Coins Map Roman Economic Integration

Large, geo‑tagged coin datasets can be used like mobility or transaction data to reconstruct how currency and markets spread across premodern polities. By linking mint origin, production date, and modern findspot, researchers can quantify when military presence converted into durable market demand and institutional integration. — This approach shows how material, quantifiable traces (coins) can settle debates about whether coercion or commerce builds lasting state economic systems — a template for studying state formation and integration in other historical and contemporary settings.