Coin of the Mines Under Marcus Aurelius RIC 1255 2.50 Grams 16mm Inscribed "METAL AURELIANIS" in Wreath It appears to be human nature that money of one sort or another becomes necessary once an operation - whether it be an industrial complex, nation state, or whatever -becomes large and complex enough. There are numerous examples of tokens or paper being used when the necessity arises. For example, somewhere in the collection of US coins I put together in childhood is a token inscribed "Sing Sing" that is also inscribed "DO GOOD MAKE GOOD". I understand that even Auschwitz and other ghettos and concentration camps had their own money. The coin above was struck during the reign of Marcus Aurelius in or about 175 AD - or earlier or later. It is of a type colloquially known as "Coins of the Mines." Somewhat similar issues, which are considered to be part of the same series, were also struck during the reigns of Trajan and Hadrian. Little is known about them. Volume II of RIC (original) states that, "it has been suggested that these coins were issued to be paid to miners of these [Pannonia, Delmatia and Dardania] districts, or, more probably perhaps, as donatives." The book further notes that, "whatever their purpose, their issue seems to have been very limited and only lasts for short period." In other words, these coins are rare. We know that there were other mines operating during the imperial period, including a silver mine in Spain that had an estimated 40,000 workers (most likely nearly all slaves) that was so large that the pollution associated with it can be seen in arctic ice cores. However, I am unaware of any coinage associated with the mines in Spain, in fact, anywhere but in the three regions mentioned above. The little I know about mining in ancient times is that it was an awful place and used as punishment. The only descriptions of mining in ancient times from ancient authors of which I am aware is in Pliny's Natural History Book 33 and 34 - anyone who collects ancient coins should read this part of Pliny. Also in the third book of Diodorus Siculus, which reads, in part, as follows: " For the kings of Egypt gather together and condemn to the mining of the gold such as have been found guilty of some crime and captives of war, as well as those who have been accused unjustly and thrown into prison because of their anger, and not only such persons but occasionally all their relatives as well, by this means not only inflicting punishment upon those found guilty but also securing at the same time great revenues from their labours. And those who have been condemned in this way — and they are a great multitude and are all bound in chains — work at their task unceasingly both by day and throughout the entire night, enjoying no respite and being carefully cut off from any means of escape; since guards of foreign soldiers who speak a language different from theirs stand watch over them, so that not a man, either by conversation or by some contact of a friendly nature, is able to corrupt one of his keepers. ..... ....And since no opportunity is afforded any of them to care for his body and they have no garment to cover their shame, no man can look upon unfortunate wretches without feeling pity for them because of the exceeding hardships they suffer. but all without exception are compelled by blows to persevere in their labours, until through ill-treatment they die in the midst of their tortures. Consequently the poor unfortunates believe, because their punishment is so excessively severe, that the future will always be more terrible than the present and therefore look forward to death as more to be desired than life." Not a nice place indeed! The harshness of life in the mines, most likely even under the more enlightened emperors of this period, make these coins all the more mysterious. Any further information about these types would be appreciated. It used to be possible to buy these on ebay every once in a while, but I have not seen one for sale in years. One other note - I am having an enormous amount of trouble all of a sudden with my coin photographs - I just can't seem to do decent photographs. I use a Nikon COOLPIX S9400, with a tensor lamp and Image Expert 2000, an old program which I use because I know it backwards and forwards. After maybe 15 years with the same equipment it is definitely time update, especially my camera and photo program. Does anyone have any suggestions or recommendations?
Very nice! I briefly owned (and promptly sold for a nice price) two AE quadrans of Trajan of the Dardanici mines Anonymous ROMA / DARDANICI IMP NERVA TRAIAN AVG / DARDANICI Quite rare little coins, and especially cool because we know exactly who used them, when and where!
If TE FORD was on "I Love Lucy" as Lucy's country cousin then I remember howling with laughter when he slept in the cot without opening it up - I was only maybe seven when I saw it - in reruns - this is one where Lucy has a plan to get rid of him by playing the "big city vamp." In many ways that show has never been bested as a television comedy - maybe by "Seinfeld" but I can't think of a modern comedy that comes close to edisodes like when the gang is on the way to California, stays at a motel where the train line causes such vibrations that the beds move across the room. Great memories - nothing like this on television now, or maybe I am just getting old.
That’s Incredivly interesting. One of the rare times that the denomination(?) is spelled out in the coin! I think we can be fairly sure that the workers called these coins Aurelianis
«Metal Aurelianis», that’s pretty cool. I play in a jam-based hard rock band, just for fun. I think «Metal Aurelianis» is a good name for a tune. It should be smart and uncompromising. Great coin.
Those coins of the mines are really one of a kind. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and the pictures !
I am in a similar situation. I have a split-body COOLPIX S4500 of about the same age. I love the split body feature, but the camera is beginning to act temperamental, shutting itself off unpredictably. I will be interested in reading whatever suggestions you get.
