The metallurgy of Roman silver coinage : from the reform of Nero to the reform of Trajan / Kevin Butcher and Matthew Ponting ; with contributions by Jane Evans, Vanessa Pashley and Christopher Somerfield.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Butcher, Kevin, author.

Ponting, Matthew, author.

Evans, Jane (Geochemist), author.

Pashley, Vanessa, author.

Somerfield, Christopher, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Coins, Roman.

Silver coins--Rome.

Silver coins.

Silver--Metallurgy.

Silver.

Metals--Analysis.

Metals.

Numismatics, Roman.

Coinage--Rome--History.

Coinage.

Rome--Antiquities.

Rome.

Rome--History--Empire, 30 B.C.-284 A.D.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xxxii, 797 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2014.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The fineness of Roman imperial and provincial coinage has been regarded as an indicator of the broader fiscal health of the Roman Empire, with the apparent gradual decline of the silver content being treated as evidence for worsening deficits and the contraction of the supply of natural resources from which the coins were made. This book explores the composition of Roman silver coinage of the first century AD, re-examining traditional interpretations in the light of an entirely new programme of analyses of the coins, which illustrates the inadequacy of many earlier analytical projects. It provides new evidence for the supply of materials and refining and minting technology. It can even pinpoint likely episodes of recycling old coins and, when combined with the study of hoards, hints at possible strategies of stockpiling of metal. The creation of reserves bears directly on the question of the adequacy of revenues and fiscal health.

Contents:

Part I. General Introduction

Roman silver coinage and monetary history

Roman silver coins and monetary stability

A science on the margins of numismatics : the history of metrological and metallurgical studies

Metrology and hoard analysis

The issues of "fineness," of instrumental analysis, and of data quality

Metallography and the production of denarius blanks

The material sampled

Part II. The Denarius

The Julio-Claudian background

The reforms of Nero, AD 64-68

The Civil Wars, AD 68-69 : Rome

The Western denarii of the Civil Wars

From Vespasian to the reform of Domitian, AD 69-82

The reforms of Domitian

From Nerva to the reform of Trajan, AD 96-99

The denarius : summary and conclusions

Part III. Provincial Silver Coinages

Cistophori of Asia

Other provincial silver of Asia Minor

Caesarea in Cappadocia

Syria

Egypt

Provincial silver coinages : summary and conclusions

Summary of conclusions.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-316-05615-5

1-316-05379-2

1-316-08216-4

1-316-07506-0

1-316-07980-5

1-316-07743-8

1-316-07270-3

1-139-22527-8