METAL DELM - metal avrelianis contribution to the study of mining coins and anonymous quadrantes

In the course of rescue archaeological investigations at the Viminacium necropolis of Vi{e Grobalja in 1984, one anonymous quadrans of the VIII Apollo group was discovered (cat. 1). It was discovered in trench 63 in the immediate vicinity of a grave with an inhumation (G 343) that, besides two pottery vessels, also yielded as grave offerings one as of Faustina the Elder, minted after her death, in AD 141. Other finds presented here are four specimens of Roman mining coins from the private collection of Petar Fajfri} from [abac (cat. 2-5). All specimens come from the well known site of Duge Njive in the area of the village of Banatsko Polje (Bogati} borough) where, by all appearances, are the remains of a vicus or smaller settlement. Five specimens of mining coins from that site have already been published. Both mining coins and anonymous quadrantes represent, in general, rare types of numismatic finds. Nine anonymous quadrantes are known so far from the territory of Serbia (Table 1) and the provenance is known for three specimens from the region of Guberevac-Babe (Kosmaj), housed in the National Museum in Belgrade. All three belong to the Minerva group with an owl facing to the right represented on the reverse. For two more anonymous quadrantes the place of discovery is known: one specimen comes from Singidunum and belongs to the Mercury group and the other that was found at Viminacium and is the subject of this paper is of the Apollo group. There are four more specimens from unknown sites for which it is assumed that they come from the Upper Moesia territory. Two of them are from the Vajfert collection and two from the Kovačević collection in the National Museum in Belgrade, There has, however, been a somewhat greater number (38) of Roman mining coins discovered in Serbia (Table 1). We know the finding locations of 25 of them: from the Kosmaj area (Babe, Guberevac and Stojnik), the Ibar valley (from the vicinity of Trepča and So~anica), Ritopek, Belgrade and Banovo Polje. We do not know the provenance for the remaining 13 specimens, but it is assumed that they come from the Upper Moesia territory. The anonymous quadrans discovered at the Viminacium necropolis of Vi{e Grobalja belongs, as previously mentioned, to the Apollo group. The only analogous piece known from the territory of Serbia comes from the Kovačević collection in the National Museum in Belgrade. Most of the known specimens belong to the Minerva group (3), there are two pieces of the Mars group, one of Mercury and one undetermined (Table 1). The anonymous quadrans from Viminacium is the second of its kind discovered along the Upper Moesia section of the Danube limes. The quadrans from Singidunum was found in the zone of the Roman Singidunum harbour and belongs to the Mercury group. Five specimens of mining coins in the Fajfri} collection published earlier belong to the same METAL DELM type with a bust of Diana on the obverse and deer on the reverse. To this group should be added our specimen cat. 2, and as such this type is the best represented group (6) of mining coins from the site of Duge Njive at Banovo Polje. The same group, Metalli Delmatici, also includes cat. 3, which has the head of Mars on the obverse and armour on the reverse. Then there are the two identical quadrantes of the group MetalliAureliani (cat. 4, 5) and their only analogy from the territory of Serbia is the quadrans from the Kosmaj area. The nine specimens of mining coins from the site of Duge Njive at Banovo Polje make up a considerable proportion of the total number of mining coins in Serbia. Their importance is even greater because of the fact that seven METAL DELM specimens are the first of that group for which we know the finding location. Finds of the anonymous quadrans from the Viminacium necropolis of Vi{e Grobalja and the mining coins from Banovo Polje complete the picture of the topography of this kind of numismatic finds. Their publishing is, mainly because of the known provenance, more significant for future investigations