Adelson The Bronze Alloys
Adelson The Bronze Alloys
Adelson The Bronze Alloys
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THE BRONZE ALLOYS OF THE COINAGE OF THE
LATER ROMAN EMPIRE
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112 A. N. S. MUSEUM NOTES
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BRONZE ALLOYS OF LATE ROMAN EMPIRE 113
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114 A. N. S. MUSEUM NOTES
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BRONZE ALLOYS OF LATE ROMAN EMPIRE 115
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ii6 A. N. S. MUSEUM NOTES
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BRONZE ALLOYS OF LATE ROMAN EMPIRE 117
the surface it had worn off to a large degree.13 The very accurate and
painstaking analysis carried out by Lewis on the nine large bronzes
from the western half of the Empire revealed no silver whatsoever.
Those coins which seemed to have a "white" or silvery coating were
found upon analysis to have a thin layer of copper salt deposited on
the surface. On very close examination it was further revealed that
this copper salt was actually green in color.
In the preparation of the coins for this analysis a great degree of
care was evident, for in some cases the surface layers were removed
until bright metal was exposed, but in others the fragments were
analyzed as received. This would appear to be definite proof that
during the period of the first tetrarchy the bronze coinage of at least
the western half of the Empire was not silver washed. There may have
been a difference in the metallic composition of the coins from the
eastern half of the Empire, but the fact that only a very few authors
have noted the mints in conjunction with the analyses negates
any possibility of determining whether or not such was the case. It
should be noted, however, that four of the ten coins showing silver
in excess of two per cent are attributed to Maximian who ruled in the
West. The coins which are derived from the rulers in the East do not
show quite as much silver. It is therefore most likely that in the
East, as well as in the West, silver was not one of the elements
added to the coin alloy.
On the basis of his research Lewis maintained that the coins of the
first tetrarchy were not silvered. He was, however, faced by the fact
that a law in the Theodosian Code, which has already been mentioned
and which we shall re-interpret at a later point, seemed to indicate
that in 349 A.D. there was silver in the coinage. Earlier writers had
consistently explained that the edict of 349 was evidence of a silver
wash on the bronze coins.14 Therefore, following Mattingly and
Mickwitz, Lewis pointed out that not long after 340 A.D. there was a
13 Idem . Cf. Mickwitz, "Geld und Wirtschaft im römischen Reich des IV Jahr-
hundert n. Christus," Societas Scientiarum Fennica (Finska Vetenskaps Societe-
ten, Heising fors) , Commentationes Humanarum Litterarum , IV, 2, op. cit., pp.
83-4.
14 See Babelon, Traité des monnaies grecques et romaines , I, pt. I, cols. 608-9,
for one of the most far-reaching of such interpretations.
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ii8 A. N. S. MUSEUM NOTES
15 N. Lewis, A Hoard of Folles from Seltz (Alsace), NNM 79, pp. 17-21.
16 Ibid,, pp. 3-4. He points to the modern usage in which coins are often wrap-
ped in paper in a similar manner.
17 Babelon, Traité des monnaies greques et romaines , I, pt. I, col. 761. Cf. Isidore
of Seville, Etymologiarum , XVI, xviii, 11 (ed. Lindsay, 1911): Folles dicuntur
a sáculo quo conduntur, a continente id quod continetur appelatum. Also see
Hultsch, Metrologicorum Scriptorum Reliquiae , I, pp. 144, note 4; 267; 303;
308; 342-3; II, pp. 105; 151-2. CIL., V, 1880 (late fifth or early sixth century)
contains the expression "denariorum folex sescentos" probably in the sense of
a bag of coins worth 600 denarii. Cf. Ibid., VIII, 5333.
18 P. Oxyrhynchus , 1917; West and Johnson, Currency in Roman and Byzan-
tine Egypt , p. 137.
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BRONZE ALLOYS OF LATE ROMAN EMPIRE 119
of the modern Turks who used the expression "a purse" for the sum
of 200 piastres.19
Even more important the analyses listed in the Appendix to this
article show fewer coins dated after 349 containing appreciable
amounts of silver. Elmer in his study of the coinage of Julian, it is
true, refers to the silver-wash {Silbersud) which is noticeable on some
coins of this reign, but he points out that it is lacking on most pieces.
He attributed this lack to the action of the moist earth and said,
without giving any reference or detailed evidence, that analyses show
that the larger coin of Julian had from 1 .20 to two per cent of silver.20
The list of analyses compiled for this paper is in direct contradiction
of Elmer's statement. Only one coin after 355 A.D. shows more than
0.35 per cent of silver, and that coin is attributed to Valentinian. Any
silvery appearance on these mid-fourth century pieces would seem to
be the result of copper salts.
A new explanation must be found for the fact that ten of the
analyses show silver in some quantity as well as for the edict of 349.
These two bits of evidence must be connected. The solution, however,
is readily attainable if it is remembered that even today the largest
part of the silver produced each year is a by-product of copper and
lead refining, and that copper and lead are two of the major con-
stituents of bronze. Native copper always contains some dissolved
silver, and galenite, the usual lead ore, very commonly contains silver
sulphide in addition to lead sulphide. In metals which were not highly
refined some of this silver would remain. The analyses show quite
conclusively that highly refined components were not mixed to prepare
the coin alloy, and that the formula for that bronze was not strictly
adhered to by the various mints. Therefore some silver would remain
in the coins.
How is the law of 349 A.D., which specifically refers to silver in the
maiorina pecunia , to be understood in the light of this new view?
According to the Lex Julia , as commented upon by Ulpian, it was
19 Finlay, Greece Under the Romans (London, n. d.), p. 127, note 1.
20 Elmer, "Die Kupfergeldform unter Julianus Philosophus," Numismatische
Zeitschrift y neue Folge XXX (1937), p. 31. He also maintained that the smaller
coins were of pure copper, and that only individual ones showed as much as
l/1000th part of silver. The examples of this coin which were silvery in ap-
pearance, he concluded, had been either silvered or zinced since antiquity.
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120 A . N. S. MUSEUM NOTES
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BRONZE ALLOYS OF LATE ROMAN EMPIRE 121
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122 A. N. S. MUSEUM NOTES
Howard L. Adelson
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BRONZE ALLOYS OF LATE ROMAN EMPIRE 123
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