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Міні-скарб Античних Мідних Монет Міст Північного Причорномор’я з Хмельниччини

Translated title Mini-hoard of Ancient Copper Coins of the Northern Black sea Cities From Khmelnytskyi Region
Autor Yevhen Kolesnichenko
Published in Український нумізматичний щорічник, Volume 8 (2024)
The Ukrainian Numismatic Annual
Pages 58-69 (12 pages)
Download https://doi.org/10.31470/2616-6275-2024-8-58-69
Number
N#
L143154
 
treasure, coin find, bronze ingot, coin, Olbia, Chersonesos, Panticapaeum, Ukrainian Forest-Steppe, Podillia, Eastern Amber Road

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to introduce into scientific circulation the mini-hoard of copper coins of the Northern Black Sea region found in Novoushytska settlement territorial community of Khmelnytskyi region. The theoretical and methodological basis is a set of numismatic methods (identification and typology of coins, visual analysis and comparative method). Scientific novelty . The mini-hoard of ancient copper coins of the cities of the Northern Black Sea region found near the village of Khrebtiyiv, Novoushytska settlement territorial community, Kamianets-Podilskyi district, Khmelnytskyi region, is introduced into scientific circulation for the first time. For the first time in historiography, the elemental analysis of bronze ingots and coins of this complex was compared, which allowed to argue against the common thesis in historiography that representatives of the Scythian culture or the population of the Ukrainian Forest-Steppe of the Scythian era used ancient Greek coins as raw materials for the manufacture of bronze objects. Conclusions. Firstly, the discovery of this coinage and objects complex in the Ukrainian Forest-Steppe testifies to the contacts of the population of this natural zone with the Hellenistic world, in particular with the Greek cities of the Northern Black Sea region: Chersonesos, Panticapaeum and Olbia. Secondly, the presence of bronze ingots in the hoard may indicate that representatives of the Scythian culture used bronze ingots in trade operations in parallel with coins of the time. Thirdly, the XRF analysis of these ingots and several coins from the hoard indicates that these ingots were not made of coinage metals. Thus, it is proved that ancient Greek coins were not used by the population of the Ukrainian Forest-Steppe in the Scythian period as raw materials for bronze production. This confirms the concept that the people of the Scythian period in the Ukrainian Steppe and Forest-Steppe used ancient Greek coins as means of payment. The analysis of the coin issuers and the period of minting of the coins under study indicates the way they came from the Crimea (Heraclea and Kerch Peninsulas) to PodilskeTransnistria via the Lower Pobuzhia, which corresponds to the Black Sea-Dniester section of the Eastern Amber Road. Our research allows us to put forward a number of hypotheses, in particular, about the later than it is accepted in historiography dating of the issue of Chersonese coins that were part of the hoard we studied, and the possible minting of the last groups of Olbian ‘borisfen’ coins no later than the 240s BC. The composition of the mini-hoard found near the village of Khrebtiyiv indicates the indigent condition of its owner, i.e. it could have been an ordinary Scythian nomad, not a Greek merchant or a representative of the Scythian nobility.

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