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1.Introduction
21
withspecialfocusonfindsnotderivingfromarchaeologicalresearch.7Thelevel
oftherecordingoffindsshouldalsobeconsideredseparatelyfortheperiodbefore
thespreadofmass-scaleamateurprospectingforarchaeologicalobjectsusing
increasinglytechnologicallyadvancedmetaldetectors,andfortheperiodwhen
thisphenomenonbecamewidespread.InourpartofEuropethishappenedinthe
1990s;accordinglyweshalladopttheyear1995asanapproximateboundarydate
betweenthesetwoperiods.OutofthetwohundredfindsofRepublicancoins
listedinourCatalogue,nolessthan67%comefrompost-1995discoveries.
Inanyattempttoanalysethedata,wemustcopewithvariousproblemsassociated
withthevalidationandinterpretationoftheinformationaboutthesefindsmade
underdifferentcircumstances.Mostofthecoinfindsrecordedbeforethe1990s
wereaccidentaldiscoveries,onlyamuchsmallergroupwasrecoveredduring
archaeologicalresearch.Inthecaseoffindsrecordedafterthatdate,mostofthem
werefindsmadebymetaldetectingbynon-archaeologists,amuchsmallergroup
wasrecoveredduringarchaeologicalresearchorinothercircumstances.According
toanassessmentmadebyAleksanderBurscheinthe1990s,morethan60%of
thecoinfindsfromPolandandtheadjacentregionwhichhadbeencatalogued
atthattimecamefrompre-1918discoveries.8Thisexplainsthecontrastbetween
therichrecordwehaveforthewesternpartsofourregion,whichuntil1918was
withinthebordersoftheGermanEmpire,andthemuchmoremodestrecord
fromtheareatotheeast,whichuntil1918hadbeenwithinthebordersofthe
RussianEmpire.
9
TheGermanstatehadasuperiorlegalandadministrativesystem
ofrecordingofarchaeologicalfinds.Manyoftheapparentconcentrationsoffinds
insomeregionsweretheresultofthelivelyactivityofspecificlocalantiquarian
societies,museumsorevensingleindividualswhorecordedthesediscoveries.10
Ontheotherhand,wehavetoconsiderthatthegreaterpartoftheinformation
aboutfindsofRomanRepublicancoinsrecordedinthepast,especiallyduringthe
nineteenthcenturyandearlier,relatestospecimenswithaputativedetermination
anddating,orreferstospecimensfrommodernagecollections,aswellassome
spuriousandunconfirmedcoins.11
However,themainproblemwithdetectorfindsrecoveredbynon-archaeologists,
i.e.,theoverwhelmingmajorityofcoinsrecoveredduringthe1990sandlater,isthat
theycomefromanactivitythatisillegal.ThelegalregulationsinforceinPoland,in
7Dymowski2011a,p.25;cf.Kolendo1998d,pp.13-14.
8Bursche1996,p.38.
9Cf.Kolendo1998d,p.13.
10Kubiak1979,pp.9-10;Wielowiejski1984,p.88;Kolendo1998d,pp.10and13;Wielowiejski
1998,p.193;Rakoczy2003,pp.15-18;Dymowski2011a,p.26.
11Bursche2000,pp.192-196.Thescaleoftheproblemisrevealedbythedetailedstudiesmade
byRenataCiołekofthePolishregionsofPomeraniaandSilesia;tolimitourselvestoRomancoins
fromtheRepublicanperiodandtheJulio-Claudianemperors,seeCiołek2001a,pp.22,25,48,61,
81,90,113,168,216,224-225,228,240andCiołek2008,pp.25,72,104,148,170,175,186,202,
219,231,241,242,254.
