CHEMICAL COMPOSITIONS OF TEN SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS DENARII

X-ray fluorescence analyses of ten Septimius Severus denarii, all having the catalog number Cohen 777, and all minted in a.d. 196, show the following: (1) copper and silver concentrations in the ten coins cover a rather broad range, (2) lead and gold concentrations correlate with the silver concentrations, (3) no elements, except silver, correlate directly with the copper contents, (4) two coins have very nearly the same compositions, but this could actually be explained by chance, given the precision of the analyses and the range of compositions found for all ten denarii, (5) weights, thicknesses, and diameters of the coins varied over a relatively wide range, but densities varied only slightly. Assuming reasonably homogeneous melts of coinage alloy, X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyses of many more Severus denarii of a.d. 196 should enable one to deduce several details of the mint operation such as (1) the number of dies in use of C. 777 coins at one time, (2) the overall batch size of coins, and (3) the number of different Severus denarii minted from the same batch of alloy. With improved precision of XRF analyses now possible, it only remains for a source of Severus denarii to be found to enable testing of this hypothesis.     

An Appeal from the New to the Old Historicists

Book reviewed in this article:
Jürgen Pieters, Moments Of Negotiation: The New Historicism Of Stephen Greenblatt     

Are Spells of Unemployment Longer in Nonmetropolitan Areas? Nonparametric and Semiparametric Evidence

I use nonparametric and semiparametric proportional hazard models to examine whether individuals resident in nonmetropolitan areas experience lower per period rates of exit from unemployment following job loss than metropolitan area residents. Results show that between 1989 and 1993 per period cumulative rates of exit from unemployment were slightly higher in nonmetropolitan areas, mainly due to nonmetropolitan–metropolitan differences in individual characteristics and local economic conditions. Employment density is found to have a positive association with rates of exit of unemployment in metropolitan areas but not in nonmetropolitan areas.