A FORGOTTEN HOARD OF ANTONINIANII FROM PIŁA (POLAND): LARGE VOLUME, LITTLE VALUE

Abstract

The article analyzes a hoard of antoninianii found in the neighborhood of Piła (Wielkopolskie province in Poland). The hoard counted more than 5000 coins, mainly of Gallienus and Claudius II, plus an inscribed bronze plaque. The hoard is one of a kind owing to its volume, chronological structure, provenance of the coins, the presence of hybrids and imitations, and the inscribed plaque in particular. The collection, weighing 15 kg, of severely debased coinage of practically just two Roman emperors was valued at no more than a few contemporary aurei. Its presence on the banks of the Noteć River in Polish Pomerania suggests a fairly unusual story behind it. Hoards of antoninianii are fairly rare in the second half of the 3rd century AD, because the coin was too debased to be hoarded or deposited. Finding 5000 in one hoard is quite exceptional. There is no record of the vessel in which the coins had been hidden. The reasons for the hoard appearing in Pomerania must have been political: contacts between the Romans and the Barbarians in the 3rd century could have taken on the form of one-time tributes, annual tributes and the so-called annua munera, ransoming captives, soldiers’ pay (stipendia) or gifts.