Apollonia et le monnayage épirote : le trésor de Bakërr

Abstract

Summary. — The Bakërr Hoard (IGCH 559), preserved for the most part in the Tirana Archaeological Institute, is the most important witness for the monetary relations between Epirus and the Greek cities of the Illyrian coast. It was buried at the end of the third Macedonian war. Examination of the coins minted by Apollonia and Dyrrachion confirms our previous conclusions concerning the organisation of the minting : the minters' main efforts were spent on the obverse, whereas the reverse required only technical expertise. The hoard sheds new light on the chronology of the main coinage of Epirus. The most significant of the 13 issues in the hoard appears not to have been minted after the overthrow of the king but rather when Molossos declared war on the Romans.

Platinum-group elements and gold in silver coinage and the issue of salt cementation

“…Some authors consider cementation a plausible practice because the gold content of Athens' silver coinage from the Classical period (480–330 BCE) is distinctly lower than the content of the coins minted in other regions, such as Macedonia and Thrace. 1–3 A difficulty with this interpretation is that producing silver from gold-silver alloys comes at a high financial and energetic cost, and that the amount of silver obtained by this process is not expected to be much greater than the overall gold output, which is certainly small.…”

“…The latter group of mines is often described as producing Au-rich silver with respect to Lavrion. 1–3 This suggestion raises a number of questions, in particular about how the construction of the Athenian fleet that repelled the second Persian invasion in Salamis (480 BCE) was financed. Finally, gold-silver parting from natural electrum by salt cementation (admixing with NaCl, clay, and urine as a source of ammonia) 4–6 is thought to have been used around the Mediterranean as a technique for retrieving silver, but this hypothesis is not generally agreed upon.…”

Alexander I of Molossia and the creation of Apeiros

“…Picard -Gjongecaj 2001;Gjongecaj -Picard 2005;Gjongecaj 2007.39 The Molossian coinage: Franke 1961, 88 f., early fourth century;Hammond 1967, 543 f., ca. 375 or after; id., 1997, 59 suggests a gift of silver to Molossia around 373 that allowed them to start minting.40 Franke 1961, 85-106.41 Franke 1961, 116-133.…”