SAFE Founder Receives AIA's 2016 Outstanding Public Service Award

Congratulations to Cindy Ho, founder of Saving Antiquities for Everyone (SAFE), who will receive the 2016 Outstanding Public Service Award from the Archaeological Institute of America.

I became aware of SAFE back in 2007 when I began research on the illicit antiquities trade in response to some of the bizarre arguments I saw repeatedly deployed to defend it.  Cindy was very encouraging of those early explorations .  Cindy has done a great deal to raise popular awareness of the looting problem and is thus well-deserving of this distinction.  As she might say, looting is not just a loss to archaeology and historical study, but it constitutes a loss to us all.  The AIA's citation for Cindy's award states "For her prominent and dedicated work to raise public awareness of the need to safeguard archaeological heritage."

Open-Access Publications (Numismatic, etc.) from the American School of Classical Studies at Athens

I have just heard from a colleague at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens that the publications committee recently voted to place ASCSA's out-of-print monographs on the Athenian Agora, Corinth, and the Hesperia supplements on its website.  The publications have been made freely available in consultation with JSTOR, which provided the scans.

Some important references on coin finds in Greece are included and have been placed online.

• Thompson, M. 1954. The Athenian Agora II: Coins from the Roman through the Venetian Period. (Princeton: The American School of Classical Studies at Athens).
• Miles, G.C. 1962. The Athenian Agora IX: The Islamic Coins. (Princeton: The American School of Classical Studies at Athens).
•  Kroll, J. 1993. The Athenian Agora XXVI: The Greek Coins. (Princeton: The American School of Classical Studies at Athens).
• Edwards, K.M. 1933. Corinth VI: Coins, 1826-1929. (Princeton: The American School of Classical Studies at Athens).

In addition to the monographs on the coin finds, there are of course several other important reports on various objects and monuments (ceramics, architecture, sculpture, etc.).  A complete list of the ASCSA's open-access monographs can be found here.

2012 American Numismatic Society Graduate Summer Seminar

Rick Witschonke, Curatorial Associate at the American Numismatic Society and co-director of the Graduate Summer Seminar, has indicated that the ANS is now taking applications for the 58th Annual Eric P. Newman Graduate Summer Seminar in Numismatics.

This is an excellent opportunity for graduate students in archaeology, art history, classics, history or any other related fields to be exposed to a diverse range of methods and applications in numismatics and to work with one of the finest collections in the world. See the announcement here.

Digital Library Numis (DLN)

Many readers may already be familiar with Digital Library Numis (DLN). The project "is aimed to establish a major portal and a digital repository for freely available numismatic publications on coins, medals and related subjects, which mostly can be downloaded online."

The resources are not restricted to ancient coins, but to numismatics in general. The site features a search engine and subdivides subject matter into themes: e.g. "Roman Coins: Catalogues" or "Roman Coins: Iconography," or "Greek Coins: Aegean Islands, Crete, Cyprus," etc.

The bulk of the accessible material is 19th century monographs that are now out of copyright. A number of Ernst Babelon's important works are accessible as well as Cohen's catalogue which will be useful for anyone working with Roman coins from old collections or reports. But a few newer resources crop up as well. Essentially the aim is to aggregate material that is already available online and so for the newer research there is a prominence of articles from Revue Numismatique since it has already been made freely accessible online.

A contact link, prominently displayed on the homepage, allows users to report problems or suggest the addition of material.

Thanks to Thijs Verspagen for the suggestion to cover DLN here.

Some Greek Coin Hoards Going Online

When I was at the International Numismatic Congress, I went to a workshop on the Digital SNG project. Since I am currently involved in a digitization project, I was excited to hear about collaborative opportunities for the electronic networking of various collections in addition to the SNG project.

Andrew Meadows and Sebastian Heath presented on the Digital IGCH (Inventory of Greek Coin Hoards) project and the ability of collectors, auction houses, or institutions to link records of coins from those hoards to the Digital IGCH. Individual specimens can be linked to the relevant IGCH page on the website, in essence reconstructing the hoard's contents virtually. Digital IGCH is part of the Nomisma.org website, run by the American Numismatic Society. Sebastian discusses digital initiatives from time to time on his website.

After I got back to the States, I went down to the American Numsimatic Society to visit with colleagues and to discuss the project more with Sebastian and then began to see what we could contribute to Nomisma.

So far the Art Gallery's coins linked to Nomisma.org include those from IGCH 1546 (Aleppo Hoard) and IGCH 1534 (Bab Hoard). The four coins from IGCH 1546 are mapped on Nomisma, but the records do not yet have photographs - these will soon be forthcoming as digitization progresses. The collection's holdings of IGCH 1534 are much more extensive with 209 drachms. All are photographed, but due to the high number of coins, Sebastian decided not to map the hoard yet since it is still uncertain how they want to set up the pages on the Nomisma website. The project and its format continues to be developed.

Some may find the individual coin records unsatisfactory in their description and detail since the numismatic records are only viewable through the same interface used for other artworks in the Art Gallery's collection. Therefore, much of the internal information entered is not viewable online. I myself was surprised to learn that after taking the time to assign updated references from Price for all 209 Alexander drachms that those new references would not be visible online. But one can hope that in the future the interface can be adapted as more numismatic records continue to go online everyday. In any case, that information is available internally and can be made available to researchers.

The Art Gallery's coins from IGCH 242, the Achaean League hoard, will soon be linked to Nomisma as well. Several other hoard coins in the Yale collection will be noted as they come up in the course of digitization and submitted to Nomisma for linking. I look forward to seeing how this digital initiative through Nomisma develops as we continue to experiment with it.

