Abstract
In AD 275/276, the Bosporan coinage was resumed after a seven-year break. However, the composition of the alloy and technique of silvering of new staters under Sauromates IV and Teiranes differ signifi cantly from the previous issues of Rhescuporis V. The article is the publication of the results of an investigation of the chemical composition of the alloy of the Sauromates IV’s staters from the Phanagorian 2011 hoard. The RFA showed the poor silver content of the Sauromates IV’s staters varying, with an average, between 7–8 and 9–10%, which is higher than in the Teiranes’ staters (5–6%). The silvered coins of these Bosporan kings are comparable with the contemporary low-silver Roman antoniniani, both in terms of silver content in the alloy, and possibly in the silver-plating technology. The study showed that Sauromates IV’s staters (like all Teiranes’ issues), containing a low silver percentage in alloy, as well as the synchronous Roman coins, suffered the process for silvering. Most likely, their plating was probably obtained by combination of wrapping of blanks in a silver foil heated to at least 950° and then cold striking.
Keywords
Bosporus, Roman Empire, Sauromates IV, coin production, technical aspects, silver-plated staters, antoniniani, XRF, silvering process
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