Roman/Byzantine Siliqua AR Purity?

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by The Trachy Enjoyer, Jun 1, 2021.

  1. The Trachy Enjoyer

    The Trachy Enjoyer Well-Known Member

    Does anyone know about Roman/Byzantine siliqua purity. I glanced through MIB and DOC without luck. Hahn discusses theoretical ratios of the siliqua to solidus but never the actual fineness of the coins. DOC I doesn't seem to mention them beyond the actual catalogue itself. I didn't see any results online either. Perhaps I missed some evidence in these books or online. Any input/help would be appreciated!
     
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  3. ancient coin hunter

    ancient coin hunter 3rd Century Usurper

    Can't find much on the siliqua, but this piece on the miliarense:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miliarense

    mentioned in the article is the fact that the coin was struck with varying fineness. Not sure about references for the wiki contention that the fineness varied, but maybe try Grierson, Philip (1982), Byzantine coins, Taylor & Francis, ISBN 978-0-416-71360-2
     
  4. The Trachy Enjoyer

    The Trachy Enjoyer Well-Known Member

    I have that in PDF form but it doesn't appear to address purity. Thank you for the recommendation though!
     
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  5. The Trachy Enjoyer

    The Trachy Enjoyer Well-Known Member

    With some further digging, I found an answer...its hard to say if it carries any weight with 6th century examples I was hoping to better understand.

    The following excerpt is from Michael O'Hara 's A find of Byzantine Silver from the Mint of Rome for the Period A.D. 641-752

    "Dr. W. Hahn has been kind enough to communicate the results of microchemical analyses on three silver fractions, two of type 15 (Pope Constantine), one of type 19 (Gregory III).

    Constantine:
    ANS 69,2 % Ag. 30,8% cu.
    BMC 66 36,9% Ag. 63,1% cu. traces of Pb

    Gregory:
    ANS 68,6% Ag. 31,4% cu.

    From Hahn's figures, although without a more comprehensive analyses this can only be speculative, one explanation which suggests itself for the heavier coins of type 15 may be that they simply had a lower silver content, perhaps due to a particular shortage of silver at that time."

    How relevant siliqua purity is from the mint of Rome in the 700s for Byzantine siliquae minted in Carthage in the 500s, I don't know. It seems that 70% would be the standard for 8th century siliquae at the least
     
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  6. RichardT

    RichardT Well-Known Member

    Have you tried referring to RIC? Second paragraph below has more information.

    Capture.PNG
     
  7. ancient coin hunter

    ancient coin hunter 3rd Century Usurper

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