Coin finds of the republican period in Rome and in central Italy : the coin sample from the ‘sottosuolo urbano’ of Rome kept in the Medagliere Capitolino

This study is dedicated to coin circulation in central Italy during the late Republican period based on analysis of a massive sample of coins from excavations and surveys undertaken for building and construction works in Rome during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This sample is now kept in the Capitoline Museums in Rome. The sample contains 2,420 Roman Republican specimens. These Republican specimens are primarily made up of bronze coins (numbering 1,607) which were the main coins of daily use. The remaining 813 coins are silver, including 79 plated specimens. The sample does not include any gold coins. The remaining 753 coins of the sample are contemporary non-Roman bronze coins. They played an important role in the monetary pool of the last centuries of the Republic. Their inclusion enriches our knowledge of the nature, use and circulation of foreign coins in Rome. This sample provides the first major sample of Roman Republican single finds with a secure provenance from the city of Rome. Hitherto, studies on Republican coinage have almost exclusively relied on hoard evidence. Samples of Republican coins from Rome are scarce, and yet these coins as a mass product are crucial for the reliability of a statistical approach. This lack of published evidence also seriously affects many regional studies in the areas outside of Rome. The present study will begin to fill the gap in research on the numismatic evidence from Rom