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Message:: [QUOTE="Tejas, post: 3118902, member: 84905"]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. BestDirk[/QUOTE]