Correlation of two chronological distributions of the extant Roman bronze coins

Svilena Hristova ; Jordan Tabov

Review of the National Center for Digitization, Tome 12 (2008) no. 1.

Résumé

We present a comparison of two chronological distributions of coins, minted in the period AD 50-500: 1. The chronological distribution of the coins, excavated in Bulgaria and published in the Proceedings of the (Bulgarian) Archaeological Society (PAS) during the period 1910–1920 and in the Proceedings of the (Bulgarian) Archaeological Institute (PAI) during the period 1921–1959. The studied material consists of over 280000 coins from more than 1050 coin finds, which in our view is large enough to give an adequate picture in a first approximation of the chronological distribution of all coins excavated in the Bulgarian lands during the period 1910–1959. 2. The chronological distribution of the extant Roman bronze coins, on the base of the information about their prices from the catalogue of David Sear “Roman Coins and Their Values”. The high correlation of these two chronological distributions leads to the conclusion that they both give a good approximation of the real distribution of the extant Roman coins from the stated period AD 100–500, and in particular that the coin finds from the territory of present Bulgaria give a good representation for the general picture of the coin finds from the territory of the whole Roman Empire. On our opinion it also gives a plausible picture of the monetary circulation in the Eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula during the different historical periods.