Precise lead isotope ratios measurements on Ebusus coins and on some Campanian imitations

Coin finds in Pompeii are characterised by a large amount of specimens from Ebusus e Massalia and by Campanian coins that imitate the types of those foreign productions. Using mass spectrometry it was possible to get information useful to understand in a better way the differences between original issue and imitations; furthermore this study highlighted socio-economic reasons: on one hand, the arrival of a great deal of Ebusitan and Massalian coins in the ancient city, on the other, the need to mint imitation coins in ager vesuvianus. Data about the supply of different metals used to obtain alloys were identified and -also thanks to historical reflection- it can be considered important to discover connections between Ebusitan coinage and the people that introduced those foreign specimens and the Campanian imitations