Coin-hoard of the late 4th century in the vicus of Mayen (Lkr. Mayen-Koblenz)

Abstract

In 2000 an excavation within the vicus of Mayen revealed a cache of 371 bronze coins which lay scattered in a burnt layer on the former floor of a small building. Only a few coins still lay in the two broken storage vessels which had been sunken into the ground. The significant number of coins, as well as its clear concentration in the second half of the 4th century (78 % of the identifiable coins), lead to the conclusion that they must have been a hoard originally placed in both vessels and which was dispersed by the building’s collapse. The latest coins belong to the Theodosian series Victoria Auggg (388-ca. 395) and Salus Reipublicae (388- 408), but these comprise only 15 % of the 371 coins, in comparison with the high ratio of older money (incl. 53 % of Valentinian bronzes of 364-378). The Mayen hoard contains only one coin of Honorius, but not a single bronze from the later emissions of Trier, Lyon or Arles which commenced after the death of Theodosius in January 395. Moreover, in the Mayen assemblage one cannot see the deliberate subdivision of bronze coins, a practice which was widely spread in Gaul during the early 5th century. The end date of the hoard, which also corresponds to the dating of the building’s destruction, thus very probably lies between 395 and 400.