Numismatics

Thirty years in the making Coins of the Ptolemaic Empire Part II by Catharine C. Lorber is the long-anticipated second half of the Coins of the Ptolemaic Empire (CPE) project featuring the coins struck by Ptolemy V–Cleopatra VII. As with Part 1 Lorber essentially rewrites the sections on these rulers in J. N. Svoronos’ classic but now much out-of-date Ta Nomismata tou Kratous ton Ptolemaion (1904). The body of coinage catalogued by Svoronos is enlarged by hundreds of additional emissions in precious metal and bronze recorded from subsequent scholarship from hoards from commercial sources and from private collections. Lorber’s attributions dates and interpretations rest on numismatic research conducted after Svoronos or on the latest archaeological and hoard information. She also provides extensive historical and numismatic introductions that give the coins deeper context and meaning.

The XVI International Numismatic Congress held in Warsaw Poland in September 2022 was a landmark event drawing the largest number of participants in its history. With over 550 papers presented during thematic sessions and round tables this congress showcased the latest advancements and research in the field of numismatics from leading experts and scholars in their field.

A curated selection of papers from the conference have now been drawn together into peer-reviewed conference proceedings representing a comprehensive spectrum of numismatic studies from antiquity to modern times. Each paper is meticulously illustrated with high-quality images often of unique specimens along with detailed diagrams maps and die/typological chains. Topics covered include coins and coin finds medals tokens banknotes the history of collections and collecting and cutting-edge chemical analyses and technologies used in coin examination.

This volume the second in four thematic volumes focuses on Roman coinage. Divided into two separate volumes covering respectively forty-three chapters on coinage and forty-one on circulation the contributions gathered here explore not only Rome and the imperial mints but also local phenomena from Spain to Asia Minor including graffiti imitations and copies of Roman coinage.

The paper illustrates the numismatic activity of the Venetian collector Apostolo Zeno (1668–1750) based in particular on two hitherto unpublished sources: the catalogues of his coins written by Zeno himself and parts of his letters that concern the purchase of ancient coins.

If the numismatic work on the Antioch excavation of 1932–1939 and ensuing coin catalogue production were a relay race Dorothy Waagé assigned to be its anchor would ultimately have run every leg — and crossed the finish line more than once. Waagé joined the Antioch Expedition as her husband’s assistant in 1937 for the sixth of nine excavation seasons with little numismatic experience and feeling ‘almost lost’; 15 years later she had authored the then groundbreaking excavation catalogue Antioch-on-the-Orontes iv Part II: Greek Roman Byzantine and Crusaders’ Coins published in 1952. This paper explores the biographical historical and circumstantial factors that both paved and complicated her path. Obstacles included lack of numismatic training among expedition staff sloppy recording gender bias publishing woes and the contexts of war and the Great Depression. She bested these with her forthright character strong personal interest in classics collaborative support of her husband and above all her steely commitment to scholarship.

This paper presents a current research project led by Bernhard Woytek at the Austrian Academy of Sciences aiming at the publication of the scholarly correspondence of the numismatists Erasmus Frölich (1700–1758) and Joseph Khell (1714–1772). It is a follow-up project to the study of the correspondence of Khell’s student Joseph Eckhel (1737–1798) the most celebrated numismatist of the Enlightenment period. In the seventeenth century research on ancient coinage had come to a near standstill in Austria; from the 1730s onwards by contrast the extraordinary activity of these three Jesuit scholars in numismatic research and teaching turned Vienna into an international centre of the discipline and led to the development of what may be termed a ‘Vienna School’ of ancient numismatics.

This paper discusses how digital numismatics facilitates new research into ancient Antioch in Syria. Antioch in Syria: A History from Coins (300 bce–450 ce) (Cambridge University Press 2021) critically reassesses the capital by applying Exploratory Data Analysis and digital mapping to a database of 300000+ coin finds. Although Antioch’s prominence is famous a quantitative analysis of coins minted in the city and excavated throughout the Mediterranean and Middle East exposes the gradations of imperial power and local agency mediated within its walls. This research serves as the foundation for the collaborative online exhibit SYRIOS (<https://syrios.uh.edu>) which teaches scholarly and public audiences about how digital humanities methodologies enhance the value of coins as historical evidence.

The paper aims to present the figure of the titular queen of Great Britain Maria Klementyna Sobieska-Stuart based on medals which commemorate the most important moments in her life. The medals were minted by the top-class medalist Ottone Hamerani at the request of Popes Clement XI and Benedict XIV. The medals commemorate the princess’s escape from captivity in Ambras Castle her marriage with James III the glory of the royal couple the birth of her sons and the death of the queen. Medals are invaluable resource for research owing to the symbolism of representations which refer to mythological archetypes strongly rooted in the European art of portraiture and Stuart legacy and present an overview of their unsettled life.

The article introduces an overview of the collection of silver Oriental coins stored in the Odesa Archaeological Museum which accounts for 2564 pieces. It has been compiled since 1839. The provenance of most of the collection which entered the museum before World War II is unknown. To date the majority of coins from the collection were not published. This collection represents 45 various states and dynasties from the second century bc to the 1940s.

Digital Numismatics (hereinafter DN) has become a field characterized by dynamically developing tools and research databases which has created an entirely new research environment. The number of operating products is impressive and the topic of the user perspective on their actual implementation in the research has become significant. As a result questions such as the following need to be addressed: how are the new tools changing the workflow? is there a quantifiable added value of the digital environment? is there a threat of data distortion? and how important is the previous professional numismatic experience of the user? This paper aims to present DN from the user perspective based on the experience of both authors with two mints from Thrace namely Apollonia Pontica and Pautalia. These examples allow observations on Greek and Roman numismatics in a region which is proactively being addressed by multiple digital projects.

Monetary plurality is a common feature of pre-industrial economies. Yet economic historians struggle with this phenomenon which standard monetary economics fails to conceive. The subject has recently been touched upon in the case of the Early Modern French Atlantic colonies. This paper aims to describe monetary plurality in the French colonial islands in the Indian Ocean in the eighteenth century but also to present its causes. I argue that the plurality of money in this context came from both the specific features of the colonial economy and colonial monetary policy. More precisely this study surveys five colonial paper-money issuances between 1766 and 1788.