Roman coins are numismatic objects that have much to tell us about the economic and political histories of the Roman world. Site-finds (ie, archaeologically-recovered coins), however, tell different stories too and if we are to ‘capitalise on and extract maximum value’ from these objects, the reporting of Roman coinage should follow the same principles and processes as other archaeological finds (eg pottery and Registered Finds).
Most archaeological coin reports treat site-finds as numismatic objects rather than excavated artefacts. Consequently, Roman coins are inevitably interpreted as monetary objects that together are thought to reflect a settlement’s economic fortunes, and they are listed and summarised on tables and graphs according to the dates when they were struck.
Coins tend to be divorced from their stratigraphic origins in the majority of reports and publications describing excavations of Romano-British sites and, therefore, from the other artefacts with which they might have been found. Beyond providing absolute dates for a site’s chronological sequence, coin reports rarely contribute to the broader understanding of excavated Romano-British settlements and the lives of their inhabitants.
To achieve a more universal approach to the study of site-finds requires a better appreciation of the archaeological contexts that produce Roman coins, because a coin dropped during a commercial transaction in a shop or at a market stall became an archaeological artefact in different circumstances to a coin recovered from a pit filled with domestic rubbish, or a coin placed in a grave.
Understanding site formation processes and archaeological stratigraphy is important in the study of site-finds. Roman coins were cultural as well as monetary objects that had histories after the moment when they were struck and issued into circulation. Object (or artefact) biography is one approach to exploring these important archaeological themes, which can be envisaged as consisting of the following connected episodes in a coin’s use-life:
- production
- supply
- use/circulation/reuse
- loss/disposal
- discovery
- archaeological / museum artefact