Featured The first and last Goths

My hybrid from a small workshop.
Goths

 

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My collection.
New imitations of the Goths.
Probus RIC 896?
Antoninus Pius RIC 164?

 

Next imitations.
The same workshop.
Probably the end of the third century.

 

Of course, these are coins
Goths

 

Thanks for giving that reference. I just ordered it on Amazon. I could not find it anywhere else. It will be coming from Sweden.

 

Taman
Imitations
"Coins of the Unknown People"
https://community.vcoins.com/the-celator-vol-20-no-07/

 

I'm the author of the Celator article on the Taman imitations. I didn't know it was available online. I have some 25 Taman imitations. Unfortunately, people still attribute them to the Goths, which is historically implausible given their geographic distribution and timeframe. Cheers, Dirk

 

... also the Denarii shown above cannot be attributed to "the Goths". Instead, they were produced within the wide expanse of the Chernyakhov-culture, which included the Germanic Goths, but also many other non-Germanic peoples such as Sarmatians and Alans. Cheers, Dirk

 

Of course, this is a big simplification if we talk about Goths and not Chernyakhov-culture.
However, it was dominated by German.
I had just a question about the Goths from the Taman peninsula.
According to messages, they found themselves there when they partially moved from Crimea to Taman, under the agreement of Huns (Utigurs), the sixth century,
Have they been there before?

 

By the early 4th century, the Goths seemed to have established themselves as the dominant force within the polyethnic Chernyakhov-culture. However, the fact that the Goths were one, politically important group, that used similar pottery and decorations than other groups, does not mean that the imitative Denars were produced by the Goths.

It is well possible, that the Goths, with their connections to Rome had better access to official Roman coins and that the imitations were produced by groups that were more isolated.

Indeed, from findspot evidence, we know that many of the imitative denarii were produced too far in the east to be regarded as Gothic. It is well possible, that these coins were produced in centers of trade that existed in Germanic and in non-Germanic areas. An ethnic attribution is simply not possible and should in my view be avoided.

The Goths (Tetraxites) did not reach the Taman Peninsula before the 5th/6th century, i.e. some 200 years too late for them to be the originators of the Taman-imitations. Coin dealers and auction houses keep calling these coins "the earliest Gothic coins" to make them more attractive for collectors, but this attribution is historically not plausible. In Russia, these coins are called "coins of the unknown people", that is exactly what they are.

Best
Dirk

 

Thanks very much for your informative remarks! How do you interpret the earlier imitations of Roman denarii from the Russian plains? Is there any continuity with the imitations of Republican denarii?

 

It is possible that they are Germanic imitations.
It is proved the robbery of materials from the mint in Alexandria Troas by the Goths.
Then their own ZŁOTE coins were minted!

https://www.academia.edu/30126125/G...r_of_Andrew_Burnett_Spink_London_2015_232-258
Germans robbed all equipment and emitted coins themselves

 

Thanks for that interesting Academia link. So, the equipment of the mint was taken, and so were its workers (unwillingly or even willingly, for they usually were slaves). Then back in their Chernyakov and Wielbark territory, the raiders would issue gold coins with the AE dies, to enhance prestige (probably not for circulation).

The pictures in the article are not very clear. What do the post-262 coins of Alexandria Troas look like?
I saw this on Wildwinds, BMC 185, a style totally different from the boldly engraved and finely executed coins Troas is known for. Would it be coined in Troas after 262, or imitated in Volhynia?

 

While the Taman imitations cannot be the product of Goths the imitative gold coins, found regularly and in surprisingly large numbers in modern Ukraine probably are:

http://barbarous-imitations.narod.ru/index/pro_podrazhanija/0-84


I have over 20 of these imitative gold coins in my own collection. I bought most of them directly in Ukraine. These coins are typically holed or they have suspension loop. they were probably not intended as money. Instead, they were likely made as gifts by chieftains for their distinguished warriors.

The factor that links them to the Goths is the fact that they continue after 375 AD when the Goths moved westwards to modern Romania and Hungary.

Best
Dirk

 

Something from the 4th century AD (Maiorina)
Gold plating
What could it be?
The origin of Spain.
The product of Visigoths?

 

The coin is an official Roman issue of the 4th century. The Visigoths did not settle permanently in Spain before the early 6th century. The coin was perhaps reused in jewellery, but I cannot see anything particularly Visigothic about it. Anybody could have drilled the holes and gilded the coin.

Best
Dirk

 

Yes, this coin from the 4th century.
Of course, everyone could do jewelry with coins.
But the Goths had a tradition in this.

 

As I said, I have more than 20 imitative gold coins from the area of modern Ukraine, which I think, can with some justification, be attributed to the Goths. Here are pictures of two of the coins from my collection.

Both coins imitate Roman aureii of the late 3rd century (possibly Diocletian and Probus) and were probably produced around AD 300 to 325. Goths had served in the Roman army since at least AD 200. They received gold coins as donativum and once they returned to their homelands, wore such a gold coins around their necks as prestigious sign that they had served the Empire.

Apparently, the practice of awarding gold coins to loyal and distinguished warriors caught on with local chieftains and without a steady supply of official gold coins, they resorted to minting their own.

The practice continued right to the late 4th century and seemed to have moved with the Goths to the west, where imitative Roman solidi and multiples were found in hoards in Romania and Hungary.

The fact, that these coins were not circulating money can be gauged from the fact that the same dies were used to produce pure gold and plated coins. Often the pure gold coins are even overweight. I have one imitative aureus that weighs around 12 grams.

It is interesting to note, that the holes are often (not always and there are also suspension loops) placed and executed relatively carelessly. These coins were not worn for their image. It was just enough to display a gold pendant that looked like a Roman coin.

In fact, one may speculate that the holing of the coin may have been part of the act of presenting it by a warlord to his retinue. But that is speculation.


Best
Dirk

 

I have not seen a single Ukrainian (presumably Gothic) imitations with two holes. Again, no attribution is possible. By the time this coin was minted (around AD 380), the Goths' tradition of producing imitative gold coins had long developed into a completely different direction. I think it is impossible to attribute this coin to the Goths, let alone the Visigoths, for whom such a practice is not attested.

Best
Dirk

 

The Gothic warriors who served with the Roman army not only received gold coins, but also gold bracelets as donativum. These bracelets were often cut up in quite equal pieces and used as means of payment. The Ukrainians call them "plateshnyie slidki", meaning payment pieces and they have been found regularly in graves that can be attribute to the Chernyakhov culture and in particular the Goths.

Here is an example from my collection. It is special in that it bears the remnants of an inscription SILVINV..., which may be a name.

Best
Dirk