The funerary offering of coins in the Roman Venetia et Histria: A selection based on coin types?

This contribution addresses the subject of selection according to coin type of the coin offerings deposited in Roman graves in the area of Venetia et Histria. More than 3,000 examples from the Augustan era to the end of the 2nd century have been considered, and samples from both settlements and necropolises have been analyzed. It appears that coin types did not play a significant role in the selection of coins offered in graves. Indeed, in percentage terms, the distribution of coin representations attested in necropolises does not differ significantly from that of settlements. By contrast, coin denominations were subject to careful selection, resulting in the predominance of the as. The evidence gathered demonstrates that, in the area of Venetia et Histria, funerary offerings of coins were usually derived from the monetary stock available in inhabited sites, without careful selection based on the eschatological meaning of the types.