Photo: Silver drachm of Alexander III from IGCH 1534 (Yale 2001.87.10401)

Coin Matters Resource Page Launched

SAFE has announced the launch of its latest resource page, Coin Matters, which lists articles and others resources referencing the indiscriminate trade and its relationship to looting and illicit activities. The August newsletter announcing the new resource states:

Ancient coins are among the most abundant finds from Greek and Roman period excavations. As objects of daily life, they're an essential part of the archaeological and historical record. At the same time, huge demand for fresh sources of ancient coins makes such finds susceptible to illicit sale. The looting of coins and other portable antiquities to meet market demand vandalizes archaeological sites and forever erases knowledge that could otherwise have been preserved.

SAFE is therefore pleased to announce the launch of the Coin Matters resource page listing resources relating to the trade in ancient coins, including links or citations to peer-reviewed articles, books, and lectures. There are also several media reports on the subject from affected countries, notably from Bulgaria.

As always, SAFE welcomes suggestions for additional resources to list. Check out Coin Matters today!

CoinArchives.com Limits Access and Implements Fee

Coin find inventories and museum collections are increasingly being made freely available through online databases. It is also a growing trend that academic journals are being made available electronically while subscription prices are being lowered for those who opt for online subscription only. Therefore, it is curious these days when a resource suddenly ceases to be free and implements an inordinate access fee.

As I came into the office yesterday, the first thing I heard from a colleague was that CoinArchives.com had ceased allowing free and complete access to its archived auction sales and had limited full access only to those who pay an annual subscription of $600 or €430.

CoinArchives.com was a convenient reference used by some academics and researchers who wanted to start conducting a die study or who needed to make quick identification. It was also an easy place to go when one needed to see an image when certain reference catalogues were not at immediately at hand. Collectors frequently used the site to conduct their own research or to investigate pricing trends before making an acquisition. The recent and seemingly abrupt decision to limit access has certainly stirred up spirited discussions on collector fora such the Moneta-L list (click the link and see the subsequent discussion threads).

There has been a lot of speculation as to why this decision was made to limit access only to those who can pay such a large fee. But perhaps it is telling that instead of a $20 yearly access fee for which many people would pay, a $600 annual fee was chosen that will exclude most collectors, researchers, and institutions, and will therefore be a resource which only a few large auction houses and profitable dealers can afford. The fee will limit the potential of amateur and academic study alike with this resource and will be an especially serious blow to collectors who like to do a bit market research before bidding or buying.

Perhaps researchers will return to using large photo files like those at the American Numismatic Society or at Frankfurt University, but many photo files have ceased to be updated since the mid- to late 1990s precisely because of sites like CoinArchives.com that were electronically archiving sales and making those archives free to the public.

Snible Discusses the COINS Project

Ed Snible has posted a most intriguing discussion of the COINS project, an EU project developing computer software which would allow the tracking of numismatic objects. COINS is an acronym for "Combat On-Line Illegal Numismatic Sales."

In addition to having the potential to track the sale and history of numismatic objects, the software has other applications, such as promoting forgery detection, which Ed discusses.

As I understand it, Ed is a computer guru and knows what he is talking about. I have has also referred to Ed's Celator editorial before, in which he discussed and outlined the potential utility of keeping records of ancient coin sales in seeking solutions to the problem of looting.

For anyone who has an interest in electronic applications to numismatic studies, I recommend his discussion. Read it at "Software from Coins."

Donation of Auction Catalogues by Prof. Ted Buttrey and the Staff of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

A couple of months ago I contacted Prof. T.V. Buttrey (Emeritus) at the Fitzwilliam Museum at Cambridge University about some images of Colosseum sestertii from additional auction catalogue references I had found. Prof. Buttrey is always helpful in providing images from the museum's excellent collection of auction catalogues to other scholars and collectors.

Through the course of our discussions Prof. Buttrey learned I was managing the cast collection and the photo and auction catalogue archive at Frankfurt University with a colleague and told me that the Fitzwilliam had a number of duplicate catalogues they wanted to part with. I was happy to learn that he found several duplicates that would fill gaps in our collection. My colleague and I were astonished to learn a pallet with 280 kilograms of auction catalogues was waiting for us today! We have yet to begin accessioning these catalogues, but there is no doubt that this substantial donation, for which we are most grateful, will greatly improve our archive here in Frankfurt.

Image from coinarchives.com: Sestertius of Balbinus, AD 238, with Liberalitas reverse (Auction Adolph Hess, Lucerne and Gilhofer & Ranschburg, Vienna, 22. May 1935, lot 2613 = UBS Gold & Numismatics 78 (9. Sept. 2008), lot 1832).

Disaster in Germany: The Royal Collection of Hannover for Sale!!!

The following message was forwarded to me by a French colleague:

Disaster in Germany: The Royal Collection of Hannover for sale !!!

In 1983 the coin collection of the Kings of Hannover was bought by the Deutsche Bank, who now plans to sell it to a coin dealer. The "Niedersächsisches Münzkabinett der Deutschen Bank" is one the most important feudal collections in Germany and one of the 25 most important collections in Europe. It was managed in close cooperation with the "Landesmuseum Hannover"and became one of the important numismatic institutions in Europe. It is well known for its exhibitions and publications. The head of the coin cabinet, Dr. Reiner Cunz, is chairman of the German Numismatic Commission, vice president of the International Committee of Money and Banking Museums ICOMON, board member of the German Numismatic Society, member of the Brunswik Academy of Sciences and other academic societies.

A wave with letters of solidarity was sent to leading politicians in Germany, such as Prime Minister Christian Wulff (Hannover) and Bundeskulturminister Bernd Neumann (Berlin) and to the CEO of the Deutsche Bank, Josef Ackermann (Frankfurt).

