METAL DELM - metal avrelianis contribution to the study of mining coins and anonymous quadrantes
Authors: Vojvoda Mirjana , Petrovic Slavoljub 
Published: January 2017

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
Kovacevic 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 Trepca 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 Kovacevic 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.