Counterfeit Denarii North of Hadrian’s Wall: Roman or ‘Barbarian’?

Four aspects of counterfeit denarii in Scotland are considered: the evidence of counterfeits themselves, of votive denarii, of moulds, and of barbarian imitations. Counterfeits are rare and found primarily on Roman military sites, part of the wider circulation of such fakes within the Roman monetary system. A unique hoard of tin denarii from a well at Bar Hill is best seen as material created for religious deposition. Moulds are known from three find-spots, all beyond the Roman frontier at the time, but it is argued that the intended market lay within the Roman world although production was safely beyond it. The technology of the moulds is identical to that known elsewhere, indicating these were Roman-trained craftworkers, not local metalworkers. There is no evidence of local imitations of denarii: although denarii came north as subsidies and political gifts, and most likely played a role as prestige goods, there was no demand for copies. In contrast to much of the continent, these denarii had very short circulation lives in Scotland.