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<p>[QUOTE="otlichnik, post: 5411543, member: 109731"]I am fascinated by the possibility of long circulation of ancient coins.</p><p><br /></p><p>Here is what I remember from memory. I could probably re-find the original sources but it would take a while.</p><p><br /></p><p>What scottishmoney refers to was discussed in in books by both Depeyrot and Callu if I recall correctly. Worn Roman large bronzes did circulate in 17th-19th century (at least) France and were used as, for example, 17th century sols. There is no indication that they circulated continuously since Roman times. Instead they were found by farmers and put into circulation as they matched the fabric of the then-current bronze coins. There would have been many centuries since the fall of Rome where they didn't match any contemporary coin and thus couldn't have been used.</p><p><br /></p><p>There are indications of the same thing in Britain. It might have been in Reece. Anyone who has seen an early 18th century British penny next to a Roman sestertius can see how easy they are to mix.</p><p><br /></p><p>Late use of Roman coins in Hungary is very well documented. But to date there is no evidence of actual circulation. They are found, instead, in jewelry or offertory contexts in Avar and Magyar graves - thus 7th to 10th centuries. The Avars were not a monetized society and the early medieval Hungarian coinage looks nothing like Roman. </p><p><br /></p><p>The key, or "law" if you will, especially with base-alloy coinage, is that it can circulate if it matches the overall fabric - shape, size and weight - of contemporary coinage.</p><p><br /></p><p>It is also simply logic that not matter when found a Roman silver or gold coin would have had some value and been useful at least by weight. Though again that might not count as true circulation.</p><p><br /></p><p>In the case of China, Thierry and Peng Xinwei both provide lots of interesting information. Many hoards buried in the last quarter of the 19th century and early 20th century, and "frozen savings hoards" where shopkeepers and others put aside their stock of cash when they were replaced with machine-struck regular coins in the 1910s, have been analyzed.</p><p><br /></p><p>They regularly contain many Western Han Wu Zhus, Wang Mang Huo Chuans, Eastern Han Wu Zhus, Tang Kai Yuans, etc. In other words coins dating from <i>roughly</i> 100 BC to AD 1000 were in regular use in the 1870s and 1900s. These numbers range from 2% to over 1/3 of some hoards!!! Of course they were the same size and shape as contemporary cash.</p><p><br /></p><p>Imagine if one quarter of the coins in the pocket or purse of someone in Britain in 1900 dated from before the Norman conquest. Incredible!!</p><p><br /></p><p>The first Chinese coin collectors simply went through the equivalent of bank rolls and pulled out one and two thousand year old coins for their collections...</p><p><br /></p><p>SC[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="otlichnik, post: 5411543, member: 109731"]I am fascinated by the possibility of long circulation of ancient coins. Here is what I remember from memory. I could probably re-find the original sources but it would take a while. What scottishmoney refers to was discussed in in books by both Depeyrot and Callu if I recall correctly. Worn Roman large bronzes did circulate in 17th-19th century (at least) France and were used as, for example, 17th century sols. There is no indication that they circulated continuously since Roman times. Instead they were found by farmers and put into circulation as they matched the fabric of the then-current bronze coins. There would have been many centuries since the fall of Rome where they didn't match any contemporary coin and thus couldn't have been used. There are indications of the same thing in Britain. It might have been in Reece. Anyone who has seen an early 18th century British penny next to a Roman sestertius can see how easy they are to mix. Late use of Roman coins in Hungary is very well documented. But to date there is no evidence of actual circulation. They are found, instead, in jewelry or offertory contexts in Avar and Magyar graves - thus 7th to 10th centuries. The Avars were not a monetized society and the early medieval Hungarian coinage looks nothing like Roman. The key, or "law" if you will, especially with base-alloy coinage, is that it can circulate if it matches the overall fabric - shape, size and weight - of contemporary coinage. It is also simply logic that not matter when found a Roman silver or gold coin would have had some value and been useful at least by weight. Though again that might not count as true circulation. In the case of China, Thierry and Peng Xinwei both provide lots of interesting information. Many hoards buried in the last quarter of the 19th century and early 20th century, and "frozen savings hoards" where shopkeepers and others put aside their stock of cash when they were replaced with machine-struck regular coins in the 1910s, have been analyzed. They regularly contain many Western Han Wu Zhus, Wang Mang Huo Chuans, Eastern Han Wu Zhus, Tang Kai Yuans, etc. In other words coins dating from [I]roughly[/I] 100 BC to AD 1000 were in regular use in the 1870s and 1900s. These numbers range from 2% to over 1/3 of some hoards!!! Of course they were the same size and shape as contemporary cash. Imagine if one quarter of the coins in the pocket or purse of someone in Britain in 1900 dated from before the Norman conquest. Incredible!! The first Chinese coin collectors simply went through the equivalent of bank rolls and pulled out one and two thousand year old coins for their collections... SC[/QUOTE]
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