New Finds of Gold Coins of Magnentius from Ukraine: The Short Report / Nowe znaleziska złotych monet Magnencjusza z Ukrainy. Krótkie doniesienie

Abstract

The four gold coins (three solidi and a semissis) of the usurper Magnus Magnentius (350–353) recently discovered accidentally in Ukraine, probably in the Cherkasy, Sumy, Volhynia regions and in one of the central or eastern parts of the country, are discussed in this article. All of the coins were minted in Trier. Before that, on the territory of Ukraine, the only gold coins of Magnentius were known from the hoard of aurei and solidi discovered in 1892, not far from the village of Brestiv, Zakarpattya region. Three of the new coins have loops for use as ornaments (the fourth coin is presumably also looped), which is indirect evidence of their authenticity as finds and may be further evidence that the elite of the Barbarian society used the solidi pendants as symbols of power. The lack of data on the archaeological context of the coins makes the question of the ways and reasons for their appearance in eastern Barbaricum very complex. Two equally valid hypotheses in this article are considered. The first could explain the influx of these coins as a result of payment for the participation of barbarians as mercenaries in an army serving Magnentius. The second hypothesis is that the coins could have come from the territory of southern Scandinavia (where such finds are also well known) due to tribal exchange, which was particularly active during the 4th century. A promising research prospect is the identification of die-links among the finds of the gold issues of Magnentius found in the Roman Empire and Barbaricum, that provide a more precise direction on when and how these coins came into the region.