@article{
author = "Radić, Vesna and Ivanišević, Vujadin",
year = "2001",
abstract = "The largest treasury of Serbian medieval coins is stored and kept in the National Museum in Belgrade. As parts of it - systematic collection, numerous hoards and separate collections represent the cornerstone for studying of national coinage. Having that in mind the authors started with their systematic study and cataloguing with the main idea that in the course of studying of Serbian medieval coins in the Museum collection the analysis of hoards first of all could yield significant data and answer the questions related to the chronology, extent of the issues and dies. The study of these finds was taken as priority. On this occasion 32 hoards with 6930 pieces of Serbian medieval coins and all the other contemporaneous coins were classified. The determination was done according to the rulers, nominals, mints, issues, sigla and references in the most reliable catalogues. All the specimens were weighed. In such a way we got basic information about coin hoards while for the second phase of the work we plan the comprehensive analysis of the hoards with all the necessary descriptions. At this first level of study we acquired a solid basis for the interpretation of money circulation from the beginning of minting of Serbian denars at the end of the 13th century until the middle of the 15th century when Serbia came under the Ottoman rule. The coin hoards from the collection of National Museum in Belgrade illustrate the complete Serbian coinage and represent the key to the interpretation of coinage and money circulation in our territories. The coinage in the time of king Stefan Dragutin, Stefan Uroš II Milutin and Stefan Vladislav could be clearly apprehended from the hoards deposited in the National Museum: Tetovo (Skoplje), Dučina, Bosnia?, Postenje, Dobrište and Kragujevac. These finds clearly demonstrate the advancement of coinage in Serbia and its expansion by way of development of monetary relations and establishing of new mints. We have most information for the period of reign of king Stefan Uroš III and czar Stefan Dušan. There is large number of hoards with many deposited coins: Žabare, Prilužje (Pridvorica and Prizren), Novi Banovci, Soko Banja, General Kantardžijevo (Varna), Belovo, Kičevo 1, the hoard from the unknown site, Uroševac and Novi Pazar. Numerous types and their issues reflecting the advanced and well-organized coinage are represented in these hoards. The amplification of the monetary system during the reign of czar Stefan Uroš V and appearance of parallel coinage of king Vukašin and other regional lords is confirmed by the finds from Bujanovac, Gnjilane-Uroševac, Koštunić, Djakovica-Rača, Stobi, Smederevska Palanka and especially Kičevo 2. This last mentioned hoard represents the key to the understanding of complexity of monetary relations in this period. The time of knez Lazar, Vuk Branković and other vassal masters is represented in the hoards from Čuka, Mramor and Mali Bonjinac. Although small in number they reveal the depth of crisis in which the Serbian territories sank in the last quarter of the 14th century. Finds from Prokuplje, Sot, Banatska Dubica, Podeni and Rabrovo belong to the final period of coinage in the medieval Serbia. These hoards where also the coins of other states and cities were present bear witness that despot ate faced, after political and economic turn towards Hungary, different economic structure, no doubt as a consequence of the trade development. With presented hoards the list of hoards stored in the collections of the National Museum in Belgrade should not be considered complete. Serbian coins are present although in small quantity in the hoards of Bosnian coins At the same time certain large finds are scattered within the systematic collection of the National Museum, like the large hoard from Kosovo Polje discovered in 1873 or the hoard of ‘denars with flag’ from Studenica found in 1908 (Dimitrijević 1981, 30-32, no 66; 11-12, no 16: with earlier literature). There are also some hoards that are parts of certain collections as Kovačević collection where is the hoard from Vinča discovered in 1902 (Bajalović - Hadži-Pešić 1977, 100) and some other finds as well. We would like also to add at the end that the collection of the National Museum in Belgrade was recently enriched with an exceptional hoard of trachea of king Radoslav discovered at Ras fortification in 1972 (Gaj-Popović 1976, 121-132; Gaj-Popović 1985, 102-118). The investigators are facing a difficult task to present exceptionally rich and abundant numismatic material, as well as to reconstruct from the Museum collections those ‘lost’ finds and that will, on the whole, contribute to the more comprehensive understanding of the monetary system of the medieval Serbia.",
publisher = "Narodni muzej, Beograd",
journal = "Zbornik Narodnog muzeja - serija: Arheologija",
title = "Ostave srpskog srednjovekovnog novca u zbirci narodnog muzeja u Beogradu, Hoards of Serbian medieval coins in Belgrade national museum collection",
pages = "307-285",
number = "1",
volume = "17",
url = "https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_rai_44"
}
