News Article on the origins of Roman silver after the Second Punic War

Here is a news article relevant to some of the recent discussions raised in the featured thread by @Curtisimo .

Apparently a study demonstrated that the quality of silver in Roman coins went up around 209 BCE after a precipitous decline during the first part of the Second Punic War. We already knew that Roman silver coins were heavily debased during the war based on some of the pictures of coins from this period that some members posted, and that quality improved sometime around 209 BCE as things started to go better for Rome (and this ties up nicely with the birth of the denarius).

However, the interesting bit is that chemical signature analysis of Roman coins of this period see a large shift around 209 BCE in the origin source for Roman silver. Prior to 209 BCE the bulk of silver in Roman coinage seemed to be of Aegean origin, while coins minted in 209 BCE and afterwards seem to be almost exclusively from silver of Spanish origin.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...t-Roman-coins-evidence-Hannibal-s-defeat.html

Frankly, this discovery ties in nicely with the historical records for this time period. As some of you in this forum may know, Scipio Africanus received orders in 210 BCE to set out for Iberia with several legions, and he arived in Spain in 209 BCE and promptly captured Cartago Nova, the defacto capital of Carthagenian power in Iberia. And here we have scientific analysis finally colaborating what the ancient historial sources say, as coins from 209 BCE and onwards were almost exclusively struck from Iberian silver sources.

 

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very cool

 

Nailed it, Dude! I enjoy Scipio's history, and how he was preened to be the Barcids', specifically Hannibal's, nemesis. There was also an incredible propoganda war during this time, particularly to Italia... Hannibal had or was winning over several of the Italian tribes. Rome had to show they held power, that they were the best alternative, and that ultimately that they would prevail. I imagine ensuring high-quality coinage, especially being a major propoganda and communications device, was critical.

Oh! And additionally, the Barcid's specifically conquered Iberian Spain AFTER the 1st Punic War to get the rich silver mines. Rome and Scipio knew they must grab Carthage / Barcid's financial source virtually at any cost outside of losing Italia!

Thanks for your post and update!

 

Great job guys

 

Very cool article Sallent! Although the author seems to not have a 100% understanding of the nuances of the final results of the analysis (very understandable considering it is pretty confusing). It took me a while to make sense of it all while researching my new Crawford 44/5 ... I love that coin!!

According to Crawford the silver of the very first denarii most likely came from the silver looted from Syracuse and Capua in 212 and 211 BC respectively and shows a different geochemical signature from the silver mined in southern Spain. These were used to fund the ongoing fight with Hannibal in Italy as well as sending 12 tons of denarii with Scipio to conquer Hispania in ca. 210 BC. By then this loot was already starting to run out!

In 209 BC Scipio captured Carthago Nova and took a huge amount of silver. It took a while for this silver to filter into the mints which started to strike coins with it ca. 208 BC. This is probably one of the reasons (along with hoard evidence and evidence from associated gold issues) why Crawford dates the first issue denarii running from about 211 to 208 BC.

I know you've all probably seen it but ahhh what the heck... here it is again!

 

Thanks for the interesting read.