The numismatic chronicle and journal of the Royal Numismatic Society

502 SIR ARTHUR EVANS.
date of the crossing of the adventurer Constantino III 112
from Britain to Gaul with what remained of the
Roman garrison. If we examine the coinages of
Honorius's successors, such as Johannes, Valentinian III,
Avitus, Majorianus, Libins Severus, Grlycerius, Julias
is clearer
Nepos, and Romulus Augustulus, nothing
than that the gold pieces are of very much more
frequent occurrence than the silver.
The natural question arises whether the shortage
in the Imperial silver supply that makes itself apparent
simultaneously with the loss of Britain may
not itself have been largely due to that event. The
evidence of an extensive circulation of specie in
precious metals in the silver-mining region of the
West may fairly be taken as an indication of a
considerable output there well on into the reign of
Honorius.
It has been assumed above, as an explanation of the
existence of these large hoards of silver coins, that
the Imperial Treasury
officials were in the habit of
paying for the metal extracted its equivalent
money. Pigs and ingots might also be paid
in silver
for in
gold, but it is obvious that the chief proprietors or
farmers of the mines needed lesser change for distribu-
tion among their subordinates. The crude or partially
refined material thus purchased by the Treasury officials
was in its turn handed over to the mints. By these
it could either be converted into coin or into stamped
ingots which formed in fact part of a regular currency.
We have seen that those of the Dierstorf find not
only bear the official stamps
of the Treves mint cer-
112 The revolt of Constantine took place in A.D. 407.