Unofficial is a better term than barbarous and helps describe its use better.
Some unofficial coins are barbarous in
style, others not.
Unofficial coins, especially ones that are clearly different by
style,
weight or module, are generally made to make up for shortages of coinage, not to fool people.
Thus those light
weight sestertii that were tariffed by some (local ?) authority as dupondi at some point. Such markings were likely done to allow the unofficial coin to circulate a
bit more widely.
Unofficial imitations are very common for Claudius' bronze coinage, though they are usually
asses, and more rarely
sestertii and
dupondii. They are very common in
Britain,
Spain and parts of
Gaul (the
north I think) and less common but
still known along the Rhine and Danube. The general thought is that the presence of troops in these areas outstripped the quantity of official coinage creating shortages. Studies on these coins have shown that they are common around
military sites. Enough are found in
military sites to know that they were tolerated as coinage there. But more are found in civilian settlements adjacent to
military sites (canabae) showing that they were likely made there, by civilian entrepreneurs, to facilitate trade with the soldiers.
While there are a few similar coins for later Emperors, the need seems to have passed for a long time. It is not until the
limes denarii and
limes falsa of the early 3rd century, and the small barbarous radiates of the later 3rd century, that you get as many unofficial coins.
Shawn
