Guidance for Contributors

Contributing to the Numismatic Chronicle

The Editors of the Numismatic Chronicle welcome articles and short notes from Fellows of the Society and others. They may deal with coinage, medals, tokens, or paper money of any period. In the interests of economy and clarity all contributions should be written concisely. They should where possible show the relevance to historical or general knowledge of the numismatic information that is discussed.

In submitting material to the Numismatic Chronicle, the contributor agrees that, if the material is accepted and published, copyright for it will belong to the Royal Numismatic Society. In the case of illustrations and other matter of which the copyright belongs to a third party, the contributor is responsible for obtaining from the copyright-holder permission to publish it / them in the Numismatic Chronicle.

Contributions concerning ancient Greek, Roman, or Celtic coins should be sent to Dr Clare Rowan (email: C.Rowan@warwick.ac.uk), those on oriental numismatics to Dr Shailendra Bhandare (email: shailendra.bhandare@ashmus.ox.ac.uk), and those on medieval or modern topics to Dr Murray Andrews (email: murray.andrews@khm.uio.no). If you wish to submit a book for review please email Dr Simon Glenn (SGlenn@britishmuseum.org) in the first instance. We politely ask that review copies should not be sent to the Society or its Library without prior agreement.

The Numismatic Chronicle does not reproduce articles which have appeared, or are going to appear elsewhere, either in print or electronically, even in summary form. Abstracts from conference proceedings may be an exception but their existence should be indicated.

In submitting a contribution to an Editor the author gives authority to the Society to publish the work in substantially that form. Any changes that an author wishes to make must be submitted before the work is sent for typesetting.

Contributions are normally sent to one or more anonymous referees and they cannot be regarded as having been accepted for publication until they have been through that process.

Authors of articles receive an electronic offprint in the form of a pdf file. In relation to authors independently publishing their articles online, we request that authors delay for two years before publishing their typeset article on the web. Authors may publish a typescript (not the final typeset article) in their university repository at the point of acceptance (conforming with current HEFCE guidelines for academic Open Access), on academia.edu or similar.

The Editors are responsible for the publication of the Numismatic Chronicle and authors are requested to correspond with them and not, unless authorised, with the typesetters.

Presentation

  1. The typescript should be presented in A4 layout in Microsoft Word, with margins of at least one inch (2.5 cm).
  2. The main text should be 1.5 line spaced in 12 pt type using a standard font (e.g. Arial, Times New Roman).
  3. Tables should be single line spaced in 10 pt type using the Table function in Microsoft Word. If possible, please construct tables that fit a portrait layout. Larger tables may need to be rotated or published across facing pages.
  4. Images must be submitted as separate digital files, and must not be embedded in the document.
  5. Please supply a list of Table and Figure captions at the end of the article, in the format:

Fig. 1: Mints active during the reign of Cnut

Table 1: Composition of the Beachy Head hoard by issuer and mint

  1. Please include Figure and Table placement cues (e.g. ‘Figure 1 here’) in the text.
  2. All contributions should be submitted digitally as an email attachment or on CD. Large files may be sent using online file transfer systems (e.g. WeTransfer).

Spelling and Punctuation

  1. Please use British English spelling, as outlined in the New Oxford Spelling Dictionary. If in doubt on matters of style or otherwise, please consult Hart’s rules.
  2. Do not use apostrophes in dates (e.g. ‘the 1540s’, rather than ‘the 1540’s’).
  3. Capitals should be used sparingly. They should be employed for titles and dignities of individuals only when followed by the person’s name (e.g. ‘Duke William of Normandy’, but ‘William, duke of Normandy’ or ‘the duke’).

Numbers and Dates

  1. Numbers in the text from one to ten should be written as words, except where units of measurement are given (e.g. ‘eight coins’, ‘3 km’). Higher numbers should be written as figures (e.g. ‘seven coins’, ‘134 coins’). Numbers that form the first word in a sentence should always be written as words (e.g. ‘Sixteen denarii were found…’).
  2. Elide number ranges to use the fewest figures: e.g. ‘34–9’, 143-59’, ‘300-4’. The sole exception is the group ‘10–19’ in each hundred: ‘410–14’, not ‘410–4’. Do not elide figures when the date covers more than one century (e.g. ‘98–117’).
  3. All numbers below one should be prefaced with a zero before the decimal point (e.g. ‘0.25’, not ‘.25’). Fractions should be avoided except where discussing weights (‘22½ gr.’) or pre-decimal sums (‘8s. 3½d.’).
  4. Dates should be given in the form ’13 October 1066’. The era (BC, AD, H) should be added sparingly. It will be printed in small capitals without full stops and, except for AD, should follow the figures: e.g. 39 BC, AD 117, 396 H.

Abbreviations

  1. Avoid the use of abbreviations in text that is intended to be read as continuous English prose.
  2. No full stop should be used after contractions (Dr, Revd, Mr, Mrs, Mme, Mlle, St) or units of measurement (g, gr, ha, km). Full stops should be inserted after no., p., pp., ed., Prof., fig., pl., vol., n. (note).
  3. Common Latin abbreviations (ad loc., cf., e.g., ibid., id., i.e.) should be kept in Roman type. When c. (circa) is used before a date it should be typed close up to the date and italicised: e.g. c.973.
  4. Journal book and journal abbreviations are published at the end of each volume and can be consulted for guidance.

