Séance tenue à la Bibliothèque Royale à Bruxelles, le 14 décembre 2019

Vergadering in de Koninklijke Bibliotheek te Brussel op 14 december 2019

Construction works in the centre of Ljubljana in the summer of 1956, at the location of the forum of Roman Emona, unearthed hoard of Late Roman gold medallions. It consisted of 22 triple and double solidi, including several unique specimens. At that time, the National Museum was able to obtain seven of these and a further six have been recognised in private collections abroad. In the year following Aleksander Jelocnik, curator of numismatics at the National Museum, exchanged two triple gold coins of Magnentius, minted with identical die, with a collector from New York for a large number of Greek and Roman coins. In 2007, the National Museum of Slovenia acquired a further double gold coin of Magnentius, which had been in a private collection in Ljubljana from the time it was found. Today, the National Museum of Slovenia has six gold medallions from the Emona hoard. The obverse of one of the triple solidi carries a realistic depiction of Magnentius wearing armour and paludamentum, the reverse shows a scene of Magnentius’ victorious arrival in Aquileia 350. Magnentius is mounted on a horse, with a personification of Aquileia bowing to him. The inscription LIBERATOR REI PVBLICAE (the saviour of the state) was a standard propaganda message. The coin was minted in Aquileia in March 350. The hoard was buried in the middle of the 4th century. This period was exceptionally turbulent because of the internal conflicts between the usurper Magnentius and the legitimate emperor, Constantius II. In early 350, Magnentius’ army in Gaul proclaimed him emperor; soon afterwards, Magnentius conquered the western part of the empire, including Italy, and set up base in Aquileia. In September 351, during his military campaign in the Balkans, Magnentius was defeated at the Battle of Mursa (Osijek) and retreated to Aquileia. Emona, Magnentius’ easternmost stronghold, fell in August 352 and this was probably when the gold coins were hidden, in order to prevent their being taken by the troops of Constantius II.

Hugo Vanhoudt, De ponsoenen van Filips IV in het Penningkabinet van de KBR

Voor onze gewesten is ponsoen 5a, die in het Penningkabinet van de KBR wordt bewaard, mogelijk de moederponsoen/patrijs voor alle stempels waarmee de dukatons met het jeugdig portret van Filips IV met de Spaanse kraag werden geslagen in de periode 1623-1632, en dit voor alle muntateliers die toen in onze gewesten actief waren, d.w.z. Antwerpen, Arras, Brugge, Brussel en Doornik.