Found one interesting reference.
From:
Italian textiles from prehistory to Late Antique times, Margarita Gleba, University of
Cambridge"A fragment of asbestos textile supposedly from the Etruscan
area is currently in the
collections of the British Museum (Granger-Taylor 1982:23 note 2). The fragment is a relatively coarse tabby 13x14 cm with possibly one selvedge preserved. The yarn is s-twisted, about 1-2 mm in
diameter. The
thread count is about 5-6 warp threads/cm and 4 weft threads/cm. Asbestos is derived from
a mineral amphibole and has a unique
quality of withstanding extremely high temperatures (Pionati Shams 1987:3-11), a trait that was noticed and used in
antiquity. Thus, in the first century AD, Pliny the Elder (36.19-21) calls it live or incombustible linen and praises its usefulness for making funeral shrouds, napkins,
lamp wicks and fishing nets."
As you know from your awareness course the fibres last forever and are hard to get rid of. I would guess that if they were used for protective garments as a forge or smelting facility, including one used for heating coin blanks, modern archaeology would allow for the fibres to be found. The problem of course is we don't know the exact location of any
Roman mints - except perhaps the Temple of
Juno Moneta in
Rome.
Shawn