Les moules monétaires en terre cuite du IIIe siècle : chronologie et géographie

Résumé En

Summary. — J.-P. Callu devoted several pages in his thesis (1969) to coin moulds in terra cotta of the Roman period. Since then many important discoveries have been published, though without any debate as to fraudulent use (counterfeit coinage) vs. tolerated use (coinage of necessity). In retrospect one perceives the poor quality of documentation over the past two centuries and the small proportion of discoveries which are of any real usefulness. Limiting itself to moulds of the third century before the tetrarchy, the article focuses on the problems of their dating: it examines in turn the tools, the product and the context of use and abandonment. A map showing ancient administrative divisions completes the study. A phenomenon limited in time (perhaps mostly after 260) and space (the western provinces), the moulding of coins, documented more by the tools than the products, may have been favoured by the dissidence of the Gallo- Roman empire. This article, intended to provoke reflection, concludes with a proposition for a European project for the establishment of a critical index of discoveries placed in their archeo- logical context.