Accountants

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As contorniates Roman are medallions of the late imperial period (4th and 5th century AD) refers to that example in Sesterzengröße were minted. The name is derived from the Italian contorno ('edge'), which means something like "edge piece".

Kontorniat from the late 4th century. Front side Emperor Trajan , back side the goddesses Annona (standing, with cornucopia) and Ceres (seated).

The contours are easy to recognize by a conspicuously sharply defined edge, which often has a deep groove cut into it. The material used was mostly brass or bronze , but other alloys have also been used occasionally. There are often monograms incised , such as the palm symbol or the P and E symbols, which have not yet been conclusively interpreted. On the obverse there are old rulers, pagan gods, poets or heroes as a coin image. Circus or theater games were often depicted on the back. Chariot races can also be found there. Over a hundred different types are known today.

As far as the purpose and use of the accountants are concerned, research has so far failed to reach agreement. Some researchers have suspected the use of the medallions as tokens or ID cards. The use as winning prizes in games has already been considered. The ancient historian Alföldi suspected that it was also used as a propaganda medium by oppositional circles in the Senate against the Christian imperial houses, for which the frequent depiction of pagan deities or anti-Christian rulers on the medallions would speak.

literature

  • Gerd Stumpf: Contourists. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 6, Metzler, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-476-01476-2 , Col. 721 f.
  • Andreas Alföldi , Elisabeth Alföldi-Rösenbaum: The Kontorniat medallions . 2 volumes. de Gruyter, Berlin 1976 and 1990, ISBN 3-11-003484-0 and ISBN 3-11-011905-6 , ( ancient coins and cut stones 6).
  • Peter Franz Mittag : old heads in new hands. Author and function of the accountants . Habelt, Bonn 1999, ISBN 3-7749-2885-1 , ( Antiquitas series 3: Treatises on prehistory and early history, on classical and provincial Roman archeology and on the history of antiquity 38), (Simultaneously: Freiburg (Breisgau), Univ ., Diss., 1996).
  • Stefan Krmnicek (Ed.): Medallions and Kontorniaten. Antique special coins from the coin collection of the Institute for Classical Archeology at the University of Tübingen. In: From Croesus to King Wilhelm, New Series. Volume 1, 2016. doi : 10.15496 / publication-15220 .

Web links

Commons : Kontorniaten  - collection of images