I just ran across this article and don't recall a CoinTalk thread on it, and a quick search didn't turn up anything obvious. Apologies if this is old news. http://archaeologyinbulgaria.com/20...t-roman-city-serdica-bulgarias-capital-sofia/
3,000 silver coins dating from Nero to Geta...YES PLEASE!!! 111 different Domitian coins! And a Pertinax (my favorite short term emperor). It says it is still a hypothesis, and I understand why (the placement of the building in the middle of downtown is strange to say the least). But I wonder what kind of "smoking gun" they would need, or could find, at this point to prove it to be unquestionably a mint. Very Cool article. Thanks for sharing. They didn't have any pictures of the hoard itself in this article so I googled it and prepare to clean up your own drool...
I do not have in memory exactly when we have coins from Serdica but I know there was a Provincial mint there before the Imperial mint was opened in the later 3rd century. Has anyone researched when this mint operated in either status? Caracalla Provincial Probus Imperial
Barclay Head: "Imperial coins from Aurelius to Caracalla, and, after a break, again, under Gallienus." http://snible.org/coins/hn/thrace.html#Serdica
Thanks. Your link mentions: "ΟΥΛΠΙΑC CЄΡΔΙΚΗC, or, on small coins, CЄΡΔΩΝ." which I always found a bit odd as on this AE18 Caracalla which has the extreme obverse abbreviation AV K M ANT A. When space is a premium, we improvise.
I only have three coins from the Serdica mint: VOLUSIAN AR Antoninianus OBVERSE: IMP CAE C VIB VOLVSIANO AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right REVERSE: CONCORDIA AVG G - Concordia seated left, holding patera and two cornucopiae Struck at Serdica, 251-253 AD 3.4g, 20mm RIC 168 (Trebonianus Gallus), C 25 AURELIAN Antoninianus OBVERSE: IMP AVRELIANVS AVG, radiate cuirassed bust right REVERSE: ORIENS AVG, Sol standing left with hand raised, foot on one of two bound captives, XXIP in ex. Struck at Serdica, 274 AD 3.4g, 23mm RIC 63f, Venera 1008, C 145 PROBUS Antoninianus OBVERSE:IMP C M AVR PROBVS P F AVG, radiate, mantled & cuirassed bust left holding eagle-tipped sceptre REVERSE: SOLI INVICTO, Sol in spread quadriga, holding globe and raising right hand. Mintmark KA Delta Struck at Serdica, 276-282 AD 3.2g, 24mm RIC V 861, D
no no not more roman rules the rarity and prices, more comes and comes!!! How more coins come on the market how lower the prices and rarity/ thats my meaning example iff there comes 100000 galba i think prices going down Any way weldone nice find
I guess since this is my own thread, I can hijack it. Does anyone know if the mint at Ostia has ever been located? I've been to Ostia Antica twice but I didn't visit the mint location because I don't think the mint there has been found--odd given all the archeological work done there. Maybe I'm missing something and the mint location is well known. Does anybody know?
Ostia mint location is a clue. You have to think that ostia mint started to work for short period with maxentius that decided to mint gold and silver coinage in a safer place. Ostia was the perfect location, not far to be controlled. For this reason they probably reused existing building to do that but archeological evidence didn't help to identify them. In the 80's many thought that the location was now flooded by Tiber because during the daywork in the tiber mouth everyday someone found ancient coins. This is only a legend, I sincerly doubt it.