2020 Presidential Address: ‘Problems in Ancient Numismatics 2: Single finds versus hoards: what kinds of information can we gain from them?’

This year has been a strange one. The Coronavirus pandemic meant our AGM had to be postponed, and, for a while, it looked like the annual Presidential Address might not go ahead.

Thankfully, it was possible to host the Address online via the video conferencing service Zoom. One positive result of this is that many members of the society who wouldn’t ordinarily make it to meetings in London were able to log in and hear our President, Roger Bland, speak on ‘single finds versus hoards’. We were also able to record the presentation, complete with slides, for everyone to enjoy.

Abstract: The study of numismatics in recent years has been dominated by the study of coin finds and these are normally divided into hoards and single (or stray) finds. The two categories have often been studied in isolation from each other. This paper will look at the blurring at the edges of these two categories and will consider the different sorts of information that can be gained from them, drawing on the work of a recent research project on Iron Age and Roman coin hoards from Britain and the database of the Portable Antiquities Scheme.