This is truly disturbing news. Several museum collections are currently being sold off on account of the recession and have been in the news recently, stirring much controversy. These decisions are often made by administrators and businessmen who are only concerned about the bottom line and willing to cut things like art collections, academic programs, and research positions.

The sale of this important numismatic collection would be a great loss to numismatic scholarship. It should not be simply be divided up among bidders. I encourage all readers to send letters to those responsible for the decision to sell the collection and to the named German politicians. Dr. Lucia Travaini (Milan/Rome) has a page on her website, http://www.luciatravaini.it// about the affair (click on 'Appello urgente per la collezione numismatica di Hannover,' which then takes you to a page in English with further links). You can also read her letter online.

FYI: her short anecdote about the coins from Rome that Mussolini asked to be set aside to be melted are indeed the coins finds from Rome that Prof. Dr. Maria R.-Alföldi and other numismatists at Frankfurt later identified and catalogued. The finds still await publication for various reason, though Prof. Dr. von Kaenel and Prof. Dr. R.-Alföldi have made the unpublished list available to several researchers who have already demonstrated the great value of this resource in their published works. These particular coin finds, which were almost lost due to the whims of a politician, are the most important corpus of coin finds from the capital of the Roman Empire.

It would indeed be a great scholarly loss for another old collection to be sold off as Deutsche Bank simply seeks to make up for losses, unconcerned or uninformed about the educational and scholarly value of the collection they wish to sell.

Now Online: The University of Virginia Art Museum Numismatic Collection

The University of Virginia Art Museum has now placed its numismatic collection online. The collection is relatively small compared to some of the other digitized collections I have called attention to, but I believe the digitization and public archiving of any public collection is essential for the advancement of numismatic research.

The collection has about 600 ancient and medieval coins online - all of them are accompanied with descriptions, references, and images. What is really great about this project is that poorly preserved and worn coins, which are often ignored by museums, are also photographed and placed online. I must say that having tried to photograph coins in that condition myself and knowing how difficult and tedious that can be, those who imaged these very worn and corroded coins have done an excellent job. Ethan Gruber, one of the programers involved in the project, informs me that many of the corroded coins are too fragile to be handled repeatedly by students and scholars and so it is good that we now have a digital record of these specimens

One can search the database through various keyword searches or by browsing through an array of options: name (of ruler), dynasty, century, location, material, denomination, deity, subject, department, institution, or collection.

The homepage of the project also states:

"The collection was described in Encoded Archival Description (EAD), with several coin-specific adaptations to describe physical attributes such as legends and iconography. This project appears to be unique in its application of EAD to numismatics. In addition to EAD's capability of describing the physical attributes of each object in the collection, administrative history, essays, and index terms can be encoded in XML to create completely comprehensive metadata for those students and scholars of numismatics to use as a tool in their research."

Computer gurus will know more about what all this means than I. In my 10-15 minutes of browsing the collection, I personally find the interface rather comfortable.

I am grateful to Ethan Gruber for bringing this collection and the database to my attention.

The University of Virginia Art Museum Numismatic Collection: http://coins.lib.virginia.edu/

Image: Screenshot of a record from the database.

Ulterior Motives in Discussion of Looting Issues?

One of the arguments that have been made against archaeologists advocating for the preservation and protection of archaeological sites against looting is that this advocacy is a veiled attempt to discredit and exclude independent scholars. In a recent posting I asked some stakeholders in the looting/indiscriminate collecting debate to abandon the obtrusive personal attacks and insults which are not relevant to the issues at hand. In the subsequent comments to the posting, the discussion between me and Wayne Sayles, the ACCG Executive Director, turned toward a discussion of "ownership" of the past and scholarship on the past, and thus it is worth starting a new thread.

While I disagree that advocacy for the preservation of finite archaeological resources serves an agenda to exclude the work of independent scholars, Mr. Sayles raises some points that are perhaps worth addressing. As archaeologists we have a responsibility to make our research and findings available to the public for their own edification or study. What use is there in studying the past if we cannot share our passions and the revelations of our research with other enthusiasts whether they be fellow academics, collectors, or laypeople?

Through the course of the discussion, several points about access to literature and material and the ability to publish scholarship were raised.

Publication

I explained that scholarly journals (archaeological, numismatic, philogical, art historical, historical, etc.) are peer-reviewed and that affiliated scholars and non-affiliated scholars would be on equal footing during the referee process since submissions to such journals are reviewed blindly.

Mr. Sayles countered by stating that the American Journal of Archaeology has publication guidelines prohibiting the publication of material in collections that were unknown before 1973. While this is true, it is wrong to view the AJA's guidelines for ethical publication as a malicious attempt to exclude independent scholars. Clearly the policy was enacted as a means to discourage the illicit and unethical trade in recently looted antiquities. Nearly twenty years ago, Fred S. Kleiner, a well-known archaeologist, art historian, and numismatist, and who was also the Editor-in-Chief of the AJA at the time, attempted to clear up some misconceptions of the AJA's publication policy through a short editorial in the journal (F.S. Kleiner, "On the Publication of Recent Acquisitions of Antiquities," AJA 94 (1990), 525-527 [JSTOR]). Some of his comments regarding the policy and its goals are worth noting (all italics in original text):

"While condemning the illicit trade in antiquities, the Archaeological Institute of America and the American Journal of Archaeology will not, however, stand in the way of legitimate scholarly discussion of antiquities so acquired once they have been published elsewhere. The AIA resolution does not ask scholars to pretend that illicitly acquired objects do not exist and does not require that such objects never be discussed at an AIA annual meeting or in the AJA. To do so would be contradictory to the vey principle of free and open scholarly inquiry for which the AIA and its Journal stand" (p. 526).

