Economia monetaria in Italia alla vigilia del IV secolo d.C. Il ruolo dell'antoniniano e dei suoi omologhi gallici alla luce delle fonti numismatiche e storico-letterarie.

The starting point of this work has been a recording of the finds of coins dated between 238 and 275 A.D. and found in the territories of the ancient Italy and of the roman provinces of Sicily and of Sardinia et Corsica. So we have considered not only all the coin hoards closing in this period and those ones later that have a large percentage of coins of this period, but also the stray finds. For best classifying the coins it was necessary update the most important catalogue today in use (The Roman Imperial Coinage, V) tanks to the most recent bibliography, i.e. for example the works about the hoards of Cunetio and of La Venera. The data recorded have been used for trying to define the development of the monetary system and the mint organisation in this age and for analysing the dynamics of the coin circulation in Italy in this period so critical for the Roman Empire, not only for what concerning the political aspects, but also for the monetary situation. In that way we have tried to understand the role of the most characteristic and important coin of this period: the antoninianus.