Newp: A published Eraviscan denarius

The Eravisci were an iron-age Celtic tribe who lived in Transdanubia, what would, under the Romans, become Pannonia, and which today is the eastern portion of modern-day Hungary. Their main settlements were within the region of Budapest, and the modern city contains multiple archaeological sites related to Eraviscan and Roman activity in the area. Not a lot is known about where the Eravisci came from before settling in Transdanubia, but archaeological evidence suggests they were settled by the third or fourth century B.C. and were the dominant power in this region until the Roman conquest near the end of the first century B.C.. It is in this final period of Eraviscan independence, during the latter half of the first Century B.C., that the coin I'm sharing today fits into the story.

As Roman interest and interaction with the area of Transdanubia grew in the first century B.C., Roman denarii began arriving and circulating in Eraviscan territory. When the need for Eraviscan coinage grew, the tribe began engraving their own dies and minting silver coins of size and devices similar to Roman coins. Much like the imitations made by other groups, some coins bore meaningless legends which were corrupted forms of the of their prototypes(such as the coin below), but other Eraviscan imitations bear the name of the tribe, generally inscribed RAVIS or IRAVISCI, or even names thought to be those of Chieftains such as DOMISA, DVTETI and ANSALI. Some of these dies were relatively well engraved, suggesting somewhat skilled engravers but all are in peculiar style completely unlike that of the Roman issues they imitate, suggesting that they were in no way meant for any sort of deception but instead, were meant to circulate in this area, and the hoard evidence does suggest a relatively small area of circulation within the modern borders of Hungary. As mentioned above, the story ends with the Roman conquest of what was to become the province of Pannonia. So far as I know, the latest coins found in hoards with Eravisci denarii are denarii of Augustus, suggesting the Romans did not allow these coins to remain circulating for long after assuming control of the region.

Like many other Eastern European coin types, these Eraviscan types have seen both a resurgence of interest and increased representation in the market following the fall of the Iron Curtain. Some time ago, a hoard was found Northwest of modern-day Budapest and subsequently entered the market within the US. The first parcel of this hoard, consisting of 7 Roman Republic denarii and 44 Eraviscan imitations was purchased by the American collector RBW and subsequently published in 1998 by Robert Freeman in "A group of Eraviscan denarii" in "Coins of Macedonia and Rome: Essays in Honour of Charles Hersh". Freeman provided a die study of the coins of the hoard and some general information on the types.

The coin I'm sharing today comes from the aforementioned hoard and is number 24 in the catalog with obverse die 17 and reverse die P. Though other examples from these same dies are known(@arnoldoe even owns one, ex @Volodya's collection), this coin was the only one from these dies within the studied portion of the hoard. I've been wanting to pick up one of these Eraviscan issues for quite some time, and so when I saw this one on Agora, it piqued my interest. It was not even listed as having come from this published hoard at first, so when I realized where it was from and that it was die linked to the mysterious coin now in @arnoldoe's collection, I knew I had to have it.


Imitations of Roman Republic, Eravisci, AR Denarius(18.6mm, 3.31g, 6h), circa 50-20 B.C., mint in modern-day Hungary. Imitating types of C. Postumius. Bust of diana right, bow and quiver on shoulder / Hound running right, spear below. POSTVMI TA(in ligature) in exergue. Freeman 24(this coin), dies 17/P; Davis Class B, Group II Pannonian, Eraviscan E15(these dies); cf. Crawford 394/1a for prototype

For those interested, this is the coin as it appeared in the plates of the Freeman paper:


As always, post anything relevant!

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Great coin and a really interesting writeup

 

Nice coin with a great history in time and pedigree. This is why I love ancients! Well done - Awesome!

 

I have somehow ended up with 5 Eraviscan coins, but have only purchased 1 Roman Republican denarius so far.

All my Eraviscan coins right now here..


the top 2 coins are pictured in the Freeman paper + I would presume that the middle right is an unpictured coin from the same hoard.

 

Great catch RS! I like the coin and that is from a published hoard.
I have a pair of C.TAL coins, one RR and one Celtic.

 

Thank you for bringing up new topics and coins. I don't collect ancients, but I have great respect for those that do and can decipher them.

 

You've built a nice little collection of them. I'm hoping to collect several as well but I'd like to balance out my imitatives with some more Geto-Dacian and other imitative issues as well. This is my only other silver imitative type:

 

Well, you know I like this one, Red!

Here's an example of the imitated type:

 

Excellent example! I've been on the hunt for one for a while and they almost never seem to come so nice. Hard to get the whole hound on the flan and well struck like yours.

 

Very cool

 

Very cool, red_spork ... congrats on that sweet addition

 

Well done, mate!

 

Well, crud, @red_spork ! That is an excellent write-up. Great coin. @arnoldoe has a great grouping.

That is @ancientcoinguru 's Avatar... Now we are going to have to rethink if she is an Imitative or the Real Thing...

I JUST finished completing a small, but very rare collection of cool-niche coins. I say crud, as I have been thinking of chasing Celtic coins... this is a great example of another black hole that I may get sucked into.

I have no Eravisci coin to offer. Maybe just a teaser for @red_spork :


RR Anon AR denarius Roma 211-206 BCE ROMA incus Dioscuri single horn-helmet Sear-- Craw 68-1b SICILY ISSUE RARE

 

It really is a black hole but if you like mystery and the thrill of the hunt it's a great area to collect. I've spent more than one late night recently trying to transcribe text in languages like Romanian or Hungarian so I can paste it in Google Translate and figure out what's being said about a coin and now I'm trying to figure out how to get access to obscure journals where various finds have been published and these Eravisci issues are the easy ones in that regard. There were several groups making them and many not as well documented as these guys.

 

Fantastic thread and posts!!

All I can offer is another 'original' Postumus/Diana:

 

I feel your pain. I have spent a few hours cutting and pasting or typing Italian, German, Dutch, and other languages to understand what is said about coins and especially cast bronze pieces.

I had trouble with the reverse symbol on this coin. I translated from German, French and Italian before deciding to go with my gut feeling and calling it a sylphium seed, for no good reason. Most books, articles and auction houses called it a leaf or unknown.

 

Welcome to the darker side...

 

Thoooose KELTS!!!

Yeah, I am Kelt.

 

+ very interesting how most Eraviscan coins can be die linked to each other.
coin 1 has the same obverse die as coin 2
2 has the same obverse die as 3
3 has the same reverse die as 2
4 has the same obverse die as 3
5 has the same obverse die as 4
6 is the same dies as 5 (now with die break)
7 is the same obverse die as 6
8-11 all have the same reverse die as 7
and 12 has the same obverse die as coin 11

 

Indeed aye! Keep yer roots, mo charaid, Ceilteach gu bràth!