I just read some posts in the
Byzantine section about potins versus
billon. It confused me. I didn't want to muddy up the other
thread, so posting here.
There were differing definitions of the two things. And they were defined as substances more or less rather than by
type of coin.
Potin and
billon were the same thing in one definition. I always thought potins were
cast coins made of bronze/copper or maybe something else, but casting was what defined it. The ones I have seen looked like bronze. To me, the distinguishing feature was the method in which they were made. These coins show up in various areas, most I see are
cast Celtic potins. If my memory is correct, almost all potins I have seen no matter where they were from were
cast.
Or am I just wrong about this and
potin is just a material like bronze, silver, or
billon? Are some of them stamped? I ask because I tend to avoid
cast coins, even though they are cheaper when it
comes to
Celtic for sure. They usually look cruder to me, as well.
Note that I have seen the
Numiswiki entry and this goes against every coin listing I can remember seeing anywhere.
Thanks,
Virgil