COIN HOARDS OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE

About the research project

The Chalgrove Hoard

Thousands of coin hoards have been discovered throughout the geographical area that once constituted the Roman Empire. With new hoards discovered every year, there is a great need for a comprehensive and accessible online resource to unlock their potential to enhance our understanding of the Roman economy. The project documents hoards of all coinages in use between 30 BC and AD 400. Roman imperial coinage will form the main focus, but Iron-Age and Roman provincial coinages issued within this period will also be included to give a complete picture of the monetary systems of both the West and the East of the Roman Empire. The project is a joint initiative of the Ashmolean Museum and the Oxford Roman Economy Project.

Research aims

The project aims to provide the foundations for a systematic Empire-wide study of hoarding and to promote the integration of numismatic data into broader research on the Roman economy. Regular conferences will focus on the relevance of the data to different aspects of economic history including coin supply, circulation and use, however the project is not confined by this focus and gathers data on all aspects of coin hoards. The data will be relevant to a wide range of topics extending beyond monetary history to subjects as diverse as the study of imperial ideology and the cultural factors that influence the way coins are deposited. The project will fill a gap in the digital coverage of coin hoards from antiquity. It will provide linked open data that will contribute to a much wider initiative to promote digital numismatics. The success of the project depends on the efforts of our substantial body of collaborators around the world. The information gathered is being made freely available online for the benefit of the general public and the wider research community.