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MAIASP. 2024. No. 16 Michael Choref
(Haifa, Israel) Cast
trimmed replicas of Bosporan staters as a source of historical information DOI: 10.53737/2713-2021.2024.68.45.036 Access this article (PDF File) Pages: 737—750 |
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The study of
numismatics does not only mean the study of coins of official issue and
replicas of them. It is equally important to trace the duration and nature of
their use in the circulation process, as well as to establish technologies
for their production. This problem is especially relevant for transitional
periods of history, such as the one preceding the Great Migration. After all,
imitations could then be made by both local residents accustomed to coins and
barbarian aliens. It is important to find out what prompted them to release
the replicas, as well as to localize such emissions. The author is interested in cast trimmed imitations of staters of Rhescuporis V. He
believes that these artifacts were produced for ritual purposes and takes
into account the fact that the barbarians of the Northern Black Sea region
and Taurica have long used local and imported coins
not only as means of payment and savings, but also as votives. However, by
the mid-4th century, the influx of this kind of artifacts into the
regions where they lived has decreased significantly. The cessation of the
issue of Bosporan staters
has also played its role. As a result, the production of cast copies of
familiar coins was launched. It is noteworthy that the replicas under study display traces of
retouching of images and inscriptions. This operation was obviously carried
out to give the imitations a marketable appearance. And, importantly, they
copied two types of staters of Rhescuporis
V, which would hardly have been advisable if the replicas had been produced
at the same emission center. The author admits that the artifacts in question
were made in two workshops remote from each other. One of them, which
produced imitations of staters of 620 BE —
with busts on the obverse and reverse, identified by V.A. Sidorenko
as part of the Kerch hoard of degraded Bosporan staters in 2009, — was located in Eastern Taurica, while the second one, which casted copies of
coins with the images of the emperor and an eagle on the ball on the reverse,
judging by the absence of its products in the above-mentioned hoard, could
have operated in another region, quite possibly in the North Caucasus. There are certain
reasons to believe that after the cessation of official emission, regional
mints arose on the periphery of the state of the Tiberian-Julian
dynasty, producing two types of cast imitations. This may indicate both the
ideological and political preferences of the local population, who created
ethno-political formations, although independent from the later Bosporan kings, but nonetheless retaining close religious
and cultural ties with the centers under their control. The author believes that the imitations under
scrutiny were produced by the Alan clans of Eastern Taurica
and the North Caucasus after the cessation of emission on behalf of the Tiberian-Julian dynasty and until the point in time when
the composition of the population of the Bosporus and the |
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Key words: archaeology,
history, numismatics, |
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Received January 7, 2024. Accepted
for publication January 19, 2024 |
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About the author: Choref Michael ( E-mail: michaelchoref@gmail.com |