"...The policy has had its intended effect, namely to put the Archaeological Institute of America on record as taking an unequivocal stand against the illicit trade in antiquities and the attendant destruction of the archaeological context of those artifacts; to focus the attention of scholars, museum curators, collectors, and the general public on an ethical, legal, and scholarly issue of paramount importance; and to prompt many institutions and individual collectors to reevaluate and amend their acquisition policies - while not putting the AIA in the way of scholarly inquiry and discussion. The AIA's is a carefully framed, balanced policy; I personally support it without reservation" (p. 527).

Pertinent to Mr. Sayles' criticism, I would also add that the current publication policy allows for the publication of undocumented artifacts for which there is no history or provenance provided that the article emphasizes the loss of knowledge resulting from its unscientific excavation. Since context is such an important facet of study for the material remnants of past events, whether an archaeological site or a modern crime scene, it certainly should not be difficult to highlight the loss of information caused by a loss of context.

Access to Literature

The second point we discussed was access of study material and resources. I explained that unaffiliated scholars can usually join university research libraries for a small fee and make use of the same resources that affiliated scholars can.

Mr. Sayles disagrees about access by claiming that university libraries reserve parts of their holdings for faculty and doctoral students and pointing to institutional affiliation as necessary for access to JSTOR, which archives past issues of some scholarly journals.

To this I can only point to my own experiences. I am currently affiliated with the University of Missouri - Columbia, which maintains a very important research library relating to archaeology, ancient history, and classics. We even have a respectable collection of numismatic resources as well. There are no parts of the library collection which are reserved only for doctoral candidates or faculty. If a member of the public were to join the library, he/she would have access to the same resources to which I and everyone else there would have access. Library memberships typically also provide use of the Interlibrary Loan Program so that one can order any book or article which is not held by the library. The library membership also grants access to JSTOR and members of the public who do not join the library can certainly access it from library terminals. Many public libraries should also provide access to JSTOR. It is true that JSTOR does not yet offer access for private individuals, but it does have a page suggesting ways of accessing it until non-affiliated researchers can subscribe directly (Institutional memberships are only possible at present). Mr. Sayles is a Missourian and so it is highly likely that if he wishes to conduct research, the University of Missouri library would be the most sensible choice for him as it is the best library for ancient world research in the region. I highly recommend the resources we have available for any research he would wish to conduct.

When I studied at the University of Evansville and the University of Reading (UK), the libraries of the institutions did not have collections reserved only for doctoral students or faculty. When I was at the ANS seminar in 2004, I made use of the library at Columbia University and got a visitor's card. Many of the works were not in the main library but divided up around campus and housed within individual departments. I was able to use my visitor's card (which did not indicate I was doctoral student) to access the resources that were housed in the Classics Department.

Personally, I have always been an enthusiastic researcher and between my undergraduate degree and M.A. I had a four or five month long summer break because of the differences between the American and British academic timetables. During that time I made use of the Texas Tech University library in my hometown and I inquired about joining the library in order to make use of Interlibrary Loan since the numismatic and archaeological resources were not that great. If I had joined the library I would have been able to make use of the program.

Certainly, affiliated scholars have an advantage in living in the same town and working at universities with research libraries, but there is no reason that unaffiliated scholars cannot make use of these resources for their own study. One may have to pay a small fee to join a library, but this will open up access to that collection, JSTOR, and virtually anything else one may wish to read could be attained through Interlibrary Loan.

Access to Material

Mr. Sayles also claims there is a bias against independent scholars in the implementation of fees necessary for the reproduction of copyrighted images. Again, I can only speak from personal experiences, but I have had to order images several times. My impression is that fees for the reproduction of images are standard across the board - everyone is expected to pay. When I published my first article this was an overwhelming notion given my small graduate student budget, but a senior colleague informed me that if you explain your financial situation you can often get the fees waived. I tried this and it worked. I explained I was a poor, unwaged graduate student and would not profit financially for the article and so they waived the fees. When I conducted my die study of the Colosseum coins this worked as well for some places, but other museums would not bend the rules and it did cost me about $120 for photographs from one institution in spite of my affiliation and unwaged status! There were other institutions which also refused to waive fees, but their prices were not quite as high as $120 for images of one coin. I know several fellow graduate students who did not explain their situations and simply paid the fees as requested, going further into debt in the process. I have told several of my unwaged colleagues that they should explain their situations when ordering images - it never hurts to ask.

In short, independent scholars are not the only ones who have to battle exorbitant fees in the reproduction of images. Affiliated scholars fight with them equally. I know of some more senior colleagues who have already published books, for which they will not profit in book sales on account of printing costs, and have had to invest their own money and savings in the publication of those books. One academic acquaintance informed me he had to cough up $20,000 for the image rights on one of one of his more amply illustrated scholarly books!

My impression is that institutions are more willing to waive fees for the reproduction of images for unwaged individuals or for people who will not be profiting financially from their published works (e.g. for an article vs. a popular book). Generally, reproduction costs are not based on affiliation or lack of it, contrary to Mr. Sayles' view.

Mr. Sayles also criticized the ANS for discounting him as a participant in the ANS seminar when he expressed interest some years ago. While I am not familiar with the specific circumstances relating to his inquiry, I do know that the ANS seminar is designed for active graduate students or very recent PhDs - individuals who are pursuing scholarly careers. Mr. Sayles said at the time of inquiry he already had a graduate degree and was not enrolled in a doctoral program and so I suspect that would be the reasoning why he would not have been accepted. Certainly he would not have been dismissed as a potential applicant because he is a collector/dealer. At the time I attended the seminar I personally was still collecting to some degree and many knowledgeable collectors give and have given lectures and instruction to seminar participants.

