A Draft Paper.The Catalog of Muntenia Ducats in Own Collection

The 1452 monetary reform ended the period of significant currency transformations in medieval Wallachia. In 1451-1452, the Danubian Principality balancing between the Ottomans and the Hungarians, managed to launch the law and monetary reforms as well as a foreign policy change. The improvements were aimed at strengthening the Wallachian statehood. In 1452, Wallachian ruler-voivod Vladislav II resumed the activities at the local mint starting to hammer silver coins. The new denomination was so-called Muntenia ducat. Prior the monetary reform, the voivod had introduced Byzantine laws to Wallachia and got the Ottoman-Hungarian guarantees of his power as a Wallachian ruler. Consequently, Wallachia became the principality with a dualistic monetary system where silver Muntenia ducats and Ottoman silver aspri circulated together.The project contains a catalogue and analysis of metal of twenty-three Muntenia ducats hammered in 1452-1456. The specimens are in the author’s private collection of coins and medals. They are divided into four types: I, IIA, IIB and IIC.Heraldic shields on the ducat obverses are either Spanish or French. The inscriptions on the coins are composed of two Greek letters (IѠ) and Bulgarian words such as +IѠВЛАДНСЛАВОНВОДАГNЪ (+By the grace of God Vladislav voivoda lord). This expression was also the first sentence in Wallachian-Bulgarian documents issued by the Wallachian voivods in the XV century. A handheld XRF analyser Thermo Scientific Niton XL3t Goldd+ was taken to measure the composition of the coins’ metal at the University in Bergen. The Muntenia ducats 1452-1456 are basically composed of silver and copper: silver 83% - 97%, copper 1.5% - 15.3%. All coins have moderate traces of lead (0.11% - 0.69%) and gold (0.25% - 0.60%). Some ducats have got traces of iridium (0.44% - 0.93%) and zinc (0.03% - 0.05%), two of them traces of iron (0.11% - 0.19%). The monetary unit of measurement taken at the Wallachian mint in 1452 was presumably the Byzantine litra (λίτρα) borrowed through Bulgaria. The Byzantine-Bulgarian trail is quite obvious as Vladislav II began the Wallachian reforms by introducing the Byzantium laws, which came to Wallachia from Bulgaria. In 1451, the voivod ordered to copy the alphabetical directory of Byzantine laws Σύνταγμα κατὰ στοιχεῖον – Syntagma Canonum or Zaconicul. Previously, Sintagma was translated from Greek to Slavic in Serbia. A Slavic translation came from Serbia to Bulgaria and from there to Wallachia. The theoretical weight of the Byzantine silver litra was 327.60 g. According to the XRF analysis the Muntenia ducats contain 91% silver on average. Their average coin weight was presumably 0.60 g. Therefore one litra = 600 ducats (50 dozen).0,60 g. х 91% = 0,546 g. (1) 327,60 g. / 0,546 g. = 600 ducats (2) 600 = 50 х 12 (3) Picture "The Grand Armoury" - swords, axes, sheilds, spears, arrows, and armor ll. Arguably Romania's most beautiful castle, Castelul Peleş (Peleş Castle) was built in 1875 in Sinaia, Romania. Copyright: Curious Expeditions flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/curiousexpeditions/2197544824

1452年的货币改革终结了中世纪瓦拉几亚（Wallachia）地区持续的大规模币制变革阶段。1451至1452年，周旋于奥斯曼帝国与匈牙利王国之间的多瑙河公国，同步推进法律与货币改革，并完成对外政策调整。此次改革的核心目标为强化瓦拉几亚的国家主权。

1452年，瓦拉几亚统治者弗拉德斯拉夫二世恢复了当地铸币厂的运作，启动打制银币的铸造工作，此次新发行的面额货币即为蒙泰尼亚达克特（Muntenia ducat）。在推行本次货币改革之前，该大公已将拜占庭律法引入瓦拉几亚，并获得奥斯曼与匈牙利对其统治权的保障。自此，瓦拉几亚成为实行二元货币体系的公国：境内同时流通蒙泰尼亚达克特银币与奥斯曼白银阿斯普币（aspri）。

本项目包含1452至1456年间铸造的23枚蒙泰尼亚达克特的藏品目录与金属成分分析报告。这批钱币标本均收藏于作者的私人钱币与徽章藏品中，被划分为I、IIA、IIB与IIC四个类别。达克特正面的纹章盾要么为西班牙风格，要么为法国风格。钱币铭文由两个希腊字母（IѠ）与保加利亚语词汇组成，具体为+IѠВЛАДНСЛАВОНВОДАГNЪ，意为“承蒙天佑，弗拉德斯拉夫大公”。这一表述亦是15世纪瓦拉几亚大公所发布的瓦拉几亚-保加利亚语官方文书的开篇句。

研究团队使用赛默飞世尔科技（Thermo Scientific）尼通XL3t Goldd+手持式X射线荧光（XRF）分析仪，在卑尔根大学完成了这批钱币的金属成分检测。1452至1456年版的蒙泰尼亚达克特基本由银与铜构成：银含量区间为83%至97%，铜含量区间为1.5%至15.3%。所有钱币均检出微量铅（0.11%至0.69%）与金（0.25%至0.60%）；部分达克特还检测到铱（0.44%至0.93%）与锌（0.03%至0.05%），其中2枚样本检出铁（0.11%至0.19%）。

1452年瓦拉几亚铸币厂采用的计量货币单位大概率为经保加利亚传入的拜占庭利特拉（λίτρα）。这一拜占庭-保加利亚溯源脉络十分清晰：弗拉德斯拉夫二世以引入拜占庭律法开启瓦拉几亚改革，而这些律法正是经保加利亚传入瓦拉几亚的。1451年，该大公下令复刻拜占庭律法汇编《句法纲要（Σύνταγμα κατὰ στοιχεῖον，即Syntagma Canonum，又称扎科尼卡Zaconicul）》。该汇编最初由塞尔维亚将希腊文本译为斯拉夫语，随后经保加利亚传入瓦拉几亚。

拜占庭白银利特拉的理论重量为327.60克。经XRF分析，蒙泰尼亚达克特的平均银含量为91%，单枚钱币的平均重量约为0.60克。由此可得换算关系：1利特拉=600枚达克特（即50打），计算过程如下：
(1) 0.60 g × 91% = 0.546 g
(2) 327.60 g ÷ 0.546 g = 600 枚达克特
(3) 600 = 50 × 12

配图“军械宝库”——内含刀剑、斧钺、盾牌、长矛、箭矢与甲胄等。

佩莱什城堡（Castelul Peleş / Peleş Castle）堪称罗马尼亚最美城堡，于1875年建于罗马尼亚锡纳亚。图片版权归属Curious Expeditions的Flickr账号，链接：https://www.flickr.com/photos/curiousexpeditions/2197544824