Did The Romans Set Foot In East Prussia? (My First Fel Temp)

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Author	Replies: 5 / Views: 1,830
january1may Pillar of the Community Russian Federation 5177 Posts	Posted 01/21/2016 01:35 am Well, I think it is my first, anyway. I might have had one earlier but didn't remember. I bought this coin at a market (coin show? it sure seemed to be the closest thing to one) in Kaliningrad, for 50 rubles (at the time, about $0.90). The dealer had a lot of other Roman coins, but most of them were even more unreadable. On this coin, I was able to identify the type and emperor immediately, and decided that I'll figure out more later. It was told to me that the coin (and, presumably, the other coins from that dealer - I doubt he remembered that particular one) was found in a gully near Ozersk, Kaliningrad Oblast. Now this (the East Prussia of the title) isn't exactly anywhere near the Roman Empire (there's kind of a big bunch of Germanic tribes between it and the Romans), so it's a bit weird that the coin ended up there. However, there's an easy explanation for what the coin was doing that far up north. Do you know it? Sadly, the mintmark is probably off flan. However, I'm definitely seeing a field letter. Do you thing that I am correct that 1) the field letter is a beta (and not an epsilon, gamma, mu, or whatever else can occur on this type), and if so, that 2) this is a Thessalonica mint coin? Oh, yeah, the coin. My best attempt at camera pictures, sorry. Sorry for all the shadows. I suck at photography. Report this Post to the Staff

VisigothKing Pillar of the Community United States 4778 Posts	Posted 01/21/2016 03:04 am Easy, through trade. The coin changed hands going further north until it ended up in Russia. Same thing for Islamic coins found in Scandinavia and Roman coins found in Vietnam (in this case they went further east rather than north). Report this Post to the Staff
january1may Pillar of the Community Russian Federation 5177 Posts	Posted 01/21/2016 03:49 am Incidentally, I forgot the size. Which might be kind of important for identification. (In this case, because that thing's tiny.) Actually, I forgot what it was anyway, and got tired of approximating on graph paper, so just took a pair of calipers and measured the coin directly: 16.4 by 15.5 mm. And yes, technically, that puts it in AE4 territory. Which, I believe, is a lot smaller than expected from the type. (Though perhaps some of that is due to wear; the coin was likely already centuries old when it got in that gully.) Report this Post to the Staff
echizento Moderator United States 23731 Posts	Posted 01/21/2016 09:34 am The Romans had a long history with the Germanic tribes. The empires borders (Limes) didn't extend as far as East Prussia, but it isn't difficult to believe that through contact with these tribes Roman coins were used as a means of exchange and than traveled into other areas outside of the empire. Report this Post to the Staff
Finn235 Pillar of the Community United States 6130 Posts	Posted 01/21/2016 09:39 am Roman currency was the de facto currency of all of Europe, the Middle East, and northern Africa for centuries. People knew the coins, how much they were worth, and that people would accept them anywhere--that is exactly why we see a surge of barbaric imitations during periods of internal strife for Rome. Which emperor do you figure it to be, out of curiosity? The portraits of this period are notoriously difficult to figure out without the legend. Report this Post to the Staff
january1may Pillar of the Community Russian Federation 5177 Posts	Posted 01/21/2016 10:11 am Quote: Which emperor do you figure it to be, out of curiosity? The portraits of this period are notoriously difficult to figure out without the legend. Constantius II (TIVSPFAVG). Edited by january1may 01/21/2016 10:12 am Report this Post to the Staff
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