ID
3493
Permalink
Hoard name
VAISE
Alternative names
LYON-VAISE
Data type
Hoard
Date of discovery (from)
Mar 1992
Total number of coins
81
Summary
The context of the treasure burying, although partly known, remains problematic : in fact, there are two deposits of precious objects, very close to each other but quite distinct, inside caches which were laid under the ground. Should they be attributed to the occupants of the houses from the second half of the 3rd century AD, or to the occupants of the potter's workshop following in the beginning of the 4th century AD?
The first deposit gathers together two silver bracelets and a group of statuettes in the same metal, more or less fragmentary. Three of them are fully preserved : one Helios dedicated to an emperor's numen, one Fortuna with a double horn of plenty and one goddess, more enigmatic, carrying a dish with two birds inside. The head of a Jupiter and of an amazing personage with two outgrowths as an ornament in the hair add to the whole which is completed by a bust-portrait, probably representing an emperor (Gallienus?).
The second deposit, locked inside a wooden box, consists of crookery, jewels and coins. The silverware is made up of one dish decorated with a Mercure, two small trays ornated with reliefs (one of them just in bronze and silver plated), fourteen spoons and two fragmentary cutleries. All these objects belong to well known series in Gaul : their shapes and decoration show that they were made in the 3rd century AD. The set of jewels includes two golden bracelets, two pairs of golden, emerald, pearl and molten glass pendant earrings, two bezel rings (one of them with a nicolo), and one coin medallion (Gordian III aureus, AD 238-244). At the bottom of the box, there was a purse with 81 well preserved silver coins - 29 denarii and 52 antoniniani (radiates) - with a chronological curve stretching from Vitellius (AD 69) to the joint reign of Valerian and Gallian (AD 253-260). In fact, there are two different sets : one with 62 coins, that is to say 19 "old" denarii from Vitellius to Commodus, eight more recent all dated AD 201, 33 antoniniani (radiates) and one denarius struck between AD 215 and AD 217 for Caracalla, as well as, one denarius of Diadumenian in AD 218; the second set comprises 19 antoniniani (radiates) coins issued between AD 241 and AD 258.
One can wonder about the precise nature of these deposits. The sculptures found there do not have quite a homogeneous construction ; maybe a kind of Lares altar or objects belonging to a sanctuary, as most of them represent divinities, and one at least, the birds’ goddess, seems to have a strong local connotation. The silverware hardly represents more than two pounds of metal ; it is therefore difficult to speak of a "table set" all the less as the spoons are rather incomplete. The set of jewels, which is more coherent and of good quality but with no exceptional piece, illustrates well the favourite jewels in the well-off classes of Gaul around the middle of the 3rd century AD. Regarding the coins, there are several arguments speaking for a saving, rather than for a reserve currency, which was formerly made (maybe following two main payments (donativa) in AD 202 and AD 217/218, and poorly completed by a contribution in antoniniani (radiates) around AD 258-260), a small family inheritance safeguarded for sentimental reasons, maybe one generation away. (Aubin, G. et al. 1999)
