A Hoard of Eighteenth Century Georgian Copper Coins in the Hermitage (I. Dobrovolsky)

Numerous publications have acquainted scholars with Georgian copper coins of the eighteenth century which bear the names of the rulers and the kings of Karthalinia. It is a mistake to think, however, that further study of this material would not be rewarding, both in terms of history in general and in terms of Georgian history in particular. The Hermitage Department of Numismatics contains a hoard of eighteenth century Georgian copper coins, but unfortunately there are no details of findings. The collection includes: 1. anonymous seventeenth century coins from Tiflis (two pieces); 2. Vakhtang VI (two pieces); 3. Svimon (18 pieces); 4. Bakar (34 pieces); 5. Teimuraz II and Erekle II (1 piece); 6. Erekle (1 piece); 7. two more unattributed coins.

Such combinations of coins are quite rare. When Prof. Pakhomov registered the coin finds in the Caucasus, he recorded only 27 examples of these coins and in only one case was there a hoard, and not an individual coin find. One must conclude that the Hermitage hoard is of particular interest to those studying the currency trade of Georgia during the eighteenth century.