The
asses of Emperor
Claudius (41 – 54 AD) are among the most common coins of the First Century and most of them are imitations not struck by the official
mint of
Rome. The main causes of this phenomenon go beyond the usual profit-seeking of
contemporary private illegal counterfeiters and root their origin in the monetary policy decisions of the previous Emperor
Caligula (37 – 41 AD).
Caligula decided to centralize the minting of bronze coins in
Rome. Only
Lugdunum kept minting silver coins; all other mints in the Western Provinces shut down their activities. This policy was upheld when
Claudius became Emperor, resulting in a scarcity of low value coins in the immediately following months. Lack of liquidity soon occurred in the conquest of
Britannia. Imitations of the official
asses were struck in order to pay the legions.
In the case of
Hispania, which with the whole Iberian Peninsula
had been under
Roman control since the reign of
Augustus, the motivations for minting imitations were mostly economic and commercial. The importance of the Province in Imperial trade, especially in olive oil, and the growth in economic development increased monetary demand and the supply of low value coins became critical. Several mints were reopened, among which
Emerita,
Tarraco,
Caesaraugusta and
Asturica are suggested by scholars. The volume of production was high enough to make these
asses the most frequent amongst First Century coin discoveries in modern
Spain and
Portugal and almost all them are imitations. These coins circulated as official currency beyond
Hispania. Findings in
North Africa and even in
Rome include these Hispanic unofficial coins. The fact that the few known cash transfers from
Rome to
Hispania during this period were
quadrans suggests that the monetary authorities were aware of the activity of the Hispanic mints, and incidentally that the problem of the scarcity of
asses was solved in this province.
Locally minted coins copied exclusively the
asses of the 41 AD issue, with the
legend TI
CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG P M TR
IMP on the
obverse. In 50 AD the
Roman mint reached the required capacity to supply the provinces and a new issue of
asses, adding P(ater)P(atriae) at the end of the
obverse legend, was minted exclusively in
Rome.
Hispania quit minting
asses at that time but the coins already produced kept circulating until the end of the First Century.
Among the examples discovered in modern
Spain those with the
MINERVA reverse are the most frequently found. The frequency of this
reverse is usually higher than the sum of the other two
types,
LIBERTAS and CONSTANTIAE. These proportions are similar throughout the Empire, especially in
Italy. The issues from the various mints significally differ in
weight,
diameter and
style, resulting in a large variety of unique examples. As a result it is extremely difficult to propose a stylistic classification for which there is a unique criterion. Several
scales have been proposed ranking from 4 to 6 levels. These start with those with the most refined
style and closer to the
Roman original and end with those imitations that are the most bizarre and disproportionate. Even into the same level the Emperor’s
bust may differ, appearing older or younger and with different factions.
Here’s an example of each one from my
collection:
Minerva https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-157473Libertas https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-157474Constantiae
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-157475References
Cebrián Sánchez, M. A. (1999) Imitaciones de Claudio I en el monetario del Museo
Arqueológico y Etnológico de Córdoba. Numisma, 49, 242. En
http://www.siaen.org/documents/10901/11639/1999+-+242/aab434ea-a50d-4be2-a189-c971a303dad2Hoz Montoya, J. (2005) Distribución de moneda y crecimiento económico en
Écija bajo Claudio y
Nerón: a propósito de una colección
numismática local.
Actas del
VII Congreso de
Historia. Écija, economía y sociedad. https://www.academia.edu/996852/Distribuci%C3%B3n_de_moneda_y_crecimiento_econ%C3%B3mico_en_%C3%89cija_bajo_Claudio_y_Ner%C3%B3n_a_prop%C3%B3sito_de_una_colecci%C3%B3n_numism%C3%A1tica_local
Hurtado Mullor, T. (2014) Los Fondos
numismáticos romanos del museo de
historia y arqueología de Silla (Valencia) (
MARS): Apuntes sobre los hallazgos monetarios romanos en l’Horta Sud. XV Congreso Nacional de
Numismática.
http://www.man.es/man/dms/man/actividades/congresos-reuniones/2014/congreso-numismatica/actas/2016_XVCNN_Hurtado.pdfKenyon, R. F. E. (1992). The Copying of Bronze Coins of
Claudius I in
Roman Britain. PhD thesis. Institute of Archaeology, University College
London.
http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1546590/1/Kenyon_675410_vol1.pdfLanna, F. (2015) "
Claudius", in:
Maria Cristina Molinari (Ed), "The
Julio-Claudian and
Flavian Coins from
Rome's Municipal Urban Excavations: Observations on Coin Circulation in the Cities of
Latium Vetus and
Campania in the 1st Century AD", Trieste, EUT Edizioni Università di Trieste, 2015, pp.47-58. En
https://www.openstarts.units.it/handle/10077/11168