On 19 May 2017, the 5th 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 3rd 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.
Participation is free of charge, but please do confirm your presence by e-mail
Lunch: offered at 10 euro (by inscription only)
medals@kbr.be
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
