A 15th and 16th Century Coin Hoard from Oradea – Iosia (Bihor County)
Autor: Corina Toma
Cuvinte cheie: secolul al XVI-lea, tezaur, monede maghaire, denar, Oradea
Keywords: XVIth century, hoard, Hungarian coins, denar, Oradea
Tezaurul monetar analizat în cele de mai jos a fost descoperit în 1971, pe teritoriul localităţii Oradea şi se păstrează în colecţia muzeului orădean. Tezaurul este compus din 1584 de monede de argint, datând între 1468 şi 1594, catalogul lor fiind prezentat în text. Este vorba de monede de mică valoare, utilizate în tranzacţiile zilnice, mai ales în ariile rurale.
The monetary discovery analyzed in the previous pages is a hoard found in in 1971 in the area of Oradea city currently preserved in the collection of the Criş County Museum (Bihor county). The hoard consists of 1584 small silver coins (denar) issued between 1468 and 1594 by the Hungarian kings: Mátyás I, Ulászló, Lajos II and the Habsburg emperors as kings of Hungary: Ferdinand, Miska and Rudolf. The composition of the hoard is incomplete, because six coins (one denar from Bella IV, one half-groschen and four weisspfennigs) seem to be modern intrusions.
In this article, the catalog will be organized based on the coins issuers, and at the end of each chapter we will add brief notes regarding the mints, mint craftsmen, forgeries or hybrid coin editions that are different from the coins in the catalog.
Besides the basic coin identification, we also used a indicative calculation of the contemporary value completed by an approximation of the exchange rates on the period of the accumulation and hiding of the hoard. The hoard is mainly composed by coins of small value, used in daily transactions, especially in rural areas and in conformity with the exchange rates the estimated value of the hoard ranges around the modest amount of 8-9 florini or roughly 13-15 talers.
The hiding of these coins can be connected with the historical events of the time, and the general climate of unrest and incertitude, caused mainly by the presence of the Austrian troops in the region, or even more likely, the hiding of the hoard was caused by the otoman siege against the fortress of Oradea in 1598.
Unfortunately, just like many other monetary hoards, the lack of informations regarding the hoards composition and the poor conservation methods which led to modern day intrusions, puts the value interpretations and the moment of hiding under serious doubts.