STRUCTURAL INVESTIGATION CONCERNING THE
COMPOSITION OF FOUREE ROMAN ANTONINIAN
The antoninians were issued for the first time by Emperor Caracalla in
year 215 as a monetary reform. It was minted as double denar denomination in
order to preserve the silver title. The silver title and coin weight decrease soon
due to inflation. The fouree antoninians were issued at large scale by Emperor
Aurelianus featuring on the coin obverse the XXI inscription. The structural
investigation performed on some fouree antoninians issued by Aurelian,
Probus, and Diocletian, shows copper as coin core and the related corrosion
oxides compounds related to the loss of the silver foil due to the ground
corrosion. The calculation prove that the foil silver amount represents one part
silver to twenty copper parts, meaning that inscription XXI on the coin obverse
is an official silver title mark. The continuous decaying of antoninians quality
lead to a monetary reform after Diocletian reign.
Cuvinte cheie: antoninieni romani, patina, structura, difracŃie cu raze X
