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Found coins as indicators of coins in circulation: testing some assumptions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2017

Douglas P. Newton
Douglas P. Newton*
Affiliation:
Durham University, UK
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Abstract

Coin finds are used to inform discussion about coins in circulation and, hence, economic activity. This discussion often rests on the assumption that patterns in finds of accidentally lost coins mirror to a useful extent those of the coins in circulation at the time. Whenever possible, such assumptions should be tested. This study does this empirically with data from a known coinage. Conditional support was found for the assumption. There is also some evidence that coin size and denomination can affect the coin record but these variables did not add significantly to predictions about coins in circulation based only on the numbers of coins found. Some conditions and precautions are suggested when using the assumption and some uses of data based on accidentally lost coins are discussed.

Les trouvailles de pièces de monnaie alimentent les discussions sur la monnaie en circulation et par conséquent sur l'activité économique. Ces discussions se fondent souvent sur l'hypothèse que les échantillons des pièces perdues par accident reflètent à un certain degré les pièces en circulation à cette époque. Néanmoins, ces suppositions devraient si possible être vérifiées, ce que cette étude fait empiriquement avec les données d'un ensemble de monnaies connu. On a ainsi pu constater que ces hypothèses pouvaient être soutenues conditionnellement. Apparemment, la taille et la valeur de la monnaie peuvent aussi influencer l'enregistrement des pièces, mais ces variables n'ont rien ajouté de significatif aux prédictions sur les monnaies en circulation établies sur base du nombre de pièces trouvées. Nous suggérons d'avoir recours à certaines conditions et précautions avant de travailler avec cette hypothèse, et nous examinons différentes utilisations des données provenant des pièces perdues accidentellement.

Zusammenfassung

Zusammenfassung

Fundmünzen sind ein Mittel der Untersuchung des Münzumlaufes und dadurch auch der ökonomischen Aktivität. Diese Diskussion basiert oftmals auf der Annahme, dass die Verteilungsbilder zufällig verlorener Münzen in einem wirksamen Maße die tatsächlichen historischen Verbreitungsbilder widerspiegeln. Wann immer es möglich ist, sollten solche Thesen überprüft werden – die vorliegende Studie unternimmt dies empirisch anhand bekannter Prägungen. Dabei wurde für die genannte Annahme nur bedingt eine Bestätigung gefunden. Es gibt dagegen einige Anhaltspunkte, dass auch Münzgröße und –einheiten den Münzspiegel beeinflussen können, diese Variablen nur anhand der Anzahl gefundener Stücke allerdings keine grundlegenden Aussagen über Münzen im Umlauf gewähren. Verschiedene Einschränkungen und Vorsichtsmaßnahmen werden für die Anwendung von Annahmen und Daten, die aus zufällig verlorenen Münzen basieren, vorgeschlagen und diskutiert.

Keywords

coin lossescoin findscoins in circulationcoin loss assumptionspièces de monnaie perduespièces de monnaie trouvéespièces de monnaie en circulationhypothèses quant aux pièces de monnaie perduesMünzverlustMünzfundMünzumlaufAnnahmen auf Basis von Fundmünzen
Type
Articles
Information
European Journal of Archaeology , Volume 9 , Issue 2-3 , 2006 , pp. 211 - 227
Copyright
Copyright © 2006 Sage Publications 

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