Tres conjuntos monetales de la destrucción del oppidum iberorromano de Libisosa (Lezuza, Albacete)

Abstract

The present article centres on the analysis of three coin sets recovered in the oppidum of Libisosa (Lezuza, Albacete, Spain). They come to 53 bronze coins, distributed between two streets and a small Unit in the Ibero-Roman quarter, the seat of a local oligarchy enriched by trade and early contact with the Italic agent. They are not hoards, but the result of an instantaneous destruction of the settlement in the midst of the Sertorian Wars. Each lot is formed by a homogenous number of Late Republic pieces, in their immense majority coined in the Castulo mint (and also formed by only one coin from Obulco, another from Bolskan and a Roman semis). The state of these coins, their characterization and dating to the beginning of the 1^st Cent B.C., indicate that in Libisosa there was a tendency to employ recently minted cash composed of the closest and most easily acquirable coinage. In terms of macro-history, their study is of vital importance for our knowledge of monetary circulation in the Final Iberian/Late Republican period of this area. In terms of internal studies, they allow us to posit the existence of a sequence created by the frustrated events to safeguard the cash employed in a paying or exchange post.