Tezaurul de denari romani descoperit la Pârscov, județul Buzău/ The hoard of Roman denarii discovered at Pârscov, Buzău County

Abstract

The authors present a coin hoard consisting of 62 Roman Republican denarii and a good style imitation of a denarius, which was recently discovered in the village of Pârscov, Buzău County, in the place called Gorgane‑Observator. The place of discovery is located in the neighbourhoods of the Geto‑Dacian sites from Târcov – Piatra cu Lilieci, Cârlomănești and Pietroasele – Gruiu Dării. The appearance of the coins, in different stages of wear and with numerous incised control‑marks, probably due to the activity of nummularii, indicates a “circulation coin hoard” that reached the north of the Danube in a pre‑constituted form. The denarii fall chronologically between 179– 170 and 19 BC, the imitation having as prototype the denarius of P. Clodius from 42 BC. The core of the hoard consists of three compact groups totalling 51 denarii, each in almost uninterrupted chronological succession, attesting to the intervals 118– 105, 91– 68 and 58– 40 BC. The best documented is the period of Caesar’s ascension, wars and dictatorship, until after the establishment of the 2nd triumvirate, the coins of the 50‑41 decade representing over 25% of the total. The deposit ends with Octavian issues, the last two denarii bearing the title CAESAR AVGVSTVS. It is the first hoard from the time of Augustus discovered on the territory of Buzău County, having as main analogies in terms of chronology and structure the hoards from Valea (Strâmba), Dâmbovița County and Sfântu Gheorghe, Covasna counties. The circumstances of the concealment of the coin hoard are integrated into the context generated by a series of events related by written sources, which took place between about 17/ 16 BC– 10/ 12 AD, which culminated in the relocation of an entire Getic population from north of the Danube, archaeologically confirmed by the cessation of habitation in the great davae and settlements of Wallachia.