(Week 1) Friday 28th April
Coin-handling: 'Coins of the Bible' - Dr. Volker Heuchert, Assistant Keeper, Greek and Roman Provincial, Heberden Coin Room; Joshua Goldman, LMH, Oxford.
This coin handling session will showcase coins from the Bible in the Ashmolean collection, from the first Jewish coins to coins relating to the New Testament and early Christianity. Participants will have an opportunity to handle all of the coins and learn about their historical, numismatic, and religious significance.
(Week 4) Tuesday 16th May
'Coins from a Small Country: How Excavated Coins are Managed in Israel, from the Dig to the Bookshelf' - Donald T. Ariel, Head of the Coin Department, Israel Antiquities Authority.
Abstract This description of Israel’s national coin collection provides a glimpse into the large policies and smaller strategies and protocols one small country has employed in order to build and maintain its numismatic heritage.
(Week 6) Thursday 1st June
'Coins in the Islamic World' - Joe Cribb, former Keeper of Coins and Medals at the British Museum and past President of the Royal Numismatic Society, Research Associate of the Heberden Coin Room, Ashmolean Museum, Secretary General of the Oriental Numismatic Society.
Abstract This presentation explores the origins and development of coinage within the lands which have become part of the Islamic community from the time of Muhammad down to the present day. Focus will be on the spread of Islamic coinage from its origins in the time of the early caliphs and on the development of the design of Islamic coinage in response to its spread. The talk will also illustrate the impact on coins design brought about by the split between Sunni and Shia and by the arrival of Turkish and Mongol invaders.
(Week 8) Tuesday 13th June
'Roman provincial coins: the so-called ‘pseudo-autonomous’ coins, a puzzling mystery' - Dr Marguerite Spoerri Butcher, Associate Fellow, University of Warwick; Honorary Research Assistant, Coin Hoards of the Roman Empire Project, University of Oxford.
Abstract In the first three centuries AD, numerous cities of the Roman Eastern provinces continued to mint their own coins. These were mainly bronze coins, issued in the name of the Roman emperor or a member of the imperial family. Among them are however some coins that do not show the imperial portrait on the obverse. Instead, we have representations of local gods or heroes, personifications of the local city goddess, the Roman Senate or local political bodies (Boule and Demos). This talk will investigate the meaning of such coins and explore potential reasons on why the imperial portrait is missing.
