Coinage of the Roman Republic Online
Today, in collaboration with the British Museum and the Münzkabinett of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, the ANS launches another major new tool to aid in the identification, research and cataloging of the coins of the ancient world.
Coinage of the Roman Republic Online (CRRO) continues the precedent set by Online Coins of the Roman Empire (OCRE) [in presenting, in an easily searchable form, all the varieties of the coinage issued in the Roman Republic. Six online collections containing over 20,000 specimens of Roman Republican coinage spread across 2,300 coin types, in addition to hundreds of hoards from Coin Hoard of the Roman Republic (CHRR) and additional individual findspots provided by Berlin are now available for research.
The site presents a basic description of each published variety based on Michael Crawford’s 1974 publication Roman Republican Coinage (RRC), which remains the primary typology used for the identification of Roman Republican coin types. Since its publication there have been significant revisions to the dating of the series following the discovery of new hoards, but no attempt has been made to reflect these, or to make any other amendments to the published typology at this stage.
The descriptions are based on the typology set out in RRC, but have been modified to meet the standards of the British Museum’s collection management system by Eleanor Ghey and Ian Leins. These were previously published in Ghey and Leins 2010, which forms an update to the 1910 catalogue of the collection by Grueber. Additional types not in the British Museum’s collection were added to this database by Richard Witschonke of the ANS.
Many of these coin types are linked to specimens present in the British Museum’s collection, Münzkabinett of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, the ANS, and elsewhere, and where available, to images. Searches are made straightforward through a series of facets, presented in a way that will already be familiar to users of other ANS search tools. Traditional searches of familiar numismatic categories such as obverse and reverse legends and types are provided, as well as the ability to search by deity, in the hope that CRRO will provide an identification tool useful to collectors, dealers, curators, and field archaeologists. Researchers can now list all coin types found within a country and any regional division below the country (E.g., Liguria, down to the town or city).
ANS database developer, Ethan Gruber, says that, “like OCRE and all of our other digital projects at the ANS, CRRO uses Linked Open Data methodologies to aggregate information from disparate institutions and present the information in an interface available in more than 10 languages with advanced mapping and metrical analysis features. CRRO is a fully functional research portal for Roman Republican numismatics.”
The ANS acknowledges the contribution of Michael Crawford to the project, and also thanks Michael Sharp of Cambridge University Press for allowing us to use the numbering system of Roman Republican Coinage.
For further information contact Joanne Isaac at [email protected] or call (212) 571 4470 ext. 112.
New Director of Publications Electrifies the ANS
Andrew Reinhard began his tenure as the Director of Publications at the ANS in December 2014, and is already beginning to implement new initiatives. In 2015, the ANS Magazine will appear for the first time in both print and digital editions. The same is true of all forthcoming monographs and the American Journal of Numismatics.
“We’re not doing away with print,” Reinhard said. “Far from it. The goal in going digital, however, is to give readers as many options to access scholarship as possible. Producing eBooks and a digital edition of the magazine and journal make information both searchable and portable.”
Reinhard is no stranger to digital publication. Prior to coming to the ANS, he was the Director of Publications for the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (ASCSA) where he published print and digital archaeology monographs and journal, developed apps for phones/tablets for tourists to use at the Athenian Agora and Ancient Corinth, introduced Google Glass as a serious excavation tool, and made many of the ASCSA’s out-of-print publications available for free as Open Access.
“I hope to do much of the same here at the ANS,” Reinhard said. “We’re in discussions now with JSTOR about scanning the first and second series of the AJN as well as Museum Notes and other periodicals so that the complete run will be available online beginning in 2016. I’m also working on an exciting coin app project that I hope we’ll be able to announce formally later in the year.”
Reinhard graduated with an M.A. in archaeology and art history from the University of Missouri – Columbia in 1996, and has excavated in Greece, Italy, Illinois, and Kansas. He most recently led the excavation of the “Atari Burial Ground” in Alamogordo, New Mexico for the documentary film, Atari: Game Over, and has a television series in development on media archaeology. He was also accepted to the archaeology Ph.D program at the University of York where he is writing on the intersection of archaeology and video games. His research into video game numismatics and virtual currency will appear in ANS Magazine 2015.1.
Other ANS digital projects include the recently completed Coinage of the Roman Republic Online (CRRO) – the companion to 2013’s Online Coins of the Roman Empire (OCRE) – the uploading of the ANS’ Seleucid Coins, Inventory of Greek Coin Hoards, the scanning/cataloguing/linking of the ANS’ auction catalogues, a relaunch of the ANS website, and much more.
On the print side of things, 2015 will be a banner year for books with the following eight titles likely appearing before year’s end: Medallic Art of the American Numismatic Society (Miller), Kushan, Kushan-Sasanian, and Kidarite Coins (Jongeward and Cribb), Irritamenta: Numismatic Treasures of a Renaissance Collector (Cunnally), Monuments in Miniature (Elkins), Festschriften for Richard Witschonke and Basil Demetriadi, Persian Banknotes (Bonine), and the new edition of Tudeer’s the Tetradrachm Coinage of Syracuse in the period of the Signing Artists (Fischer-Bossert/Wartenberg).