There is also some question about access to museum collections. Here I must simply say that we all struggle with this - affiliated or not. Peter Tompa and I have already shared stories about difficulty accessing material. I was affiliated and he was not, but we both had difficulty with various institutions. With some of these inward-looking institutions you simply have to find a contact who will vouch for you to gain access as I had to do and as Mr. Tompa also had to do. Its absurd I agree, but even as an affiliated academic I have fought with it as well.

***

Mr. Sayles says I am "naive" to believe that independent scholars are not consciously excluded by affiliated academics and that concern about looting is unrelated to a maligned agenda to exclude independent scholars. He references SAA Bulletin 11.5, in which archaeologists Jon L. Gibson and Joe Sanders stated: "Archaeologists must be more than just stewards of the past. They must serve as the public conscience. They must act on society's behalf even when society is insensitive or objects."

I do not read control in this statement the same way that Mr. Sayles does, and I agree wholeheartedly with the statement made by Gibson and Sanders. I maintain that the archaeologist's concern for looting is easily and naturally comparable to the concern of environmental scientists who are worried about climate change and zoologists who are worried about the extinction of certain species and poaching. Would one argue that these specialists simply want to own or control environmental science and endangered animals? It would be a very idiosyncratic view indeed, but that is essentially what is being said about archaeology and its concern about looting issues.

I fully understand that access to research materials can be difficult in some circumstances; even affiliated scholars have battled with access to collections and resources. But I do not think the problem is as grim for independent scholars as Mr. Sayles paints it and I do not believe there is a conspiracy to exclude them from an informed academic discourse. I have read peer-reviewed articles by unaffiliated scholars a number of times in academic journals and I normally see several "At Large" members at the annual AIA meetings. If an independent scholar has the will to access a research library or other resources, this can be accomplished. And let us be honest, the "Good Old Boy's Club" syndrome is just as prevalent in the "real world," perhaps even more so than it is academia. Equally, personal connections can certainly aid the advancement of a collector or dealer in the ancient coin and antiquities trade and I wonder if many of the large auction houses would open their own reference libraries to the public.

Undoubtedly, access to research materials could be improved and the wider scholarly community needs to put pressure on insular institutions to allow access more freely for legitimate research. Nevertheless, this is an issue unrelated to looting and indiscriminate collecting. It is a red herring injected into the debate and meant to distract from the real and pressing issue of systematic looting. Archaeologists have a duty to act as the "public conscience" on looting and are naturally in a position to call attention to the destruction of the material past. An archaeologist's relationship to the material past is analogous to that of zoologists to endangered species or environmental scientists to climate change. Should they not act as the "public conscience" on such issues or should they be demonized for doing so?

Related Discussions

• 
  
  N. Elkins, "Archaeologists Don't Care about Ancient Coins?" Cultural Heritage in Danger. 12 October 2007.


• 
  
  N. Elkins, "Dilettanti and Shopmen: Divergent Interests in Looting and Cultural Heritage Issues." Numismatics and Archaeology. 7 May 2008.


• 
  
  N. Elkins, "Internet Discussions on Looting, Legislation, and Lobbyists." Numismatics and Archaeology. 19 August 2008.


• 
  
  D.W.J. Gill, "Saving Antiquities: The 'Elephant Ivory Model'." Looting Matters. 22 September 2007.


• 
  
  D.W.J. Gill, "Al Gore and the Finite Resource." Looting Matters. 12 October 2007.


• 
  
  SAFECORNER, "Will We Achieve Global Recognition in the Cultural Heritage Debate?" Cultural Heritage in Danger. 13 October 2007.


• 
  
  P. Barford, "Ivory Tower Passivity." Cultural Heritage in Danger. 27 October 2008.

Recording Wear and Corrosion on Ancient Coin Finds

In searching coin reports from excavations one can find analyses and lists of highly varied quality. Much of this, of course, can depend on the academic tradition from which the numismatist comes. In worst case scenarios, a "coin report" may not even have a list of the coins and may only provide a vague summary of types and rulers represented. In addition to a detailed analysis of the overall series from a site, and also of coins in stratified contexts, the most useful coin reports will present the numismatic data in a complete and detailed manner through a list or catalogue. These lists should include reference numbers or a description of the coin if an exact reference cannot be provided, dates/date range, die axes, diameter, weight, etc. One aspect of coin finds that is often overlooked, however, is wear and corrosion.

Recently, Kris Lockyear commented on the need for more standardization in the publication of coin lists from archaeological sites, citing the basic elements that should be included in an average coin list (K. Lockyear, "Where Do We Go Frome Here? Recording and Analysing Roman Coins from Archaeological Excavations. Britannia 38 (2007), 211-224). One of his proposals was to begin an international database for the cataloguing of coin finds which would necessitate certain types of information to be entered. Some regional and national databases and corpus-making projects have been underway for sometime. Apart from the basic information listed above, one of the desirable things on a coin list he mentioned is a measure of the wear and corrosion present on individual coin finds. Some of the things that wear may inform field numismatists about is the individual lives and circulation of coins.

In 1976 Alan Walker commented on the value of studying wear and corrosion on coin finds (A. Walker, "Worn and Corroded Coins: Their Importance for the Archaeologist," Journal of Field Archaeology 3.3 (1976), 329-334). He detailed the need to pay close attention to corrosion on a coin. Although a coin may be nearly unidentifiable because of corrosion, one may still be able to glean some information from it; even coins that are heavily corroded could exhibit few signs of wear. He then surveyed the value of studying wear on coins, which is useful for establishing the chronological sequences of coins that are not dated - an important aspect of Greek coin hoard studies. Wear patterns on coins also provide insight into the duration of time in which they were in circulation and can also be used to examine external issues such as coinage reforms, demonitization, etc. He lists some examples where the study of wear on coin finds proves essential for the understanding of site or the coins themselves. He concludes:

"In order to obtain all the information that numismatic material can supply, archaeologists must be aware of the ramifications of wear and corrosion. The examples cited above show that even exceedingly worn or corroded coins may have a real significance: they can either give a precise date for their contextual assembly or illuminate the economic and political circumstances of their period of deposition."

