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<p>[QUOTE="Trebellianus, post: 4677032, member: 91569"]Very very interesting, thank you.</p><p><br /></p><p>My inclination (based on no reading beyond this thread) would be to believe that the aurei found in Transylvania were genuinely ancient, but were "barbaric imitations" and not the production of any real usurper. I.e., the conclusion originally drawn by Neumann in 1779.</p><p><br /></p><p>I suspect they cannot be a forgery of the 18th Century. Presumably numismatics was a rather less advanced science then than it is now. Nevertheless, I assume somebody enterprising enough to create a new 3rd Century usurper would have done enough reading to know that the standard obverse formulation of the period was <b>IMP C SPONSIANVS P F AVG</b> (etc.), and that the typical reverse was some blundered and die-worn allegorical figure. A faker would draw enough attention to himself simply by creating this coin -- to make it even more conspicuous by giving it a bizarre obverse legend and elaborate Republican reverse feels implausible.</p><p><br /></p><p>The same strangeness, I think, prevents it from being the emission of a real usurper. Look at the coins of other ephemeral usurpers like Regalian or Pacatian or Silbannacus. Those coins are trying their best (with varying degrees of success) to copy the style and imagery of the legitimate emperor's coinage. It's not impossible a usurper could wish to strike out and do something different, but it goes against precedent.</p><p><br /></p><p>Meanwhile, we know that the inhabitants of Transylvania in the Republican era <a href="https://rrimitations.ancients.info/transylvaniahoardI.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://rrimitations.ancients.info/transylvaniahoardI.html" rel="nofollow">had the ability and inclination to copy Roman Republican coinage</a>. And <a href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=5992711" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=5992711" rel="nofollow">barbarian quasi-Roman aurei of the 3rd Century are known</a>. So perhaps the Sponsianus aurei are an eye-catching overlap of these two currents? Though I have no knowledge whatsoever of barbarian imitation and this is entirely just me recalling things I've read before. If this is the case, then the legend I suppose must, by elimination, be an accidentally credible blundering.</p><p><br /></p><p>Interesting to note though, how on the Sponsianus coins we have a "complete" titulature, albeit one arranged oddly, in the dative case and spread out over both faces of the coin: <b>IMP SPONSIANI C AVG</b> just needs a light reordering to become <b>IMP C SPONSIANI AVG</b>. Quite a coincidence if that's all it is.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Trebellianus, post: 4677032, member: 91569"]Very very interesting, thank you. My inclination (based on no reading beyond this thread) would be to believe that the aurei found in Transylvania were genuinely ancient, but were "barbaric imitations" and not the production of any real usurper. I.e., the conclusion originally drawn by Neumann in 1779. I suspect they cannot be a forgery of the 18th Century. Presumably numismatics was a rather less advanced science then than it is now. Nevertheless, I assume somebody enterprising enough to create a new 3rd Century usurper would have done enough reading to know that the standard obverse formulation of the period was [B]IMP C SPONSIANVS P F AVG[/B] (etc.), and that the typical reverse was some blundered and die-worn allegorical figure. A faker would draw enough attention to himself simply by creating this coin -- to make it even more conspicuous by giving it a bizarre obverse legend and elaborate Republican reverse feels implausible. The same strangeness, I think, prevents it from being the emission of a real usurper. Look at the coins of other ephemeral usurpers like Regalian or Pacatian or Silbannacus. Those coins are trying their best (with varying degrees of success) to copy the style and imagery of the legitimate emperor's coinage. It's not impossible a usurper could wish to strike out and do something different, but it goes against precedent. Meanwhile, we know that the inhabitants of Transylvania in the Republican era [URL='https://rrimitations.ancients.info/transylvaniahoardI.html']had the ability and inclination to copy Roman Republican coinage[/URL]. And [URL='https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=5992711']barbarian quasi-Roman aurei of the 3rd Century are known[/URL]. So perhaps the Sponsianus aurei are an eye-catching overlap of these two currents? Though I have no knowledge whatsoever of barbarian imitation and this is entirely just me recalling things I've read before. If this is the case, then the legend I suppose must, by elimination, be an accidentally credible blundering. Interesting to note though, how on the Sponsianus coins we have a "complete" titulature, albeit one arranged oddly, in the dative case and spread out over both faces of the coin: [B]IMP SPONSIANI C AVG[/B] just needs a light reordering to become [B]IMP C SPONSIANI AVG[/B]. Quite a coincidence if that's all it is.[/QUOTE]
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