References

The Numismatic Chronicle uses an author/date system for references to publications.

  1. Insert a numbered footnote in the text using the Insert Footnote function in Microsoft Word (not typed in plain text). The cues to the notes should fall outside any punctuation in the text. Authors should be aware that endnotes will be converted to footnotes during typesetting.
  2. In the footnote itself, use the author/date (Harvard) system: e.g. ‘Reece 1991’. If an author has more than one reference in a particular year, use ‘a’, ‘b’ etc., e.g. ‘Allen 2005a; 2005b, pp. 53-4’. Where a publication has three or more authors, you may cite the reference as e.g. Cook et al., but must include a full list of authors in the bibliography.
  3. If referring to a particular page or pages, use the abbreviation ‘p.’ (single page) or ‘pp.’ (spread of pages): e.g. ‘Reece 1991, pp. 31-2’. If referring to specific coins instead of page numbers, please use ‘no.’ or ‘nos’: e.g. ‘Burnett 1984, nos 8–9’. If referring to coins on a plate, please use the form ‘Mattingly 1923, pl. xiii.1’.
  4. Very long footnotes with irrelevant bibliographic detail should be avoided.
  5. Authors must supply a complete bibliography at the end of the paper. This should be arranged alphabetically by author’s surname, and chronologically from earliest to latest where one author has produced more than one entry. Entries should adopt the following format:

Books:

Butcher, K., and Ponting, M., 2015. The Metallurgy of Roman Silver Coinage from the Reform of Nero to the Reform of Trajan (Cambridge).

Jones, A.H.M., 1964. The Later Roman Empire, 284-602. A Social, Economic, and Administrative Survey, Vol 3 (Oxford).

Articles:

Bateson, J.D., 1991. ‘The 1991 Kelso treasure trove’, BNJ 61, pp. 82–9.

DeShazo, A.S., and Bates, M.L., 1974. ‘The Umayyad governors of al-’Alâq and the changing annulet patterns on their dirhams’, NC7 14, pp. 110–18.

Papers in edited volumes:

Reece, R., 1988. ‘Numerical aspects of Roman coin hoards in Britain’, in R. Reece and P.J. Casey (eds), Coins and the Archaeologist (London), pp. 86–101.

  1. Coins in auction catalogues should be referenced using the name of auction house, auction number, date and lot number. More information can be given if desired. e.g. CNG, Electronic Auction 513, 6 April 2022, lot 379.

Images

  1. Images in the Numismatic Chronicle can appear in-text or in plates at the rear of each volume. They should be submitted electronically in as unmanipulated a state as possible, preferably at a minimum of 300 dpi.
  2. Coins should normally be illustrated at 1:1, unless otherwise specified in the caption text. Diameters of each coin must be supplied.
  3. Maps should have a scale and north arrow, and graphs should include labelled axes.
  4. The editors reserve the right to return substandard images to the author for improvement.

Coin Hoards. The Numismatic Chronicle has since 1994 carried a section entitled ‘Coin Hoards’. This publishes concise accounts of hoards in a format similar to Coin Hoards, vols 1–9. The purpose of this section is to publish material submitted to the Editors in the nature of: (i) new finds; (ii) additional information about published finds; or (iii) summary reports of finds that have been published in non-numismatic journals.

Unlike the periodical Coin Hoards, The Numismatic Chronicle does not attempt to summarise finds already published in numismatic journals or numismatic books. It does, however, carry preliminary reports of finds that are to be published more fully elsewhere. The section is additional to the usual contents of the Chronicle and it should not deter the fuller publication of hoards as Articles.

For the format, authors should look at the ‘Coin Hoards’ section in this volume. The degree of detail provided in the listing of the contents of any hoard will vary according to the information available, the nature of the coin series, and whether it is a preliminary or final report. Authors should provide full bibliographical details (in the Chronicle’s house style) of any references and abbreviations used. These will be included in a consolidated list or a footnote, as seems most appropriate.

An estimate of the date of deposit, under the rubric ‘Dep. c….’ or ‘Dep. after...’, will be included at the head of each entry. Please provide the modern name of the findspot, region / province, and the country, and the date of discovery, so far as is known. Comments about the circumstances of the find or the nature of the hoard/parcel may be included. If the author wishes to include a discussion of the numismatic significance of the find the Editors may advise that the report should be published as an Article in the Chronicle or elsewhere.

Photographs should be submitted as described above. The author’s name will appear after the entry, unless it is specifically requested that the entry be anonymous. Please indicate the form in which you would like your name to appear.

Excavation Coins and Stray Finds

These have been published since 2003 and may include recent discoveries or older material. The objective is to provide quick publication of material which may be published later in fuller reports.

Photographs should be submitted as described above.

Contributions to the ‘Coin Hoards’ section and to the ‘Excavation Coins and Stray Finds’ section should be sent to the appropriate Editor, as indicated above.