Ana Boldureanu
National Archaeological and History Museum of Moldavia, Chişinău, R. of Moldavia

The author discusses the metrology of 65 silver "boat-shaped" Golden Horde cast silver ingots, found in 2004, near fortress from Orheiul Vechi (Trebujeni, Orhei district, Rep. of Moldova). The hoard was concealed in a jug covered with green glaze, typical for culture of Tatar towns from the Orheiul Vechi and Costeşti, dated during the 40s-60s of the 14^th century.

This kind of ingots, attributed to Tatars from the Volga region, was called sommi (from aq sum or saum) in the contemporary 13^th-15^th century written sources. The Orheiul Vechi hoard of silver "boat shaped" ingot is the only find of this kind so far known in Bessarabia, as well as the first hoard consisting only in sommi found on the territory of Medieval Moldavia. The hoard from Buruieneşti (Neamţ County), found in 1985, included only 30 "boat-shaped" ingots, together with 1751 coins and silver adornments. 1738 coins of Buruieneşti hoard were Moldavian ones, issued by Peter I, and 12 foreign ones, dated the 7^th decade of the 14^th century. The hoard from Prăjeşti (Bacău County), contains two silver "cakes" (disc shaped) ingots, and 52 Golden Horde dirhams and their imitations, dated the last two decades of the 13^th century, as well as four Byzantine hyperpyra.

Besides of a lot of general considerations, regarding the circulation of the Golden Horde cast silver ingots in Eastern Europe, their place in the monetary system of the Golden Horde, their use in the commercial transactions and as metrological units, the paper raises some technical questions too.

There are presented some considerations concerning the technique of the ingots proceeding, the finesses of the metal they were made of, the meaning of the different signs and marks on their surfaces. The author discusses some questions concerning the control of fabrication of these items on the territory of the Golden Horde, as well as some aspects concerning the metrology the boat shaped ingots.