On 19 May 2017, the 5^th International Numismatic Conference of the Coin Cabinet of the Royal Library of Belgium will be organized in Brussels, focusing on the phenomenon of overstriking, reminting and the duration of circulation of coins in Antiquity.

As human beings, coins are born, live and die. Although we are well informed today in which quantities they were « born » and how they « lived », we still know nearly nothing about how they « died », i.e. when they stop to be legal tender. Literary sources are extremely scanty on this important historical issue and archaeological contexts often offer tricky interpretations. Most of the time, subtle strategies have to be built to determine when coins ceased to be admitted as coins. In these circumstances, overstrikes are a great resource for the Greek world. In Roman times coin reforms were very frequent especially from the 3^rd century AD onwards. Reminting the existing monetary stock was probably a way to increase the state’s revenues but the mechanisms are not well understood. From the Middle Ages onwards, recalls of coin issues and reminting were regular practices. The English king Edward I even brought 400 additional workmen over from France and the Low Countries for his recoinage of 1300. It is the intention of this conference to offer a wide panorama on the “live” of coins, their survival and their disappearance in crucibles or deposits.

10.00
Robert NOUWEN, Operational director

10.15
Introduction
Fr. DE CALLATAŸ & J. VAN HEESCH

10.30
Reminting in Medieval England.
Martin ALLEN, Fitzwilliam Museum

11.00
«Les séries monétaires » et nomisma : comment classer les monnaies grecques ?
Olivier PICARD, Institut de France

11.30 – 11.45
BREAK

11.45
Overstriking in the Greek world: a tentative overview.
François de CALLATAŸ, KBR

12.15
Les refrappes dans le monde grec: apports et limites des analyses métalliques.
Christophe FLAMENT, U Namur

12.45 – 14.15
LUNCH

14.15
Roman over Roman: revaluation overstrikes in the Roman Republic.
Andrew MCCABE, UK

14.45
The crisis of small change in central Italy of the second and first centuries BC, and the function of overstriking.
Clive STANNARD, University of Leicester

15.15 – 15.30
BREAK

15.30
Overstriking and reminting in Roman provincial coinage: some preliminary observations.
Bernard WOYTEK,
Austrian Academy of Sciences

16.00
Overstriking in the 3rd century AD: an overview.
Johan VAN HEESCH, KBR & KU LEUVEN

16.30 – 17.00
Usure et obsolescence : deux fausses « bonnes raisons » à la refrappe des monnaies dans l’Antiquité.
Jean Marc DOYEN, Lille University