The aim of this thesis is assess the usefulness of the statistical analysis of coin hoards for the
examination of aspects of ancient societies including coin use and exchange. Special attention was
paid to various aspects of ‘formation processes.’ The thesis was divided into three parts.
Part I — Background. This Part initially reviews the history of the project and then goes
on to examine the concept of money in the light of anthropological and economic work. A brief
discussion of types of exchange (gift, barter, commodity exchange) in societies is offered. The Part
is concluded with a review of previous statistical analyses of coin assemblages.
Part II—Analysing Hoards A large database of Roman Republican coin hoards was collected
for this project. The problems with this type of data, its storage and retrieval are discussed. The
database is then analysed in great detail in order to answer a series of numismatic, archaeological
and statistical questions.
Correspondence analysis was used on twenty-two subsets of the data to reveal patterning in
the data-set which is discussed. A new variant of cluster analysis was developed to subdivide
the data set whilst minimising the time series element. The results are compared to principal coordinates
and detrended correspondence analyses. The analyses reveal aspects of the use and supply
of Roman coinage over Europe and show clearly the unique nature of the Romanian data.
An attempt is made to estimate the speed of circulation of coin in Italy. It is shown that the
nature of coin supply leads to variation between periods which is the result of simple probability
and sampling theory, not changes in the speed of circulation of coin as has been suggested by other
authors.
Simulation studies are used to examine the validity of estimates of coin production and annual
coin loss.
The results are summarised. The usefulness of the techniques used is discussed. In the light of
the formation processes examined, the patterns in coin hoard data are tentatively interpreted.
Part III — Romania. It is argued that to attempt a detailed interpretation of the patterns
revealed above the material must be seen in its archaeological context. This case study is offered as
one such attempt. Romania was chosen for two reasons: 1) the exceptional quantity of hoards found
in an area outside Roman control; 2) the unique evidence for the copying of coins. After reviewing
various aspects of Romanian archaeology, a detailed analysis of the problem of copies is offered
including the results of a large scale archaeometallurgical study conducted under the direction of
the author. Estimates of the quantities of coins copied are given. A brief review of the settlement
evidence in the counties of Sibiu, Alba and Hunedoara, of special settlement and structure types,
and of hoards of silverware is presented. The thesis concludes by discussing the nature of Dacian
society and its use of coin in the light of the theoretical discussions in Part I, the evidence for coin
supply discussed in Part II and the results of the analyses in Part III in the context of the wider
archaeological evidence