Certainly, as Lockyear, Walker, and others have pointed out, wear and corrosion deserve more attention in contextual studies and the analyses in excavation reports.

The market already has a general method of "grading" coins in terms of general "eye-appeal" which may be affected by wear and corrosion. The grading of ancient coins is naturally much more arbitrary than grading modern coinage, for which there are entire firms are devoted grading, certifying, and "slabbing" coins in plastic containers. In recent years there has been some demand for slabbed and professionally graded ancient coins and a new venture devoted to the slabbing of ancient coins has recently been a hot topic in online ancient coin collecting boards. Nevertheless, the relatively loose grading systems used in the ancient coin market cannot be applied well to excavation finds where one is more interested in technical aspects than aesthetic concerns. Additionally, market grading systems do not differentiate well between measuring wear and corrosion.

Recognizing the need for a system for coin finds, one was devised and published in 1995 (S. Frey-Kupper, O.F. Dubuis, and H. Brem, "Usure et corrosion. Tables de référence pour la détermination de trouvailles monétaires / Abnutzung und Korrosion. Bestimmungstafeln zur Bearbeitung von Fundmünzen," Inventar der Fundmünzen der Schweiz 2, supplement (1995) (I could only find the French text available online). The text of the guide is in both French and German.

The guide provides a system for gauging corrosion and wear on both sides of a coin using a numbering scale from 0-5:

Wear (W). In German, Abnutzung (A); in French, Usure (U)
W 0 uncertain
W 1 very slightly worn
W 2 lightly worn
W 3 worn
W 4 very worn
W 5 extremely worn to completely worn (flat)

Corrosion (C). In German, Korrosion (K), in French, Corrosion (C)
C 0 uncertain
C 1 very slightly corroded
C 2 lightly corroded
C 3 corroded
C 4 very corroded
C 5 extremely to completely corroded

"0" is used if for some reason one aspect is completely indeterminate, e.g. a coin is so badly corroded (C 5) that one cannot determine how worn it is (W 0). A coin find report using this system might thus include a set of numbers such as W 1/2, C 3/3 in order to relay information about wear and corrosion. Numbers on both side of the slash refer to obverse and reverse respectively. In French or German the abbreviations would of course be different. I first became aware of this system when I began working with Fundmünzen der Antike in Frankfurt, which has implemented the system on new entries to its finds database. Although I did not use the system when I began identifying and analyzing the coin finds from Yotvata, I did use it for the last couple of seasons of coins after I learned about it.

It seems to me that the use of this system in coin lists is rather efficient and exacting, but still compact enough to incorporate into a coin list. The system has been accepted in a number of find publications on the continent, but I am not aware of its use in the English/American scholarship or coin find publications. If any readers are familiar with it, have comments on it, or have incorporated it into their work, I would enjoy hearing from you here or privately.

Certainly we are in need of preserving as much detailed information about archaeologically recovered coins as possible and we ought to make as much of that information available as possible for future comparative research. The study of wear patterns on ancient coin finds ought to provide further insight in future studies and is an area of Fundnumismatik with little detailed exploration at present. In my opinion, these guidelines seem to be a good way of enhancing our corpus. Feedback welcome.

Updated 28 November 2008: After discovering the French version of the corrosion/wear guide was available online, a link was inserted above.

Context Matters: AIA Classroom Excavations Video and Resources for Primary and Secondary Educators

One of the great things about being an archaeologist is sharing your passion with others. There are a multitude of ethical and creative ways to expose primary and secondary education students to archaeology. Archaeological professional organizations have made educational resource available to school teachers and had various cooperative partnerships with them for a very long time.

For some educational resources, see:

AIA Education and Outreach

ASOR Outreach Education

SAA's Education Page

SAA's Archaeology for the Public

The AIA has just released a video on its website detailing an exciting and creative excavation simulation for students. The video is shown below. Visit the pertinent page on the AIA website for more educational videos, links, and discussion.

28,000 Coins from the Fitzwilliam Museum Now Online

Last week I received a notice via the American Numismatic Society Alumni/Friends of Numismatics email list that 28,000 more coins have been made available online from the collection of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. To access the images, go to the Fitzwilliam's Coins and Medals page and then click on "Search for a Coin." This brings up a list of time periods and one can then click "view" to get a list of all coins that are available online from a certain period. However, someone wishing to do a more specific search can scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the "OPAC Coins & Medals collection search form."

The Online Catalogue of the Münzkabinett of the Staatliche Museen in Berlin

Since I started this webpage, there has been a link to the online catalogue of the Münzkabinett of the Staatliche Museen in Berlin.

Part of the collection of the numismatic collection of the Staatliche Museen in Berlin is available online. The quality of the images is very high and one can enlarge both obverses and reverses. Detailed descriptions and notes also accompany the images. There are multiple ways to search the collection. Previously the interface was only in German, but Dr. Karsten Dahmen of the Münzkabinett has just recently informed me that they have launched an interface in English, which can be accessed by clicking "en" on the top right corner of the start page. To visit the website and begin learning about Berlin's wonderful collection click here.

(Image: Obverse of a sestertius of Titus depicting the Colosseum flanked by the Meta Sudans and the porticus of the Baths of Titus. Münzkabinett of the Staatliche Museen in Berlin, object number 18200446.)

