That is a
good question. I think Dr.
Hamburger's original article meant to refer to "minute coins" found at
Caesarea, not necessarily minted at
Caesarea. There is some controversy regarding other coins he published, such as the coins with Tyrian motifs of similar size and
weight. Some scholars believe these must have been minted in
Caesarea because they are commonly found there and not in Tyre. I am not convinced that this is the case, since, as
Hamburger mentions, these tiny coins are easy to overlook and rarely preserved, except in conditions similar to the sand dunes near
Caesarea. He mentions other sites like Palmyra where, after storms, the locals gather tiny coins from the dunes, "by the handful". We find very tiny coins as well as large ones from around the empire at
Caesarea. My personal feeling is that each city minted small coins for their own use, according to local designs. These coins ended up at
Caesarea through its position as a commercial and
military center. My primary goal right now is to
catalog all the small module coins we found there so many years ago. I am not qualified to say where the coins were minted, but I know for certain where they were spent! Thank you for your interest, and I appreciate any comments or ideas.
V-drome
(P.S. there is also the question of tiny coins that seem to be crude examples of the more common minimae. I do not know if these were local imitations or just later, carelessly produced variations from the official sites).
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=3906