Die Verwendung von Mehrfachstempeln in der antiken Münzprägung und die «Elefantendenare» Iulius Caesars (RRC 443/1)

In many parts of the Greek world, lower dies with more than one obverse type were occasionally used to produce coins, as has long been recognised: When blanks were placed carelessly on such anvil dies, the coins struck from them would show impressions of parts of two dies on their obverses. Such misstrikes are known from Achaemenid sigloi – the present paper adding two more examples –, from Greek coinages of Asia Minor, the mainland, Sicily and Magna Graecia, as well as from Seleucid and Arsacid coins. This phenomenon occurs, however, only on isolated specimens of all the mentioned Greek series, so that it is not even described in most manuals on ancient coinage. Hitherto, it has been studied properly only on Celtic coins, especially on the silver coinages of southern France, where traces of this production technique occur most frequently. In 1995 and 2000, multiple anvil dies were discovered in two hoards of Celtic coining implements unearthed in Bavaria (southern Germany), together with other tools for metal-working. Significantly, the only Roman coin with the impression of a multiple obverse die published up to now is a provincial coin from Gaul, an Augustan COL NEM bronze from Nemausus, which was part of the hoard of Port-Haliguen. The present paper discusses two elephant denarii of Julius Caesar (RRC 443/1; group of crude style) showing traces of a second border of dots on the obverse, which is a characteristic of coins produced from multiple anvil dies. This technical observation ties in well with the hypothesis that RRC 443 was produced by – or on the orders of – Julius Caesar’s financial administration in 49 B.C., most likely in southern Gaul