Bryn Mawr Classical Reviews Blog

Bryn Mawr Classical Reviews, which provides expert online reviews of scholarly monographs concerning the ancient world, has announced the launch of a blog for the discussion of reviewed material:

Bryn Mawr Classical Review has created a blog for its reviews, beginning with the first review of August 2008, to encourage informal reactions. For comments on older reviews, please e-mail classrev@brynmawr.edu and ask that the review be posted to the blog.

There is a link in each review to take you to the blog, or you can find the blog at http://www.bmcreview.org/. The postings can be anonymous.

Archäologie und Geschichte der römischen Provinzen

I just became aware of a blog on the archaeology and history of the Roman provinces, maintained by Marco Hardy, who studies within the department. The primary goal of the blog is to keep students informed of events taking place within the department or other activities which may be relevant. Already some interesting photographs of various activities have been posted, such as this year's Römerfest, held in honor of Dr. Schubert (photos here). Even non-students who are familiar with the department may find something of interest in this new blog.

http://provinzialroemer.blogspot.com/

New Responsibilities at Uni Frankurt

Last month I mentioned that a colleague, Stefan Krmnicek, and I received a one year appointment in the Institut für Archäologische Wissenschaften, Abt. II (Archäologie und Geschichte der römischen Provinzen sowie Hilfswissenschaften der Altertumskunde) at the Goethe Universität, Frankfurt.

Last week there was a reception in the department to honor Dr. Schubert, who is going into retirment and who previously held the position since 1974. Between 1972 and 1973, he was associated with the department via Fundmünzen der Antike (FdA). It was an excellent reception, well-attended by Dr. Schubert's colleagues. During the reception the department presented him with an old engraved portrait of Theodor Mommsen. Many may be familiar with Dr. Schubert's important essay on Mommsen's seminal numismatic work, Geschichte des Römischen Münzwesens (H. Schubert, "Mommsens numismatisch-geldgeschichtliches Hauptwerk 'Geschichte des Römischen Münzwesens' (Berlin 1860). Entstehung, Bedeutung und Wirkung," in H.M. von Kaenel, M.R.-Alföldi, U. Peter, and H. Komnick (eds.), Geldgeschichte vs. Numismatik. Theodor Mommsen und die antike Münze (Berlin, 2004), 109-129). Dr. Schubert also engages with the wider public on ancient numismatics and is both the chairman of the Frankfurter Numsimatische Gesellschaft and president of the Deutsche Numismatische Gesellschaft. Certainly we cannot replace Dr. Schubert, who will remain active within the department, but only manage his former departmental responsibilities.

Since we have settled into the new position, Dr. Schubert and Prof. Dr. von Kaenel have explained our duties to us in more detail. The position was founded primarly around the photo collection of ancient coins, and it is around this collection upon which much of our responsibility revolves as we must provide images and advice to researchers and publishers. Our photo collection is one of the most important in the world. The Frankfurt photo archive began in the 1960' and presently contains around 400,000 photographs and negatives from private and public collections, auction catalogues, hoards, and excavations - Dr. Schubert showed us some file cards with Konrad Kraft's handwriting on them! [link to Wikipedia article - caveat emptor). We will also be responsible for a collection of approximately 3,000 auction catalogues and a rather extensive collection of plaster casts. The cast collection contains casts from the important collections of Richard Delbrück (1874-1957) and Konrad Kraft (1920-1970), among others. I may revisit some of these resources as themes for future posts.

Apart from curating these resources, we also have responsibilities in collaborative and independent research. For me, the latter will include completing the dissertation and a couple of other projects. We also have teaching responsibilities within the department since Prof. von Kaenel is taking a semester for research. This year there will be courses in numismatics in both the winter and summer semesters. The numismatic Übung in the winter will be "Münzhorte. Zusammensetzung, Eigenart und Bedeutung von Hortfunden in der antiken Welt" (Coin hoards: composition, characteristics and meaning of hoard finds in the ancient world). My colleague and I have discussed it, and since he has specialized in hoard finds through his dissertation and other research, he will manage this course and I will conduct the course for the summer semester (TBA). Assuming that I can play a role in choosing the topic for the summer semester, I thought that something like "Antike Münzbilder. Methoden und Deutungen" (Images on ancient coins: methods and interpretations) would be an interesting toic. The subject is fresh in my mind and one I've been exploring in detail in conjunction with my dissertation and a contribution to an edited volume.

(Image: a file card from the Frankfurt Fotokartei)

Some Resources for the Study of Excavated Coin Finds

A couple of readers asked that I post some links and bibliography for large inventories and databases of coin finds from excavated contexts. I list some bibliography and hyperlinks below. The list is arranged alphabetically by country, with a small amount of commentary. Any corrections or additions would greatly be appreciated.

Here I am focusing only on important and wide-ranging regional inventories and so I must make the disclaimer that a number of important excavation and coin reports, which I have not listed, for each of these countries and for those that are not listed are available. In this list I make mention of coin hoards from time to time, but I am focusing primarily on excavated coin finds. For coin hoards a good place to start online would be the database for Roman Imperial Coin Hoards (RICH).

Austria:
Austria's Die Fundmünzen der römischen Zeit in Österreich (FMRÖ) series began in 1971 and follows the same format as the FMRD inventories which began in 1960 (see Germany below) and is one the most extensive inventory of coin finds in Europe after Germany's FMRD. [WorldCat].

The Austrians, like the Germans, have begun entering coin finds into an online database. [visit digitale Fundmünzen der römischen Zeit in Österreich (dFMRÖ).]

Belgium:

As yet, there exists no systematic inventory of coin finds from Belgium in print or in an online database. However, there is a digital database of some 25,000 coin finds from Belgium which has been used by scholars conducting research on Fundnumismatik. It is my understanding that this database may ultimately be made accessible online.

