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Description
The territory of Belarus is one of the peripheral zones of the distribution of cast barbarian copies of Roman Imperial denarii. Most Belarusian finds of these coins should be identified with the Wielbark culture whose sites are known in the south-west of Belarus. Then again, the population of the Wielbark culture received cast coins from the related Chernyakhiv culture.
The study of the metallurgical composition of cast coins made using laser atomic emission spectroscopy showed that it can be very diverse – ranging from specimens made of base metals (copper, tin and lead) to coins with a very high silver content. It can be assumed that the functions of these barbarian forgeries within the barbarian society differed from the functions of the original Roman coins or that of struck barbarian imitations, as evidenced by the absence of cast copies in hoards of Imperial denarii.
