Wired Gets All Wired Up About a Denarius
I’m sure most of you have seen this — it’s been making the rounds these past couple of days — from Wired: *This one features the Moon driving her chariot over a housefly. *I can’t doubt that this made perfect sense at the time. It’s like: you got drunk, and you went to the gladiatorial [...]
Massive Roman Coin Find from Wiltshire
What will likely be a pile of coverage just starting on this one … here’s the incipit what the Telegraph says: David Crisp, a 63-year-old hospital chef, located the 52,503 coins in a single earthenware pot in a field near Frome, Somerset. Mr Crisp, from Devizes in Wiltshire, said his detector gave a “funny signal” [...]
Non-Destructive Analysis of Coinage
Interesting … Demonstrating that chemistry sometimes can inform history, researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Colorado College and Mount Saint Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, Md., have shown that sensitive nondestructive evaluation (NDE) techniques can be used to determine the elemental composition of ancient coins, even coins that generally have been considered [...]
Commemorating Rome on the Danube
Interesting press release from the Austrian Mint: For some five centuries the River Danube formed an essential part of ancient Rome’s northern border against the barbarian tribes of Germania. The Austrian Mint’s new silver series called “Rome on the Danube” breathes life back into the ruined remains of the towns and forts that played such [...]
Ptolemaic Coin Hoard
Lots of coverage of this one, but all of it very brief: Archaeologists have uncovered bronze coins bearing the image of ancient Egyptian ruler King Ptolemy III in an oasis south of the capital, the culture ministry announced on Thursday.Also found by the Egyptian team were necklaces made of ostrich eggshell, it said.The 383 items [...]
Macedonian Coin Hoard
From Balkan Travellers: Around 20 coins with the image of the father of Alexander the Great, Philip II of Macedon, and “other ancient Macedonian rulers” were found by archaeologists during excavations along the road between the south-western Macedonian towns of Ohrid and Struga, national media reported today.In addition to the coins, a space with around [...]
Warwickshire Hoard
Not sure if we’ve mentioned this one before; it seems to have been found a year or so ago: Historians investigating a hoard of Roman coins unearthed in south Warwickshire are hoping to ensure they remain in the county – and to solve the mystery of who buried them. The cache of 1,146 silver denarii [...]
Hellenistic Coin Hoard from Syria
Interesting item from the Global Arab Network: A collection of Hellenistic coins dating back to the era of Alexander the Great were found near Najm Castle in the Manbej area in Aleppo governorate (northern Syria ). The coins were found by a local man as he was preparing his land for construction, uncovering a bronze [...]
Roman Soldier’s Hoard?
Not quite sure of the ‘military’ claim here: A hoard of 208 coins found in a Suffolk field could have belonged to a retired Roman soldier. The collection of silver denarii coins was discovered in an undisclosed area of north Suffolk last spring, an inquest heard. Greater Suffolk Coroner Peter Dean determined the find to [...]
Citanda: The Bishop’s Wood Hoard of Roman Coins
A portion of this is coming to auction … nice little article (without many photos, alas): The Bishop’s Wood Hoard of Roman Coins | Coin Update News.
