The amazing thing about this hoard is that it really seems to close with RRC 437/4a and have nothing between that issue and RRC 434/2 and issues associated with 54 and 55 BCE. Even more amazing is that it seems to be a genuinely sealed pot in which it was found and to have been presented to the museum in Turin complete. Exceptionally rare for an accidental find. Even more intriguing is whether this hoard is still in Turin and can be consulted as a hoard today?! Could some even be published in Fava’s catalogue of controlmarks?! Broni seems a long way from Turin… Why bring it there?
Machine Translation
“On October 9th, a certain Maria Bazzini presented to the Royal Museum of Antiquities in Turin a group of Roman consular coins, providing to the distinguished Commendatore E. Schiaparelli—Director of that Institute—and to the undersigned the following information, which I am pleased to recount here to accompany this report. Specifically, she related that while her brother was carrying out some very deep trenching work to plant a vineyard on a hillside farm near Broni—and more precisely in the vicinity of Cascina Rovescala—a small terracotta “money box,” little larger than a lemon, was discovered at a depth of nearly two meters. Upon breaking it open with a spade, he found within it—intermingled with clayey soil—some coins which initially appeared to be copper but, once washed and cleaned, were recognized as silver. A few days after the discovery took place—so the lady asserted—this small hoard was presented, on a preliminary basis, to the Museum for examination. If one could place full reliance upon the account regarding the discovery—particularly concerning the nature and shape of the vessel in which the coins were found—we would have here a new and complete example of those money boxes, or *thesauroi*, of which Graeven (!) recently compiled an entire series, suitably illustrating them in the *Annals of the German Archaeological Institute*.
“However, regarding the character of the find as a hoard or treasure trove, an examination of the coins appears to fully corroborate the account given by Signora Bazzini; indeed, in her complete ignorance of the actual or scientific value and interest of the collection, she did not seem capable of— through inaccuracies or subterfuge—compromising the authenticity of her story. The coins submitted for examination number 100, of which precisely 90 are identifiable; all are silver, and the vast majority are denarii. They span the period from approximately 149 to 54 B.C. The oldest among them show signs of having remained in circulation for a long time—and of having passed through many hands—as they are considerably worn, though none (with the exception of a few quinarii) are rendered unrecognizable. Conversely, the more recent coins in the group—such as the Plautia, Fonteia, Hosidia, and Nonia issues, among others—are in a state of excellent preservation.
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Liv Mariah Yarrow 