3.4 Rhineland silver quinarii with ‘dancing manikin’ (Scheers 57 type; c. 65 BC - 1 AD)
Another long-running coin series are the quinarii of the Scheers 57 type, with a figure of a ‘dancing man’ on the obverse and a horse on the reverse. Schulze-Forster and Heinrichs have recently discussed the development of this coin group.[20] It began as a trans-Rhine issue, with the oppidum on the Dünsberg in Hessen as the probable minting centre (Fig. 10). A younger group consists of silver with a high copper content and is concentrated in the western Lower Rhine region, where it also appears to have been minted.[21] Circulation was concentrated in the Cologne hinterland, and to a lesser extent in the Dutch river region. Partly on the basis of the dating of these coin issues, the cluster in the Cologne region may be associated with the Ubii.[22] There is a plausible link to historical accounts of Ubian migration from the east to the west bank of the Rhine during Agrippa’s first or second governorship (38/39 or 19/18 BC).[23] There are too few coins from the Dutch river region for the Batavi to have played any role in the more recent issues of this series.[24] Schulze-Forster dates the quinarii of the younger group to after 30 BC. Their presence in Augustan army camps suggests that these coins continued to circulate until about AD 10, although their production will have ceased somewhat earlier.
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Fig. 10 Distribution of silver coins with ‘dancing man’ (Scheers 57 type). a. coins from the early series; b. coins from the late series; large symbols >10 coins (after Schulze-Forster 2005, Fig. 6; Heinrichs 2005, Fig. 6.0; with additions and corrections for the Netherlands). |