Methodological Issues

The "SILVER" project will study the composition of silver coins from the ancient worlds (Greek and Roman) up to 250 AD thanks to very advanced technologies used daily by geochemists. The questions raised are those of the origin of money and the link between economic development and the circulation of silver coins and objects of worship.

At the time, money was the foundation of the current economy: it was used to pay salaries and balances, as well as for ordinary transactions. Gold was too rare to be really useful for the payment needs of the population. As for copper as it was used for small change, in the Egypt of the Ptolemies for example, it was of such little value that people were forced to mint heavy coins. In addition, copper money competed with the demand for bronze used for weapons. It is therefore through money that wealth circulated and it is the study of this circulation that is the subject of this project.

The ERC SILVER project is led by Francis Albarède^{ORCID 0000-0003-1994-1428} who enthusiastically supported the creation of this website whose two portals were designed by François de Callataÿ^{ORCID 0000-0002-5381-2534} and developped by Bernhard Krabina^{ORCID 0000-0002-6871-3037}. Dr. Caroline Carrier has partly prepared the spreadsheets for some 1,800 coin die-studies and 2,186 overstrikes.

Die Studies Database (DSD)

Currently, there are 2,771 entries in the database.

The Die-Studies Database (DSD) aims to gather and make available all the produced die-studies for the Graeco-Roman world in its broad acceptance from Spain to India. It is intended to offer a key tool for putting monetary productions into perspective and estimating their volumes. The DSD largely enlarges and improves the c. 630 cases collected and presented by the two Recueils quantitatifs de la production monétaire for the Greek world 1 2.

Greek Overstrikes Database (GOD)

Currently, there are 2,960 entries in the database.

The Greek Overstrikes Database (GOD) aims to gather and make available all the known overstrikes for the Greek world in its broad acceptance from Spain to India whatever the metal (but gold overstrikes are rare). Overstrikes are of course a decisive tool for chronologies (what is below is before) but they also prove to be of fundamental importance for the study of coin circulation, especially for the silver flows, hence this development into the frame of the project SILVER. The various material collected for GOD has been gathered since 2010 by François de Callataÿ^{ORCID 0000-0002-5381-2534} with the great help of David MacDonald 3.

References

^ Callataÿ, François de (1997), Recueil quantitatif des émissions monétaires hellénistiques, Numismatique Romaine, Wetteren, X + 341 p.
^ Callataÿ, François de (2003), Recueil quantitatif des émissions monétaires archaïques et classiques, Numismatique Romaine, Wetteren, VII + 267 p.
^ Callataÿ, François de (2017), “Greek Overstrikes Database: a short presentation”, in Maria Caccamo Caltabiano et al. (eds.), XVth International Numismatic Congress. Taormina. Proceedings, I, Messina, 2017, p. 467-470.