Falsa fusio à Trèves. Les moules monétaires du IIIe siècle de la Löwenbrauerei et la place du denier dans la circulation monétaire en Gaule du Nord.

International audienceThe rescue excavations carried out between 1996 and 1999 by Dr. H.-P. Kuhnen on the site of the old Löwen Brewery in Trier led to the discovery of around 3,000 clay coin moulds. These discs bear the imprints of denarii, antoniniani and sesterces of the 2nd and first half of the 3rd century and form the largest assemblage ever brought to light in the city on the Moselle. The study of a sample of 626 moulds dating from Antoninus Pius to Gordian III allows a dating of the production of the cast coins between ca. 240 and before 260. Analysing the imprints proves that the mint discharged the used moulds from at least two different sites (land Ueberlé and land Löwenbrauerei). Cast denarii, antoniniani and sesterces, which are counterfeit coins, nevertheless are marginal in the monetary circulation in the city. They did not function as emergency coinage, but assured the earnings of some counterfeiters, without being able to vie with the Imperial coinage or presenting a danger to the fundamentals of the state’s monetary system