Reinhard will be spreading the word about digital and print initiatives throughout the year. “I look forward to being a part of INC in Taormina, Italy for the first time, and in showcasing the work of Ethan Gruber, Oliver Hoover, Andy Meadows and others. It’s a privilege to work with such a talented team and to be able to facilitate the delivery of all of these important, ground-breaking tools for anyone to use for free worldwide. I look forward to continuing that strong, progressive tradition.”
Dr. Ute Wartenberg, the Executive Director, commented on Reinhard’s appointment: “The Society is extraordinarily fortunate to have Andrew as our new Director of Publications. With his background, he will be able to develop our programs of digital and print publications, which were so well developed under Andy Meadows’ tenure.”
Contact Reinhard with questions, comments, and proposals via email at [email protected].
American Numismatic Society 2015 Annual Gala Dinner
On 8 January in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria, the American Numismatic Society held its 2015 Annual Dinner Gala. The event honored longtime benefactors Elizabeth Forbes Hazard Scott and Stanley DeForest Scott, who were presented with the Trustees’ Award for their decades-long generosity and service to the ANS and their continuing roles as models of philanthropic stewardship.
More than 120 guests gathered for a lively event, despite freezing temperatures and travel delays. Following a warm, welcoming cocktail hour, guests enjoyed dinner and a live auction led by ANS Fellow Harmer Johnson. The auction featured many unique items, including three lots of hard-to-find U.S. coin glass, rare books, and a tour of the Art Institute of Chicago with former ANS Librarian Elizabeth Hahn Benge. The event culminated with an energizing performance by the jazz group The Hot Sardines.
In presenting the Trustees’ Award to Elizabeth and Stanley DeForest Scott, ANS Executive Director Dr. Ute Wartenberg Kagan noted the Scotts’ enduring commitment to the Society, their significant contributions, and unparalleled assistance and guidance. Mr. Scott has been a member of the ANS for over two decades; he became a life member in 2001, an Augustus B. Sage Society member since 2006, a fellow in 2003, and served for nine years of the Board of Trustees.
Moreover, as Chairman of the Board of Trustees Kenneth L. Edlow pointed out, the Scotts serve as inspirations to him and others by embodying all the virtues of the philanthropic and numismatic community: they are passionate about their interests and exhibit a deep love “of objects, of history, and of art, and an insatiable curiosity about the forces, cultures, and peoples that conspired to produce them.” And they give of themselves in myriad ways, both financially and through hands-on involvement.
During the event, Board President Sydney F. Martin took to the podium to announce a new fundraising campaign to endow the chair of Executive Director, which, he said, “is arguably the most important one in our organization.” The Executive Director, he noted, is responsible not only for the day-to-day governance of the ANS but for implementing the directions of the Board, managing the Society’s business affairs, conducting research, and serving as “the face of the ANS.” More than any other figure at the ANS, the Executive Director is the magnet attracting the Society’s outstanding curatorial and academic staff. “Looking toward the future, therefore, endowment for the key position of Executive Director is essential if the ANS is to continue to attract and maintain leaders of the highest caliber.”
The initiative to endow the chair of Executive Director is a five-year campaign with the goal of raising $4,000,000. One quarter of this has already been pledged by generous ANS Trustees. Donations of cash are welcome, as are quality numismatic materials that will be held for a 2019 auction. As Mr. Martin stated, “An endowment gift is forever and is the gift that keeps on giving.”
The ANS would like to thank all Gala contributors and guests whose generous support for our work made the evening a success. We would also like to acknowledge the sponsors of the 2015 Gala who have greatly enhanced the financial health of the Society:
Patron Sponsor:
Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth L. Edlow
Sustainer Sponsors:
Mr. and Mrs. John W. Adams
Anderson & Anderson
Whitman Publishing, LLC
Classical Numismatic Group, Inc.
Stack’s Bowers Galleries
Friend Sponsors:
Dr. Alain Baron, NG SA (Numismatica Genevensis SA)
Harlan J. Berk, Ltd.
Gemini Numismatic Auctions, LLC
Heritage Auctions
Mr. Sydney F. Martin
Stack Family – Mr. Lawrence R. Stack and Mr. Harvey G. Stack
For more information, please contact Eshel Kreiter at [email protected] or call 212-571-4470 ext. 130. Also visit the ANS website for more information about the 2015 Annual Gala Dinner
About the American Numismatic Society
The American Numismatic Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to the study of coins, currency, medals, tokens, and related objects from all cultures, past and present. The Society’s headquarters in New York City has the foremost research collection and library specialized in numismatics in the United States. These resources are used to support research and education in numismatics, for the benefit of academic specialists, serious collectors, professional numismatists, and the interested public.
The American Numismatic Society, organized in 1858 and incorporated in 1865 in New York State, operates as a research museum under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and is recognized as a publicly supported organization under section 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) as confirmed on November 1, 1970.
