“et una [medaglia] piccioliss(im)a di Arg.o di alcun merito”: some observations on old and new data relating Roman silver fractional coins from the Vesuvian area

Roman silver fractional coins are generally considered of scarce or rare evidence as archaeological stray finds and we have only imprecise pieces of information about the specific provenance of a lot of these small coins today in public and private collections. Due to lack of evidence, one can only speculate on the effectiveness of small change in the monetized economic system of the late Roman Republic and the early Empire. This research tends to achieve a better understanding of similarities and differences in related processes of finding and archival registration of so-called finds of ‘argento picciolissimo’ during the early Bourbon period of excavations in the Vesuvian area.