Resumen de Tripolis and Orthosia tetradrachms of Caracalla: some thoughts on coin production and minting methods
This paper presents a die study of tetradrachms of Caracalla minted in Tripolis and Orthosia. The inclusion of a brockage coin in the study has helped in revealing the potential use of such minting errors in better understanding ancient minting methods. The resulting estimates have also provided a good overview of the quantities produced at each mint and the results have been compared with regional mints to compose a more comprehensive idea of the output of this silver denomination under Caracalla’s regionwide initiative. Additionally, close similarities among certain dies have been found raising the question if templates, whether in the form of universal hubs or stencils, were used by die cutters.
