitations in barbarian society were different, as indicated by the absence of cast copies in the hoards of imperial denarii.

Keywords: Roman denarii, barbarian imitations, Barbaricum, Wielbark culture, elemental composition, laser spectroscopy

Information about authors:

Vital Sidarovich (Minsk, Belarus). Belarusian State University. Krasnoarmejskaya St., 6, Minsk, 220024, Belarus
E-mail: [email protected]
Ksenia Ermalitskaia (Minsk, Belarus). Candidate of Physics and Mathematics. Belarusian State University. Krasnoarmejskaya St., 6, Minsk, 220024, Belarus
E-mail: [email protected]