Croatia:

Croatia models its inventories on the German series, Die Fundmünzen der römischen Zeit in Deutschland (FMRD) [see Germany below]. Thus far only one volume has been published (2002). The series is entitled Die Fundmünzen der römischen Zeit in Kroatien (FMRHr - and yes, that is how it's abbreviated!). [Check for FMRHr volumes in WorldCat or visit the website of Fundmünzen der Antike (FdA)].

Egypt:
Hans-Christoph Noeske has published two important books inventorying and analyzing coin finds from Egypt: H.-Chr. Noeske. 2000. Münzfunde aus Ägypten I: Die Münzfunde des ägyptischen Pilgerzentrums Abu Mina und die Verleichsfunde aus den Diocesen Aegyptus und Oriens vom 4.-8. Jh. n. Chr. (SFMA 12, Berlin: Gebr. Mann Verlag) and id. 2006. Münzfunde aus Ägypten II: Die griechisch-römischen Münzfunde aus dem Fayum. (SFMA 22, Mainz: von Zabern). [WorldCat].

England and Wales:

Here there are two important online tools: Iron Age and Roman Coins from Wales (IARCW) and the finds registry of the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS); the latter records finds reported by metal detectorists. There is also an index of Celtic coins from England and Wales.

France:

To my knowledge, there are no systematic inventories of archaeologically recovered coin finds, though the French publish an important series for coin hoards, which are often recovered archaeologically: Trésors monétaires. [WorldCat].

Germany:

In Germany coin find inventories are the most extensive, published in the series Die Fundmünzen der römischen Zeit in Deutschland (FMRD). The first volume was published in 1960 (by Hans-Jörg Kellner), when Hans-Gebhart and Konrad Kraft were series editors. Maria R.-Alföldi and Hans-Markus von Kaenel are the current series editors. The FMRD series is arranged by federal regions in Germany and are often further subdivided by region or city. Inventories frequently include lists from excavated coin hoards in addition to single and surface finds from archaeological or historical sites. A brochure I found while working with the people who produce these inventories estimates that approximately 340,000 ancient coin finds will have been recorded in these inventories at the conclusion of the project, for which funding soon expires. [Check for FMRD volumes in WorldCat or visit the website of Fundmünzen der Antike (FdA)].

An online database of German coin finds now exists. It does not yet have all the material in the FMRD series, but does have some additional finds that were not published in the database and newer material is now typically entered into it as new volumes are being produced. [Visit NUMIDAT's overview and the search portal].

Hungary:

Hungary's inventories follow the same pattern as that of Germany's FMRD (see German above). Its series is entitled Die Fundmünzen der römischen Zeit in Ungarn (FMRU). [WorldCat].

Israel:

All excavated coin finds from Israel (c. 130,000 to date) have been put into a database by numismatic scholars working at the Israeli Antiquities Authority (IAA). This database is not available online, but is accessible those conducting research on coin finds from the region. A number of excavation finds have, of course, been made available through excavation reports and individually published coin reports.

Italy:

When working with coin finds from Italy, one must still consult individual excavation and coin reports, such as those from Pompeii. However, one important systematic inventory is from the region of Veneto: Ritrovamenti monetali di età romana nel Veneto (RMR Ve). [WorldCat].

As massive 'excavations' took place in the city of Rome during the risorgamento in the nineteenth century, many finds, including coins, were poorly published. Still there exists no published corpus of numismatic finds from the Eternal City, but approximately 60,000 finds from Rome (sottosuolo) have been studied by German scholars and put into the NUMIDAT database. It is expected that these finds will also be made available in print.

For Republican coin hoards in Italy, D. Backendorf. 1998. Römische Münzschätze des zweiten und ersten Jahrhunderts v. Chr. vom Italienischen Festland (SFMA 13, Berlin: Gebr. MannVerlag) is a good source and starting point.

Luxembourg

Luxembourg's inventories mirror the format of FMRD (see Germany above). The series is called Fundmünzen der römischen Zeit im Großherzogtum Luxemburg (FMRL). Less frequently, the series is cited by its French name: Monnaies antiques découvertes au Grand-Duché de Luxembourg. [Check for FMRL volumes in WorldCat or visit the website of Fundmünzen der Antike (FdA)].

The Netherlands:

The format of the Dutch inventories, Die Fundmünzen der römischen Zeit in den Niederlanden (FMRN), is similar to that of the German inventories. [Check for FMRN volumes in WorldCat or visit the website of Fundmünzen der Antike (FdA)].

The Dutch also have an online database of coin finds: NUMIS.

Romania:

A colleague, Cristian Gazdac, has been publishing finds from Romanian sites. [WorldCat]. Georges Depeyrot and some of his colleagues also conduct work on the region (see Transcaucusus below)

Slovenia:

Slovenia is basing its inventories on the German series, Die Fundmünzen der römischen Zeit in Deutschland (FMRD) [see Germany above]. The series is entitled Die Fundmünzen der römischen Zeit in Slowenien (FMRSl) and several volume have already been published. [Check for FMRSl volumes in WorldCat or visit the website of Fundmünzen der Antike (FdA)].

Switzerland:

While the Swiss inventories are similar in scope to FMRD and others, the formatting of the Swiss inventories is rather different. Their inventories are called by any one of the German, French, or Italian titles: Inventar der Fundmünzen der Schweiz (IFS), Inventaire des trouvailles monétaires suisses (ITMS), Inventario dei ritrovamenti monetali svizzeri (IRMS). [Check for IFS volumes in WorldCat or visit the website of IFS, which is available in German, French, Italian, and soon in English.

Transcaucusus:

Georges Depeyrot and his colleagues have been publishing coin finds from these regions. [Visit the website].

(The illustration is a screen shot of the Fundmünzen der Antike (FDA) homepage).