The National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History is opening an exhibition called Really BIG Money that was written and designed with elementary-aged visitors in mind. To represent money that is “big” in quantity, rather than size or denomination, it will feature approximately 170 coins from a Roman hoard arranged in the shape of one very large Roman...
The radiologist George Severeanu was a passionate collector of antiquities (1879-1939). His collection of archaeological objects includes ancient Greek pottery, clay statuettes, bronze and marble objects, Roman glassware, ancient gems and cameos. George Severeanu’s numismatic collection, one of the most valuable in Romania, consists of approximately 9,000 objects from different historical...
The French archaeologist and numismatist Adrien Blanchet (1866-1957) was the first to start developing several important corpora. In the process of collecting information and making syntheses for systematic publication he made quite a few monetary discoveries, laying the foundations for what would later become the Corpus des trésors monétaires antiques de la France (TAF).
Recent access to a...
The John Max Wulfing Collection of Ancient Coins and Related Objects of the Washington University in St. Louis, with ca. 16,000 objects, ranks as one of the largest university collection in the United States. The coins were donated by John Max Wulfing, a St. Louisian businessman, a keen collector of Roman coinage.
A notable group in the collection are 633 coins of the Byzantine Empire,...
Many coin hoards entered the Vatican Medagliere over the centuries and as was common in the past, all coins belonging to a hoard would be separated and placed in different destination sectors. The project currently underway at the Vatican Medagliere aims to reconstruct these hoards - some of them have particularly interesting stories - through the study of archival documents and matching the...
Corpus Nummorum is a joint project of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, the Münzkabinett Berlin, and the Big Data Lab of the University of Frankfurt. It indexes ancient Greek coins from various landscapes across collections and develops typologies. The coins and types are published on a multilingual website using numismatic authority data and FAIR principles.
As part...
The forgery and counterfeiting of ancient coins has recently witnessed an alarming increase. This makes authentication of these coins and detection of fakes of a paramount importance. In this poster we propose a systematic step-by-step scientific testing methodology museums can use to confirm the authenticity of coins in their collections, and coins offered to them from different sources. The...
This poster presents the interdisciplinary research project DigiNUMA (University of Helsinki and Aalto University, Finland), which develops a new model for harmonising national and international archaeological datasets for Digital Humanities analysis and public dissemination through Linked Open Data (LOD). DigiNUMA answers challenges and opportunities created by the need for digital solutions...
Inaugurated on 20 May 2021 the ikmk.net is a new web portal of public numismatic collections.
Public coin collections, which are using the documentation software of the Münzkabinett Berlin (ikmk.smb.museum), are representing the ikmk family (currently 30 partner institutions). These include the Berlin and Vienna cabinets, the Herzog-Anton-Ulrich-Museum, the Münzkabinett Winterthur, and...
One of the most important technologies used in the documentation and examination of cultural heritage is Reflectance Transformation Imaging technique (RTI). Because of its many advantages RTI has been widely used in processes of digitization, interpretation, and virtual presentation of ancient coins. This research will focus on the use of the RTI technique in the study, examination, and...
Can Linked Open Data capture the changes in value through changes in the weight of a Roman denomination, and identify them with historically documented events? With Linked Open Data, large amounts of information can be generated without affecting the quality of the data. Consequently, can Linked Open Data and the quantitative approach be used to make scientific statements? A SPARQL query is...
The large number of requests from researchers and collectors, and new ways to manage digital content offered by the most important international and Italian cultural institutes highlights the need to upload Milan Coin Cabinet collections, now known mainly from printed publications.
The aim is to make it easier to study the collections and to create a system to find pictures and information to...
In 2017 the author described four modern counterfeits of communal coins of Asti (1141-1336), two of which are now found in the Fitzwiliam Museum in Cambridge. Their stylistic and epigraphic details suggested they could be the work of the infamous forger Luigi Cigoi. Two years later we identified a gros tournois with unique characteristics. An in-depth analysis and comparison of surface details...
Launched in 2020 the professional Instagram account “numismatisticious” is a visual art project of Greek numismatics in the digital age. The spectrum represented ranges from ancient Greek coins to modern drachmas, including banknotes. Via the social media platform of the Instagram the magnificent imagery of Greek coins and banknotes is transported into a new age. The aim of the...
In cooperation with the State Coin Cabinet of the Moritzburg Art Museum in Halle (Saale) and the Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and Automation, the State Office for Monument Preservation and Archaeology in Saxony-Anhalt has embarked on a digital recording and indexing of ca. 18,500 coin finds, medieval to modern age. The digitization and publication of coin finds from Saxony-Anhalt...
Opened in 1713, the Gotha Coin Cabinet at Friedenstein Castle was one of the largest and most important coin collections in Europe in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Marked by a varied history until recently the numismatic collection felt the consequences of the Second World War. Although the coins removed to the USSR in 1945 were returned already in 1958, over 16,000 of the most important...
While still a hereditary prince of Hesse-Kassel, Wilhelm I (1743-1821) was an enthusiastic collector of coins and medals. He did not give up this passion as a reigning Elector. His collection was built up in Hanau. Taking office, Wilhelm I took the coins and medals with him to Kassel. When the Electorate of Hesse-Kassel was annexed by Prussia in 1866 the collection became public museum...
