Summer School on Greek and Roman Numismatics – National Hellenic Research Foundation, Athens

Martin Hallmannsecker 

Thanks to the general support of the Royal Numismatics Society, I was able to attend the summer school on Greek and Roman numismatics organised by the National Hellenic Research Foundation, Athens from 3-12 July 2017.

The summer school was aimed at students of all stages with basic to no knowledge of numismatics and provided lectures on general topics (e.g. the invention of coinage, metrology, hoards, iconography) as well as on more specific matters (e.g. Archaic and Classical coins, Athenian coinage, Hellenistic coins, Roman and Roman Provincial coinage, online databases). In addition to that, we visited the most relevant numismatic collections of Athens (Numismatic Museum, KIKPE collection at the Benaki Museum, Alpha Bank collection, Akropolis Museum) where we were able to handle and even strike our own (plasticine) coins. Very helpful for the understanding of the production process of coins and the workings of Athenian economy was a field trip to the silver mines of Laurion which are usually closed to the public.

Especially the chapter of my DPhil thesis which is based on a reinterpretation of a series of bronze coins from the Antonine period will benefit greatly from what I have learned on this course. Now I feel more confident to put my findings into a larger context and am even considering to conduct a die study. I would definitely recommend this summer school to every student in ancient history who wants to get a comprehensive overview of the field of Greek and Roman numismatics.